Quail not laying!

[GoosesGeeses]

I have 20 coturnix quail, 12 being females. They are all over a year old now and. STILL DONT LAY. They have 22% chick mash, poultry electrolytes in their water, they live in a sheep's wool insulated shed with plenty of sunlight and fresh air, an outdoor run, and their bedding is pine shavings and fluffy hay for their nests. Any ideas?

 

[GoosesGeeses]

@Nabiki

 

[Nabiki]

You have too many males, for one. Coturnix do best with one male to five females or thereabouts. Too many males will stress the hens, and anything that stresses the hens will keep them from laying.

Common causes for not laying:

Not enough light - they need 14-16 hours of light per day.

Too many males - If there are too many males, the hens will often be overbred. This may cause injury or even death, but if you are lucky, you will simply not get any eggs.

Predators hanging around

Being moved or having their living area re-arranged

Not enough hiding places

 

[Nabiki]

Oh, I would also stop with the poultry electrolytes unless they're actually sick.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

Ok, thanks you. There are no predators other than a barn cat that peek in through the window once in a while. I can separate the males, i was planning on either butchering or selling them. Thanks for the replys.

 

[Susan Skylark]

They’re also getting kind of old. Are you sure you can sex them correctly? I never successfully bred rabbits because I could never sex the stupid things. Light is huge, but something as simple as a string of Christmas lights can keep them laying or induce it. It would be interesting to see how much and what kind of stress can affect laying, I’ve only had one chronically bullied hen that actually quit laying, otherwise I haven’t found weather extremes, rearranging pens, moving inside to out, illness and injury, getting tested for npip, or even 24 hours without water (water bottle malfunction) to stop the silly things. Weird, hope you figure it out!

 

[GoosesGeeses]

Only the oldest are a year old. But there is one quail who is 2 1/2 years old and doesnt lay but likes sitting on eggs (when there are eggs). The rest are around 6 to 8 months old. I will separate the majority of the males and get some solar lights in there.

 

[Hasan995]

You have too many males, for one. Coturnix do best with one male to five females or thereabouts. Too many males will stress the hens, and anything that stresses the hens will keep them from laying.

Common causes for not laying:

Not enough light - they need 14-16 hours of light per day.

Too many males - If there are too many males, the hens will often be overbred. This may cause injury or even death, but if you are lucky, you will simply not get any eggs.

Predators hanging around

Being moved or having their living area re-arranged

Not enough hiding places

Youre right man.

I cant believe.Quails start laying eggs at 45 days after birth.
1. Best formula is 1 male + 5 females ,try to put it in cage 65cm x 40cm with heigh of 30cm.(They need to reduce loosing energy)
2.put warm bulb in cage and protect that bulb cuz they can destroy it.They need light minimum 16 hours per day (natural or electric) and must have temperature 18-22 which is ideal.
3.they dont like noise and other domestical animals arround like dog,cats and predators.This can be reason why they dont laying eggs.
4.find them best possible food for chickens that laying eggs.

Do this ,and after maximum 5 days they need to start with eggs. Write us your results.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

I got the all but 2 males in a separate enclosure. They now have a solar light, and i put a few more places for them to hide in there too. Right away one of the calico quail went in and is STILL in there. She is definitely comfortable and feels safe in there. I haven't checked yet, i didn't want to disturb her, but she may have laid an egg. I will keep you updated.

 

[Nabiki]

I got the all but 2 males in a separate enclosure. They now have a solar light, and i put a few more places for them to hide in there too. Right away one of the calico quail went in and is STILL in there. She is definitely comfortable and feels safe in there. I haven't checked yet, i didn't want to disturb her, but she may have laid an egg. I will keep you updated.

It may take up to two weeks for them to start laying once they're comfortable.