Debate: When do Quail Start Laying Eggs?

[Oob Child]

When do quail start laying eggs? According to google they start at 6-8 weeks, but some websites say 4 weeks.

Let's settle this debate, when do quail start laying?

 

[le_bwah]

Egg-laying is a light-regulated behavior, but other factors like genetics, food availability, and environmental stressors can influence when an individual hen will lay. Quail don't look at a calendar.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Mine started one day before 6 weeks and two started a week later

 

[Nabiki]

The earliest I've had them start was 5.5 weeks, the latest, about 12 weeks. They will start laying earlier when the days are getting longer. It will take them longer to start to lay in fall/winter when the days are short.

They need at least 14 hours of light per day to lay regularly. There are exceptions (for example, I had one hen lay almost daily all of last winter without extra light), but that's a good general rule.

 

[CliftonQuail]

My experience is close to @Nabiki . I've had coturnix quail start laying a few days before their 6th week, but I don't think I've had any go as long as 12 before starting.

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

Anecdotally, mine are 9.5 weeks old and only 2/5 have started laying so far (maybe 3 but it’s hard to tell). I get between 1-3 eggs/day between the 5 of them. I expect the others to start any day now.

 

[sleepycat]

in my opinion the average age is around 10 weeks. earliest is definitely 5-6 weeks and latest is 12-14 weeks.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The earliest I've had them start was 5.5 weeks, the latest, about 12 weeks. They will start laying earlier when the days are getting longer. It will take them longer to start to lay in fall/winter when the days are short.

They need at least 14 hours of light per day to lay regularly. There are exceptions (for example, I had one hen lay almost daily all of last winter without extra light), but that's a good general rule.

Mmy last batch took at least that long. I think even longer though because then it was winter. I think mine were like 4 or 5 months by the time I got eggs

 

[Wandering_r0gue]

I had some start right around 6 weeks.... I'm at about 8 or 9 weeks right now, and I am up to about 12 eggs per day out of 15 hens.

I don't know if the other 3 aren't laying, or, there's just a bit of a rotation, as I know it isn't exactly 1 egg per day.

 

[GemW]

This is my first time quail owning. I have one that started at 6 weeks on the dot. And she lays one every day at the same time like clockwork. We're at week 7 and no one else has started yet. I think there were some stress issues from too many males, which we have fixed. But the one that laid was definately in the more stressful pen.