New to Quail

[amandastiles]

Hello. I'm new to Backyard Chickens and new to raising Quail. I just have two right now. I'm told they are female. We got them about a month and a half ago when they were 4 weeks old. I read they would begin to lay at about 7 weeks but still nothing from them. I'm wondering if they are even female. I live in Colorado and they live in a rabit hutch outside. Oncold days I keep their heat lamp on all day but when its warm its on from 5 pm to about 9 am. It's a red lamp. So they have light 24 hours pretty much.

I'm also wondering how often and what sources of protein I should feed. They are on non medicated chick started feed now and eat and drink well. Thanks in advance for the advice!

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[Del1977]

I live in Australia, so plenty of warmth and daylight here, yet my two females didn't start laying until they were 11 weeks old. I have had them lay from as young as 6-7 weeks old so not sure why these two took so long to start.

I've be breeding quail on a very small scale for about 2 years and still have a lot to learn so hopefully someone with more experience will come along, but I don't think a red lamp provides the right light to encourage laying. I think...and I stress I think, they need white light. But they might just not be ready yet like mine.

 

[amandastiles]

Great news! I finally got some eggs! Found 2 yesterday. Either they both chose to lay for the first time on the same day or we missed it the first day. I guess patience pays off after all.

 

[Del1977]

Yay!!!

 

[Jkraft]

I live in the US. We are getting about 9 hours of daylight and temperatures are dropping for winter (high 60s, low 40s). I haven't got a single egg from my quail since the daylight savings ended and time went back an hour, November 1st. They are texas a&m quail. I purchased 2 laying hens. Only 1 laid a egg every since I had them which has been several months. My chickens lay eggs even with the daylight and temperatures changes but not the quail. Is this typical for winter? I'm a first time quail owner.

 

[dc3085]

Genetics and stress play a big factor in new birds laying. Birds raised onsite will usually lay much more quickly than birds that have been relocated due to stress but some lines just dont start till closer to 12 weeks. All coturnix should have layed at least an egg by 12 weeks though or something is up.

 

[Invision]

I live in the US. We are getting about 9 hours of daylight and temperatures are dropping for winter (high 60s, low 40s). I haven't got a single egg from my quail since the daylight savings ended and time went back an hour, November 1st. They are texas a&m quail. I purchased 2 laying hens. Only 1 laid a egg every since I had them which has been several months. My chickens lay eggs even with the daylight and temperatures changes but not the quail. Is this typical for winter? I'm a first time quail owner.

If you want eggs up the time of daylight they get to minimum of 14 hours. should take a couple of weeks for them to start laying.

 

[Invision]

So they have light 24 hours pretty much.

I would start cutting back on the light down to just 14 hours, also start backing off on the heat lamp because if your power goes out your birds will freeze because they were not adapted to the current weather. Or you'll end up having to bring them inside...

 

[Invision]

Birds also need sleep and to much light can cause stress once they are adults...

 

[Jkraft]

@dc3085 Thank you! Now that I do the math it has been more than 12 weeks before the hours changed so maybe something is wrong with it? They both eat and drink well. It was a small local farm and all the quail looked healthy. At what age do they stop laying?

@Invision Thank you! I would have to bring them inside the garage to give them light so I think I will just let nature do it's course. I originally started with them in the garage but they have a odor to them that bothers me so I brought them out.