When will quails lay/breed and can bobwhites and crotunixl I've together.

[mallard_maniac]

I have 15 bobwhites their age is 6 weeks(2male rest are female.) and 2 bobwhites their age is 6 months(1 male and 1 female.) They live in a spacious shed right now but I'm planning to move them to a big chicken run for more sunlight and air. I need to know when the bobwhites and coturnix will laying eggs. I also need to know what age they will start breeding and laying fertile eggs. I think the bobwhitess should have started laying eggs but have not yet. Please let me know.
I'm feeding them 30% protein feed.

Thank you

 

[Nabiki]

Coturnix quail generally start laying at about 6 weeks of age. This can vary depending on stress levels, amount of light they're getting per day, and male to female ratio.

Bobwhites are seasonal layers and usually lay in late spring to early summer if I'm remembering correctly (@007Sean ?).

 

[mallard_maniac]

Coturnix quail generally start laying at about 6 weeks of age. This can vary depending on stress levels, amount of light they're getting per day, and male to female ratio.

Bobwhites are seasonal layers and usually lay in late spring to early summer if I'm remembering correctly (@007Sean ?).

do they need direct sunlight? and what age will they start breeding and what can I do to make them lay eggs faster

 

[Nabiki]

Coturnix quail do not need direct sunlight, but they do need at least 14-16 hours of light per day.

They usually start breeding at about the same age as they start laying, but I wouldn't set any eggs until they've been laying for a couple weeks.

The best thing to encourage egg laying is to make sure that they have enough light and are relaxed and happy. This means making sure that there aren't too many males, they have enough space, plenty of places to hide. Make sure there aren't any predators hanging around, don't move them around.

 

[007Sean]

If you don't care about their welfare, you can put them under lights their entire lives....which will be very much shortened by doing so....Bobwhites, you can do the same thing but it will greatly shorten their life span due to the fact they are seasonal breeders.
You could get 'away with it', if they are Coturnix due to the fact that they have much more shortened life spans in general, than other species of quail.

If you hatched your Bob's last spring/summer, they should be mature and breeding this spring/summer.