Don’t lay

[Silkiechicken66]

So I have a little flock of coturnix. 3 females to a male. They are 15 weeks old. They get quail feed. Offer oyster shells weekly.

Haven’t gotten a single egg from them. Is there something I’m doing wrong? Their enclosure isn’t cramped, it’s 5x5. Proper feed. Help appreciated!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Where are you located? My first guess is that the daily light period is too short. Try adding a few hours of light at the beginning of the day.

 

[mixedUPturk]

i agree with chickencanoe but i want to add that if things are changing in their setup then that will keep them from laying too. When i first began i was pulling everyone from each cage to hose it out each wk and they didnt start laying til i laid off. Could also be getting harrased by any kind of critter thru the wire and stressing them out, keeping them from laying. Coturnix are sort of touchy but oh so worth it once your past the learning curve best of luck!

 

[Silkiechicken66]

Missed a day of checking and came back to these!

 

[Ebony Rose]

In Oklahoma. Currently getting 12ish hours of light. They’re located outside and sun comes up around 7-8am, and goes away 7-8pm.

That's your problem then. Minimum 14, ideally 16 hours of light needed daily for reliable egg production. (Doesn't mean you won't get the odd egg with less light, simply means that the odds are stacked against you.)

 

[Ebony Rose]

The light problem is easily remedied, and usually at nominal expense. It costs me $5 more monthly in electricity for me to run one light bulb (used in my brooder for heat) & my incubator non-stop (Farm Innovations 4250); I believe I'm paying some $0.30 per kilowatt hour (they've reduced the font size on the bill and I'm no longer able to read it). You can probably get the light handled by much cheaper solutions, such as the new lightbulbs that use less juice... I use the old fashioned bulbs because I specifically want the heat from them to brood my chicks (always double check when buying them to make sure they've got no teflon coating on them); can't get the heat from the newfangled bulbs. The size of my flock warrants the added expense in electricity as I have three breeding pens with (currently) 10 birds each (9 hens per cock), plus a grow out pen that currently contains 13 juveniles (meat), a brooder with 42 quail chicks (gifting this hatch to a neighbor, get them hooked), a bantam hen that's brooding 2 of her own eggs plus a handful of quail eggs, and a brooder pen with six bantam chicks. Counting only egg production from my three breeding pens, I'm getting 56-60 (more or less) dozen eggs per month. I hard boil about 20 dozen eggs monthly, store them in-shell in the fridge as treats for dogs, handy go-to snacks for chickens (the yolk is their favorite, feed the whites to the dogs), and egg salad sandwiches. You may think that with your meager flock of three laying hens that the electricity might be wasted on your girls... I don't think so. 3 hens laying 2.5 eggs daily (I round down on guestimates) is still over 6 dozen eggs per month. You surely cannot buy quail eggs for the price of feed and electricity.
Mkay, that's my 2 cents worth, and food for thought for you to consider.

 

[Silkiechicken66]

Where are you located? My first guess is that the daily light period is too short. Try adding a few hours of light at the beginning of the day.

In Oklahoma. Currently getting 12ish hours of light. They’re located outside and sun comes up around 7-8am, and goes away 7-8pm.

 

[Feathers Brady]

Patience patience patience.

 

[el dorado quail]

What protein % is your quail food?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What protein % is your quail food?

Excellent question. I too am curious what the crude protein % was throughout the 15 weeks. That would be enlightening.