Question of wording of "weeks"

MystOpal

Chirping
Joined
Oct 24, 2025
Messages
45
Reaction score
188
Points
76
Location
OH
Salutations,
I hope you are all doing well. This is most likely a silly question (and if it is I'll probably get sent down the pile pretty quickly 🤪), but when it comes to the wording of "a quail is whatever weeks" or "the whateverth week" does that mean the age they are approaching or the age they finished? Or is it a case by case thing?

Like when they say "laying by 10 weeks" does that mean it is the quails' 10th week of being alive, or is 10 weeks old? Or like "take the heat out on the fourth week" is it sometime before when they are technically four weeks old, like technically three weeks? (since I was counting the first week as their first week being alive)? Like how birthdays are based on the age that is of that day (we don't call newborns 1 year old). I don't know if that makes sense, but it's also not that big of a deal so if there's no real answer I guess it is what it is 🤷

For reference I had been calling my chicks when they were 1-7 days old on their first week, one week old on their second week, and so on. So is this like the wrong way to do it?

Have a great day,
Myst
 
I use that number as their age. So, coturnix quail can start laying as early as 5.5 weeks, but usually around 6 weeks during spring/summer, and as long as 12-16 weeks during fall/winter.
I see! Thank you so much for the answer!
 
I was never confused about this until I read your post.
By 10 weeks means they should be laying 10 weeks after they were born. I see it that way because it said "by" 10 weeks.
Take the heat out on the fourth week to me means anytime after 28 days from birth.
I call my birds one week old from day 7 to 13 after birth, two week old from day 14 until 20, and so on and so on. Before the 7th Day I just called them by how many days after hatch they are.
 
I was never confused about this until I read your post.
By 10 weeks means they should be laying 10 weeks after they were born. I see it that way because it said "by" 10 weeks.
Take the heat out on the fourth week to me means anytime after 28 days from birth.
I call my birds one week old from day 7 to 13 after birth, two week old from day 14 until 20, and so on and so on. Before the 7th Day I just called them by how many days after hatch they are.
Ah, that makes sense. So like baby ages. I didn't really think about how the ages worked until a couple of videos and articles I saw mentioned weeks differently, so I kinda made something out of nothing I guess. Thank you so much for the information!
 
Then you have horses, they officially turn one year old on Jan 1 of the next year, even if they are born December 23rd and only a week old, no need to be embarrassed by your confusion at all!
Thank you for saying that, the little bit of social anxiety I have was quaking in it's boots :)

I searched it up first, and since I couldn't get a straight answer I figured if this forum didn't have like twenty urgent quail questions going on I would ask (there was that person who had a quail hatching 🎉 but it was earlier in the morning and had several replies so I was like okay I feel like it's fine).

That's a fun tidbit about horses though, I never would have thought the ages of horses were so weird! No wonder horses have such a long face, they have to celebrate their birthdays together! 😂
 
I was never confused about this until I read your post.
By 10 weeks means they should be laying 10 weeks after they were born. I see it that way because it said "by" 10 weeks.
Take the heat out on the fourth week to me means anytime after 28 days from birth.
I call my birds one week old from day 7 to 13 after birth, two week old from day 14 until 20, and so on and so on. Before the 7th Day I just called them by how many days after hatch they are.
Leave it to Moony to provide clarification on this! :highfive:
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom