Just bought 5 coturnix quails ( 4 females & 1 male). keeping them at my valcony. we have to go to the valcony several times a day? seeing us the quails jump inside their cage and try to escape. Are we stressing the quails or they will be familiar with us in a few days? They are about 4-5 weeks of age. How long should I wait for them to start laying? Note : Sorry For my bad English...
At that age and being new to you they are very uncomfortable with you. You may want to handle them each day to fix that. They should start to lay between weeks 6 and 8 assuming that light and stress are not an issue.
They should get familiar with you in a few days you might try talking to them before you get to close so they will get use to your voice. I've had them start laying at 6 weeks to about 10 weeks depends a lot on how much sun light they get. they need about 14 hour of light a day to lay.
I have another question. Is 20% protein layer chick starter ok for them? and one of my quails look tired immediately after laying an egg. Is it normal?
You should aim for something with at least 24% protein. Gamebird and turkey starters is usually the way to go. And make sure you give them extra calcium, crushed oyster shell in a separate dish works well.
