New to quail, need some questions answered

[Slaz Quail]

I recently got my hands on 16 Japanese quail about 3 weeks or so ago i have them in a 7'x7' flight pen with a hide box.(Pictures below), is do have supplemental lighting in the form of some solar lights. sun rises here at south west Az at 7:45 am and i turn the lights off at 10:00 pm.

My questions are;
What is the estimated time will they start producing eggs?

Can my neighbors back lights/street light mess with the egg production?

Any tips and tricks will also be appreciated.

 

[BReeder!]

I recently got my hands on 16 Japanese quail about 3 weeks or so ago i have them in a 7'x7' flight pen with a hide box.(Pictures below), is do have supplemental lighting in the form of some solar lights. sun rises here at south west Az at 7:45 am and i turn the lights off at 10:00 pm.

My questions are;
What is the estimated time will they start producing eggs?

Can my neighbors back lights/street light mess with the egg production?

Any tips and tricks will also be appreciated.

I'm no expert here, but I believe they start laying around 8-10 weeks of age. As for lighting, longer periods of light are better I imagine. You are giving about 13 hours. I have read that 14 hours is ideal. I have 1 live quail and a bunch of eggs in the incubator. I just rescued the live 1 yesterday, so I'm not familiar with their egg production cycles yet. I do have chickens though, and with my chickens 8-10 hours of light is still sufficient in my case. I haven't been providing supplemental light in their coop until I just moved them to the new coop yesterday, and they still laid through the winter so far except for molting. We have been getting 3 eggs a day on average form 6 hens (there's 7 hens total but 1 has not started laying eggs at all yet since she is just coming of age to begin doing so now). I wouldn't worry much about neighbors lights and street lights. If it bothers the birds, they have the box to go into. Just make sure the box provides cover from lights - point the opening away from any street lights or neighbors lights.

 

[quails-n-tails]

they will lay after 8 weeks. are you sure you have females? lol this happens too

 

[le_bwah]

My quail live equidistant between the back porch light and a street light, but no funny laying here. You might want to check if you've got as many hens as you think you do—those goldens in particular look suspiciously rooster-ish.

 

[Slaz Quail]

they will lay after 8 weeks. are you sure you have females? lol this happens too

I did check their butts, and i didnt/couldn't see any foam or bulges on the tail end. They are all about a year old. Im just waiting for them to start breeding so i can make a head count.

 

[igorsMistress]

I live in Phoenix and my quail are 4 months old. They just started laying but i didn't give any extra light during the winter. There's a street light or two they might be able to see right now but that didn't promote laying.

What are you feeding them?

 

[CoturnixComplex]

I did check their butts, and i didnt/couldn't see any foam or bulges on the tail end. They are all about a year old. Im just waiting for them to start breeding so i can make a head count.

Careful not to base your hen count on who's getting mounted. The boys, ahem, aren't picky. Best to make sure they're getting 12-14 hours of light a day and see who lays, or vent sex them by actually squeezing the vent for foam. If you haven't seen any breeding behavior there is the possibility the vents will be dry on males at the moment anyways. A crow is a pretty good indication of a boy but not foolproof.

 

[Slaz Quail]

I live in Phoenix and my quail are 4 months old. They just started laying but i didn't give any extra light during the winter. There's a street light or two they might be able to see right now but that didn't promote laying.

What are you feeding them?

Im feeding them
Nutrena NatureWise All Flock 20% Pellet

 

[igorsMistress]

Im feeding them
Nutrena NatureWise All Flock 20% Pellet

I believe they need at least 24% protein to perform well as layers. Maybe that would help.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Im feeding them
Nutrena NatureWise All Flock 20% Pellet

I believe they need at least 24% protein to perform well as layers. Maybe that would help.

They do, they need a minimum of 24% throughout their life and ideally closer to 28-30% as chicks/before 6 weeks of age.