- Thread starter
- #11
featheredplanets
Crowing
That sounds about right to me.
Thank you. I best do some research on quail moulting
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That sounds about right to me.
Quail can take 4-6 weeks to get back into laying after a move like yours have had. Hopefully they will start sharing their beautiful eggs with you soon once they feel more settled. 12-14 hours of light should be sufficient to stimulate them to lay.
If they weren't brought up with much human contact then unfortunately they won't be particularly friendly. Also if they were bred for production rather than selecting for calm birds then that works against them too.
Were they all in the same cage in their previous home? If not then that will be the reason they are fighting. Quail need to be integrated carefully and often personalities clash. If one group isn't used to another groups colour, for instance, they won't ever become a happy unit. Sometimes it's impossible to integrate certain birds and your best bet is to get some that have been handled a lot (like from someone breeding their pets), and who have grown up together. They are always the happiest groups.
Is the cage bare? Do they have a dust bath or obstacles to hide from one another? Did you research and confirm you have 4 females? None should have the red chest. It sounds like the males in my coops that fight when they reach 6 weeks. Lots of running and squawking.
I left 2 in one coop and they divided the coop in 2. The loser was always in the other half away from the dominant male. I separated them after figuring out what was happening.
Post pictures of the hens and the coop and we'll see if anything jumps out.
How much light per day are they getting? They need 14-16 hours of light/day to lay.
Can you post a picture of your cage setup? Make sure they have things to hide in/under—there might be something in their environment (e.g. nocturnal predators) bothering them.