Jumbo Coturnix not laying

[rek9]

Hello all,

I got my first 15 quail last July, raised them up and got another 12 last November and raised them up and all survived the winter. I have been mixing 30% protein game bird starter with layer feed for approximately 24-25% overall protein. All birds are housed in a 4x7 hutch off the ground. Roosters are crowing, everyone seems happy, healthy and not beat up and eating like crazy. Before last winter I was only getting about two eggs a day and once winter hit all egg production stopped. Now that it has warmed up slightly I have yet to get one egg while my 8 chickens are giving me several eggs a day. The only thing I can think of is that maybe my ratio of male to female could be contributing to stress causing the lack of laying. I believe I have about a 50/50 ratio as I have not had time to build another hutch to separate out the smaller roosters which I will eventually butcher. Was really hoping I could raise quail for meat and eggs but at this rate I am just feeding them with no return on investment. I did notice some possible raccoon activity last fall and winter around the hutch but no birds have been hurt. Located in central Indiana. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[RoosterML]

I’m just starting to get eggs myself. I added a light to come on at 6 am. 1 to 4 or 1 to 5 m/f ratio for your birds. Personally and I’m no expert by any means but your protein seems high shoot for 20% protein with 2.5% + calcium. Those with much more experience should chime in pretty soon
I always hear if birds get scared they will stop laying.

 

[Quaicken108]

Well some of the contributors that I was going to mention you already did. Laying can be affected from age, daylight hours, sickness and injuries and stress from space, pecking order and predators. If you think that some of these might be occurring than that’s why they aren’t laying yet but hopefully they’ll start up soon!

 

[NY Coturnix]

As was said you probably need to add extra light. Also male to female ratio should be 1 to 4 or 5 not 50/50. You need to remove those extra males. I'm surprised they aren't fighting awful and over breading your hens. Over stressing the hens won't help egg production.

 

[Nabiki]

Are these coturnix quail? If so, I see several problems.
1. You have 27 birds in 28 square feet. If you have feeders and waterers in there too, that's less the 1 square foot/bird. Do you have hiding places in there for them too?
2. You have way too many boys. It should be 1 boy to 3-5 hens, and only 1 per pen.
3. If you're doing a 50/50 mix with the layer feed, they're not getting enough calcium unless you're offering something on the side.

Anything that is stressing your hens (including too many boys) will stop them from laying. They also need about 14-16 hours of light per day to lay.

 

[rek9]

Yes these are coturnix and I accidentally said 27 when I actually have 23 so they are okay on space. I do agree I have way too many males but unfortunately have been way too busy recently to build another hutch or to butcher. I have been wanting to expand my numbers by buying an incubator and trying my hand at hatching. I have just been frustrated by at least getting 2 eggs a day in the late fall when daylight hours had decreased and now none. I will definitely get some calcium. Thanks for all the input.

 

[NY Coturnix]

try adding lights as well if you can. The ones I use are $5 for a 20 foot strand at Walmart and I just used clips to hang them from the ceiling of my pen.

Good luck.

 

[rek9]

Will do. Thanks for all the info.