I've had my quail for about 15 weeks and they have never showed any signs in laying‽

[ManitobaQuail]

Definitely not a temperature thing, they just need 12-14 hours of light each day (we keep ours at 12 and they each lay about 4 to 5 eggs per week on average).

 

[igorsMistress]

Are you giving them calcium? How much protein does their feed have?

 

[RabbitsQuailsSilkies]

We're getting about 12 hours of light right now, but I think 14 is the magic number of hours to guarantee eggs. My chickens will be 3 years old in 3 weeks, and they started back laying in December... so I think the quail are just more light-sensitive. I don't think it's ever been a temperature issue because I'm in Tennessee where we sometimes get all 4 seasons in one week, and that has never bothered them.

Thank you that is super helpful!

 

[Ebony Rose]

Hi, I'm new here! I signed up because I love reading the posts on here to help me with my quails and silkies since I'm just now getting into them and I just realized how old my quails are. They are coturnix and at least 16-17 weeks old (I have three, unsure of gender but I've never heard any crowing). I was wondering if anyone else has had quails who haven't layed even at this age. They don't seem to be stressed. They are super calm and love playing in their dust bath but no laying. Ever. Thank you to anyone reading or helping!

I'm new to coturnix quail too, but have read quite a bit on the subject before I took the plunge. Coturnix quail are said to lay pretty much year round, while button quail lay during 'season'... that said, they need between 14 and 16 hours of (sun)light daily, if they're not getting natural sunlight, then green or red lights offer the best results, and blue light offers the worst result (and has reportedly resulted in death when only offered blue light). If their feed is not up to par for quail, and you cannot obtain 'game bird' feed or 'turkey' feed, then you can beef up their protein with some ground up dry cat food (typically it nears the 30% protein mark) which will go a long way to ensure that your girls are getting at least 24% protein. They also need minerals that are not in standard chicken feed (or the cat food), and for that I supplement with split yellow peas and white rice that I toss into the blender to break into smaller bits for them, one of them offers lysine and the other is methionine. Both are essential amino acids that your quail needs. My only other idea on why 4 month old quail aren't laying is that they're either all male, or all female. ALL males without a female may live together without fighting, since they haven't anything to fight about, and their crowing is nothing like that of a rooster, more of a trilling sound. ALL females without a male sometimes refuse to lay unless they have a 'boyfriend'. Hopefully you find this long post helpful.

 

[ManitobaQuail]

I'm new to coturnix quail too, but have read quite a bit on the subject before I took the plunge. Coturnix quail are said to lay pretty much year round, while button quail lay during 'season'... that said, they need between 14 and 16 hours of (sun)light daily, if they're not getting natural sunlight, then green or red lights offer the best results, and blue light offers the worst result (and has reportedly resulted in death when only offered blue light). If their feed is not up to par for quail, and you cannot obtain 'game bird' feed or 'turkey' feed, then you can beef up their protein with some ground up dry cat food (typically it nears the 30% protein mark) which will go a long way to ensure that your girls are getting at least 24% protein. They also need minerals that are not in standard chicken feed (or the cat food), and for that I supplement with split yellow peas and white rice that I toss into the blender to break into smaller bits for them, one of them offers lysine and the other is methionine. Both are essential amino acids that your quail needs. My only other idea on why 4 month old quail aren't laying is that they're either all male, or all female. ALL males without a female may live together without fighting, since they haven't anything to fight about, and their crowing is nothing like that of a rooster, more of a trilling sound. ALL females without a male sometimes refuse to lay unless they have a 'boyfriend'. Hopefully you find this long post helpful.

I don't think the part where "if they're all females sometimes they won't lay" is true. One of our hutches is all female and they lay all year round with 12 to 13 hours of lights. And lots of people in our area keep only females as well for eggs.

Just speaking from our experience

 

[CoturnixComplex]

I don't think the part where "if they're all females sometimes they won't lay" is true. One of our hutches is all female and they lay all year round with 12 to 13 hours of lights. And lots of people in our area keep only females as well for eggs.

Just speaking from our experience

It is sometimes true I have had females that stop laying without a bf. It's just not true *all* the time and some poeple get lucky.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

I'm new to coturnix quail too, but have read quite a bit on the subject before I took the plunge. Coturnix quail are said to lay pretty much year round, while button quail lay during 'season'... that said, they need between 14 and 16 hours of (sun)light daily, if they're not getting natural sunlight, then green or red lights offer the best results, and blue light offers the worst result (and has reportedly resulted in death when only offered blue light). If their feed is not up to par for quail, and you cannot obtain 'game bird' feed or 'turkey' feed, then you can beef up their protein with some ground up dry cat food (typically it nears the 30% protein mark) which will go a long way to ensure that your girls are getting at least 24% protein. They also need minerals that are not in standard chicken feed (or the cat food), and for that I supplement with split yellow peas and white rice that I toss into the blender to break into smaller bits for them, one of them offers lysine and the other is methionine. Both are essential amino acids that your quail needs. My only other idea on why 4 month old quail aren't laying is that they're either all male, or all female. ALL males without a female may live together without fighting, since they haven't anything to fight about, and their crowing is nothing like that of a rooster, more of a trilling sound. ALL females without a male sometimes refuse to lay unless they have a 'boyfriend'. Hopefully you find this long post helpful.

Not all females stop laying without a male. Some do though!

 

[Ebony Rose]

I mentioned the possibility of them all being one gender or the other because the original poster mentioned that they only have three quail... it would be unlucky to have all the same gender, but with only three birds, not unheard of.

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

Definitely not a temperature thing, they just need 12-14 hours of light each day (we keep ours at 12 and they each lay about 4 to 5 eggs per week on average).

Im not wholly convinced of that.. ihave doubt anyway. Jeres why: I hatched some coturnix out, they are just 8.5 weeks, they are inside with no extra light so get about 11 hours of filtered curtain light and have been laying for 1.5 weeks (about 11 days) My neighbor has the bros and sisters from this exact hatch outside and getting 12.5 hours of natural light and some artifical light, they have not laid a single egg, the biggest difference is the temp, and that his actually get MORE light! The groups split at 3 weeks, so it is definitely possible the husbandry is what the difference is between mine laying and his not... his are on wire, mine are on deep sand for bedding and get herbs and fruit and mealworm treats and are bigger and fatter than his are... he feeds the same chick starter but uses oyster shell, (no sand yet even tho we live in a desert!) And his quail wont eat any treats at all, probably because of the sand issue... he also has them divided up by male and female so im now wondering if that is affecting things too since some of you mentioned that...

 

[CayugaJana]

Try giving them some finely ground cat food. I can get most birds to start laying by doing this for about a week. Regardless of light and temperature.