Eggs in Winter?

[Thegamekeeper]

Its winter over here in ENGLAND, but all my quail hens are laying.

Thought they would of stopped by now as its cold weather and we have had snow.

 

[ra]

Well as I sit here this morn I hear lightning Mc Queen in the garage!

I will have to get some more, I had more but the dog...

.
We used to keep them outside and we will in the Spring just trying to get an egg! I will do more light and maybe? I keep everthing else the same and I keep them clean.I do not try to play patty finger with them, though they don't seem to be afraid of me.

 

[joe125]

Quote:
Yes, get your lighting right,abide by their "Sameness" routine, and you can't stop them from laying eggs. 33-99 deg. F.. Extremes on either side can hamper egg production, but chilly to us, doesn't bother them. Light is the key.

 

[ra]

Now one is pecking at the other one????? Help!

I just want a few eggs!!!

 

[Lelu]

I was having a bit of trouble getting eggs when I had my hens in the garage. I found even a little natural light ( opening the garage door for an hour) made a big difference. I have them outside now, but because of the fog it gets dark round four o clock. We use a 9$ grow light and the birds lay like clock work.

 

[ruthless]

Quote:
Ra, buttons really need to be in a warm area for the winter . They don't do well at all in the cold .

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
Ra, buttons really need to be in a warm area for the winter . They don't do well at all in the cold .

X2! Button Quail will die if they get chilled. I'm not sure of the temp conversions but I don't let mine go below 60 F & I think that's a bit on the cool side. I brought them inside when I was having a hard time keeping their aviary warmer than that.

 

[ra]

Ok, I will bring them in till I check the temp! I have a brooder in there with chicks that helps keep it warm.
Thanks!

 

[Trusted_9]

Hi,

I agree with what everyone has been telling you. For quail to lay eggs there is a combination of 3 elements that have to come together.

1. Proper diet.

2. Amount of light.

3. Temperature.

This is what works for me. Have the birds on a layer diet, this way they are provided the proper amount of nutrients, vitamins and protein.

If natural light is available in you garage, provide as much of that as possible. For using artificial lighting, fluorescent bulbs seem to work best for me and they use less electricity. I know that 14 hours of light should be enough but 16 hours does the job for my birds.

My quail seem to respond well to 60 F degrees.

I definitely agree with Joe on adding more females to help justify cost. The coturnix quail you have are 3.5 months old and if you can't get them laying now, by next Spring they will already have surpassed their peak laying age.

The pecking would indicate some kind of stress. That definitely has to be dealt with, you only have 2 in the cage so overcrowding is not an issue. I think you said that you have some buttons in a cage right next to them. So what would make the least amount of sense that would be causing the stress. Can your Coturnix actually see your buttons? That certainly shouldn't matter should it. So if they can see the buttons, I think that I would start by blocking their view of them. Second, they are definitely not overcrowded so I take some string and a couple old CD's and tie the string to the top of the cage and the other end to the CD and let the hang down in several areas of the cage. This will give them something else to peck on instead of each other.

I don't know if anything I have mentioned will help your situation, but they do work for me.

Good Luck

 

[ra]

Thanks! No they could not see the buttons at all. The pen has a nice divider.