Why are my quail not laying eggs? taking all opinions and ideas

[shotgunrem14]

I have around 50 Texas A&M Quail in the same pen. 15 are 6-7 weeks old and the rest are at least 9-15 weeks old. Right now I have them housed in a 7' x 12' pen I built. I have had only 1 quail that started laying about a week ago and I have gotten 4 eggs off her so far. my question(s) are what the heck am I doing wrong and how I can fix it and get them laying at max production?

 

[dc3085]

-24% protein feed
-Freely feed oyster shells
-Keep stress low--> make sure yo don't have predators prowling around your cages (coons will spend hours trying to find a way in literally hours, no joke)
-Manage light cycle--->14-16 hours uninterrupted full spectrum light with 8 hour dark period (if there are porch lights and like shining at night it can screw them up)
-Make sure they aren't molting.

If you're doing all that then it may be social stress watch for fighting or picking and remove the aggressor.

 

[shotgunrem14]

i am seeing an unusual amount of feathers all in the pen. so I am assuming they are molting. how long will this go on for? Do they molt for winter?
And I don't think that the coons is an issue. I had 2 eggs in there today but that is not many when I'm assuming I have at least 30+ females in there. I am going to vent sex them again today and tomorrow to come up with a better, more accurate count of male to female ratio. Is the pen too open for them to lay? do they lay better in small cages like GQF Breeding cages?

 

[dc3085]

i am seeing an unusual amount of feathers all in the pen. so I am assuming they are molting. how long will this go on for? Do they molt for winter?
And I don't think that the coons is an issue. I had 2 eggs in there today but that is not many when I'm assuming I have at least 30+ females in there. I am going to vent sex them again today and tomorrow to come up with a better, more accurate count of male to female ratio. Is the pen too open for them to lay? do they lay better in small cages like GQF Breeding cages?

They molt this time of year if your light is right. Give them a month to replace all their feathers and they should be right back on schedule if they don't start up in 4 weeks then put a light on them to bring the daylight period to 16 hours.

GQF cages don't make them lay better. They will however ensure that your hens have few or no feathers on their heads and backs and even your roosters backs will look bad from them walking over each other to get to the front and back of each compartment. They work but the birds in them always look like hell. We generally say 1 sq foot per bird for health and stress, but a fully utilized GQF cage puts 3 birds in 1.5 sq ft +/-.

 

[shotgunrem14]

I do not like the "battery style" of raising animals. I just didn't know if they laid better when they literally have no where else to go and nothing to do. Exactly how bright should the pen be lit up? also with winter approaching does it have to be warm inside the pen or a certain degree for them to lay or will they lay fine as long as the light cycle is at 16 hours?

 

[dc3085]

There is actually quite a bit to the proper lighting of birds. This link contains a lot of research on the subject.