Quail at 8 weeks old not laying eggs

[HATCHERMAN11]

Hello! I have an 8 week old quail hen who hasn’t started laying yet. I fed her on 20% chick starter since that was the only thing I could find in my area but it seemed to work fine and I’ve heard of other people using chick starter for quails. I originally hatched out 4 quails, unfortunately i got 3 males and one hen. I went away for a few days and thought that they would be fine but when i came back the roosters had beaten up the hen and she had a big wound on her head so i had to separate her. That was about 2 weeks ago so she is fully healed now. I culled 2 roosters and kept the nicest one. I’ve just reintroduced the rooster with the hen. They seem to be getting along fine but can i keep a 1:1 ratio or is there a risk that the hen could get damaged again? I’m not sure if these things could be a reason to why she isn’t laying eggs yet?

 

[Fenrisulfr]

Depending on light time and temperature, laying can be delayed. Last year my hatch from autumn took 14 weeks, till they layed eggs.

Also Starter Feed is most times quite low on calcium.
If you have only Starter availible, you should also offer some mineral grid or give additional calcium with the water. Quail need about 3.5% to 4% calcium in their nutrition diet.

And stress can make them stop laying (or even not stsrt), no matter which stress.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Mealworms and extra light usually work for me. Also, eight weeks is still early. Quail can take longer sometimes, as @Fenrisulfr noted. None of mine started at 8 weeks. I usually expect something starting around 10-12 weeks.

 

[HillGuy]

Most of my birds were hatched this past summer. The majority took until at least 14 weeks to start laying. Then the daylight got shorter, they molted and stopped laying for several weeks. They're laying now that I setup lighting for them.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

By the way, if I could keep all my quail 1:1, I'd be happy. I'd play quail matchmaker and build each winged couple beautiful dollhouse coops. For most of us, that's just not practical.

So, to answer your question, 1:1 is not only fine, they'll probably be good for each other paired up.

 

[FloorCandy]

Hello! I have an 8 week old quail hen who hasn’t started laying yet. I fed her on 20% chick starter since that was the only thing I could find in my area but it seemed to work fine and I’ve heard of other people using chick starter for quails. I originally hatched out 4 quails, unfortunately i got 3 males and one hen. I went away for a few days and thought that they would be fine but when i came back the roosters had beaten up the hen and she had a big wound on her head so i had to separate her. That was about 2 weeks ago so she is fully healed now. I culled 2 roosters and kept the nicest one. I’ve just reintroduced the rooster with the hen. They seem to be getting along fine but can i keep a 1:1 ratio or is there a risk that the hen could get damaged again? I’m not sure if these things could be a reason to why she isn’t laying eggs yet?

Are these coturnix quail? Coturnix do best in a 4-5 female to 1 male ratio. If it’s button or bobwhites you can set up 1:1, but coturnix males will easily over breed their lady if they only have one recipient.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Are these coturnix quail? Coturnix do best in a 4-5 female to 1 male ratio. If it’s button or bobwhites you can set up 1:1, but coturnix males will easily over breed their lady if they only have one recipient.

Oops, didn't know this. The guy I bought one set of quail from had just 1:1 and they got along fine -- of course, he had a huge setup in his backyard. They were his pets.

Also, his hen went broody and actually hatched out nine chicks before proceeding to start to kill them. He rescued eight.

 

[HATCHERMAN11]

Are these coturnix quail? Coturnix do best in a 4-5 female to 1 male ratio. If it’s button or bobwhites you can set up 1:1, but coturnix males will easily over breed their lady if they only have one recipient.

Yes these are coturnix quail. I’m planning on hatching out a few more and hope for more females.

 

[FloorCandy]

Oops, didn't know this. The guy I bought one set of quail from had just 1:1 and they got along fine -- of course, he had a huge setup in his backyard. They were his pets.

It’s easy to get some info wrong because people will say “quail” and not specify species. So perhaps he had just read something saying quail do best 1 to 1. But coturnix males are very interested in constantly mating and will harass their ladies all the time, it’s best to let him spread his attention over several hens. Even then, sometimes you’ll get a pair that only likes each other, sometimes you’ll have a male with 5 hens, and he has a favorite who need a break every few days because he’s always on her, and she’s losing neck feathers, it depends on the birds really, but the ratio with the best chance of success is 4 or 5 to 1.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

It’s easy to get some info wrong because people will say “quail” and not specify species. So perhaps he had just read something saying quail do best 1 to 1. But coturnix males are very interested in constantly mating and will harass their ladies all the time, it’s best to let him spread his attention over several hens. Even then, sometimes you’ll get a pair that only likes each other, sometimes you’ll have a male with 5 hens, and he has a favorite who need a break every few days because he’s always on her, and she’s losing neck feathers, it depends on the birds really, but the ratio with the best chance of success is 4 or 5 to 1.

Honestly, I'm beginning to see them more as I do people. Just 1:1, they're like an old couple, doing their own thing and not necessarily breeding all the time. Put a couple of extra hens in there for the roo, and suddenly he's a playboy. Always seems like there is one girl he likes best and he does all he can to make it clear. That's the one the ends up bald and harried before we do the quail shuffle all over again.

Or maybe I just have quail with strong personalities?!