Coturnix Quail Basics- Information and Pictures Galore

[laura s]

Good morning, I am a new quail owner. I've had 12 cotounix since Christmas. So far I have no eggs. They all live together in a 6x12 natural planted enclosure. Any advise? Are they to young?

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[LadyHawkeAvry]

Good morning, I am a new quail owner. I've had 12 cotounix since Christmas. So far I have no eggs. They all live together in a 6x12 natural planted enclosure. Any advise? Are they to young?

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They start laying when they are a little over 2 months old, so unless you got them as chicks, it us unlikely they would be too young. If you did get them as chicks, they should be starting up soon!! None of mine overwintering in the big outdoor aviary are laying at the moment - there is still snow that is several feet thick in places, and it has not been above freezing for any length of time prior to last week, so they are not feeling the whole laying thing. My indoor hen, however, laid like a champ because of the extended light. Also, they hide their eggs and bury them under substrate, so you might want to check the enclosure well. I move mine to laying cages for the season in trios of two hens and a roo. I leave the cages on the ground, and move them every day or so, so they can pick at the grass through the wire. I can find my eggs that way, and there are no issues with the roos fighting and killing each other. Inside birds are housed in big clear storage bins with screen tops. It's an embarrassingly simple setup, but it works! If you leave them all together in there and there is more than one rooster, you run the risk of losing a bird. They fight to the death, and a determined rooster can decimate a group of younger or weaker roos in a night, even with plenty of space.

 

[laura s]

They were supposed to be about 4 weeks old when my hubby bought them. The breeder was recommended by a trusted friend. They just finished molting. (Feathers everywhere). We are 25 miles south of Miami so it's almost always warm here. Thanks for your input. I will check the pen for hidden eggs.

 

[dc3085]

Egg laying in quail is dictated by light hours. If they don't get 14-16 hours of light per day they will not lay. Stress will keep them from laying as well, but in this case I'd guess it's just a bit too early or they aren't getting enough light. Light bulbs should be full spectrum bulbs.

 

[clawstar]

If you feed anything besides game bird food you will need to provide digestive grit. Processed crumbles are water soluble so they don't need any grit to digest those, when you start adding treats and such grit must be added as well.

I doubt your issue is because of protein. They'll breed and lay just fine on 15% chicken feed, it's hard on their health but they'll lay just the same, seen too many breeders use nothing else. When adult cots aren't doing their jobs I look to everything else before I look to diet.

Clawstar you said the hens are over a year old, how much over a year? A lot of cots will stop laying or slow way down before the end of their second year, it's possible that they have reached a point of infertility. Most breeders rotate stock each year to avoid that sort of thing. A 1 year old bird is middle aged, a 1 and half year old is an old geezer in the cot world.

my hens were hatched in November... one of them is not laying yet.... added 3 more eggs in the bator 0.0
(i feed them 16% poultry food pellets {devolve in water!!!}


What feed do you guys feed your quail???

 

[jeepster]

Mine are to young to lay eggs yet but I am feeding them Bluebonnet game bird starter crumbles. It has 30% protein and they eat it up fast.
If your feed has only 16% from what I read you will not get eggs.

 

[clawstar]

I get eggs, so dose they guy who recommended the feed to me

I even got 3 eggs a day from 2 hens for weeks in a row...

 

[jeepster]

Other sources of protein perhaps? Are they penned inside or out? could they be eating bugs?

 

[JJSS89]

Other sources of protein perhaps? Are they penned inside or out? could they be eating bugs?

They will still lay on low protein diets but...

1) eggs will lose quality/fertility
2) it is harder on the hens to create/lay and it shortens their life span
3) aggressiveness will be higher and general satisfaction will decrease

 

[dc3085]

Feeding chicken food to quail is equatable to raising a human child on top ramen noodles and nothing else. They'll lay just fine on chicken feed, still doesn't mean it's humane to feed. At the point you decide to raise animals that evolved on the other side of the planet, you have a responsibility to feed them as their biological needs dictate.

Another big downfall to chicken food is that quail roosters do not need much calcium at all, and the calcium levels in chicken feed can cause them organ failure.