Quail never reaching maturity?

[MomFoldingLaundry]

Hey guys,

Have any you guys experienced quail sometimes not ever reaching sexual maturity?

I have a coop of three quail, of which one is larger and two are smaller and none of them have ever reached adulthood. No foam. No eggs. I cant recall how old they are, but I have some that were born a month or two after them who ARE laying/producing foam.

Maybe they had a shock during development that stunted their development?

I dont know whether to cull them or not.

 

[Nabiki]

How much light per day are they getting? They need 14-16 hours of light per day to lay, and the males are more sexually active with more light as well.

 

[quailheart]

What type of quail are they? Coturnix? Bobwhite? My Bobwhites took over a year to start laying and breeding. It depends on their diet, nutrition, environment and amount of sunlight.

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

What type of quail are they? Coturnix? Bobwhite? My Bobwhites took over a year to start laying and breeding. It depends on their diet, nutrition, environment and amount of sunlight.

Mine are coturnix. They are mostly related to each other, but I do notice that some look and act like the “line” they came from.

Maybe some of my birds are just of a variety where they mature slower than others?

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

How much light per day are they getting? They need 14-16 hours of light per day to lay, and the males are more sexually active with more light as well.

They’re getting 12 hours a day right now, but all of my mature birds are laying.

 

[FloorCandy]

They’re getting 12 hours a day right now, but all of my mature birds are laying.

If you up the light to 15 hours a day they should start laying, once laying they will often keep laying with less, but naturally, chicks are meant to hatch and be ready to lay 6-8 weeks later, which is 2-3 months into the breeding season, they’re looking for summer light to start them the first time, not early spring light as the veterans start at.