Coturnix Quail not laying

[rhmcdowell]

I bought 6 (5 hens and 1 roo) Japanese Coturnix quail two weeks ago. They are supposed to be August/Sept hatch-ling. I brought them home fully expecting them to begin laying nearly immediately. I have yet to get an egg. I'm giving them 23% protein show bird feed at the moment until I can get some 27-30% Purena Gamebird Startena. What do I need to do to get these girls going?

 

[Ulaidian]

A bit of time till they settle probably.. bad time of year as well, with the days getting shorter etc Maybe they are younger than you though even?

 

[Farmboy101]

The birds need at least 14 hours of sunlight to lay.

 

[TLC Mini Farm]

Hang in there. We just got our first egg today...they are 15 weeks old. When I brought them home at 3 weeks old back in August, I was certain I would see eggs by mid-September. They have been on turkey starter at 28% protein since I brought them home. The shorter days are also a factor so needless to say, we were actually SHOCKED to see an egg today...it's a great surprise since we have been waiting for a long time. It will happen...

 

[Acre4Me]

I bought 6 females, 1 male about 12 days ago. They have given us approx 18 eggs - which is not a lot for this many females old enough to lay. I bought from a breeder, and they have them systematically sorted by age, with two laying eggs before we left the breeder! These birds seemed stressed and nervous overall, so I tried a few things: a flattened box on top of their cage, for starters and this actually seemed to calm them, however, they were scared anytime I had to remove and put the box back on - seeing as how they are prey animals, this made some sense so I moved the box to cover the front (and left the 3 remaining sides and top opened to the light - with hardware cloth, of course!).

2 days ago, I went back to the breeder and purchased 6 more quail: 1 male and 5 females, along with some eggs to attempt to incubate. These new batch of quail are 100pct more chilled out than the first group, and they have stayed that way. In addition, the first batch seem to have chilled out a bit too. I placed these cages side by side, with their feed trays on the same side so each group face each other when they eat.

In order to help distract the first batch of nervous quail, I have tried some treats and they like cooked egg, chopped cabbage, and apple a lot - only giving them a treat once per day/not every day. I also put a cuttlebone into the cage, attached to the side, and they really seem to like this as it is getting disintegrated. They are being fed Purina Mixed Flock crumbles. I inadvertently bought Game Bird Starter that is medicated, and I don't think I should feed adult quail medicated feed (this is just an assumption, I really don't know) and so the Purina feed was what I could get at my local store that had a higher protein content as compared to the other feeds available.

Anyway, good luck - I'm going through similar issues as well. Hopefully you'll get a reliable egg source beginning soon.

 

[Tiny dinosaurs]

I’m wondering if mine are too old my dad bought 4 birds for me initially a bad start for 1 it was a bad ratio 2-2 two Roos two hens one Roo died in the first week and they all looked pretty tatty the man who gave them to him said they were 5 weeks, I bought them a nice hutch and put them out on the porch. It’s been months and I’ve added two new ladies who are in perfect health from a different breeder last month they laid there first day and a day and almost every day since, the previous hens however haven’t laid once. Is it possible there old and the guy lied to us or just not healthy one seemingly has gape but otherwise is healthy my father did say the guy was weird (and not actually very friendly)and had about 300 quail in a coop, he could have picked the worst birds to give up, I’m still happy to have them they have good character and are fun to watch but sad the two hens don’t lay despite the Roos efforts, he’s rather timid to the new girls one looks to be part jumbo as she’s quite big and the other is rude to him and Italian color, great layers though and very interactive three of my hens hop for treats and take them from my hand there very friendly but the white one with the possible gape is quiet and shy but loves food, I give them apple cider vinegar for parasites and it works really well she hardly does the gaping thing anymore... sorry for this long post I just wish I knew how to help I don’t fuss over them and they come to see what I’m doing when I step out they have lots of room and seem quite happy but the two odd hens just don’t and never have laid an egg.

 

[mdees88]

Coturnix can take up to a month to start laying after you stress them out by transporting them. Also a bird that has been laying already will take longer to start laying after it has been moved.

Ideally you want to buy 4-5 week old birds that have never laid before.

They need 14+ hours of light and the less you "fool" with them the better. They will lay with the 23% but I would bump it up as soon as you can... mine started laying 2 days after I switched from 24 to 30%, maybe just a coincidence.

I bought some 5 week old birds and it was 4.5 weeks till my first egg and 6 weeks till all were laying.

I hatched my own birds and the 1st one started laying at 6 weeks 2 days, all were laying by 8 weeks.