so i search "quail laying boxes" and didn't find a thread. have corturnix (never can remember how to spell it) quail. assuming ,because there are no threads about it , you can't get quail to lay in a box or one spot. so just to make sure i'm asking......can you get quail to use a laying box like a chicken, or at least in the same spot???
I had don’t that too... searched all over for “laying box” for the quail... from what I have seen.. they don’t give a crap.. just drop and go However... I still had built a little box... just in case... and could go in for shelter too... all my quail take turns hanging out in in.. but not to lay.. just chill
The answer is yes and no. Sometimes certain hens may lay in a nest box. Most of the time they will lay wherever they are at the time the urge to lay hits. Oh, and it's spelled Coturnix!
I recall a couple of stories from people whose quail lay pretty consistently in the same place. I think one place was a hollow end of a log with some grass planted in front of it. The other I think was between logs that had been stacked to form a small cave and filled with hay. In my experience they usually lay in places with some kind of cover. I also recall reading that it helps if you leave an egg or two in the nest - makes them more likely to use it again.
My hens are in an aviary, and they lay in the same 3 places every day—a wicker hut, a bark "lodge", and at the base of their favorite ornamental grass. They don't need a literal nesting "box" to fall into a laying pattern. I still check for stray eggs, but seldom find them. Giving Coturnix lots of options for where they want to lay might teach you their favorites. Gathering is much easier when you can expect not to step on an egg.
My hens consistently use a cake pan with hay in it, which they make a nest out of, and their small sand box, a small storage bin.