Have Quail and have questions.

[Foghorn Rock]

Well my mother found out that I was raising chickens so the other day she decided I needed a dozen white cortunix Quail so she bought them and dropped them off on me.After doing some research I built a pen that should hold 30 but I still have a few questions.By the way they are 2 that are 6 weeks old and 10 that are 4 weeks,2 male 10 females.First question is how much light is needed for them to lay year round?and if I want to incubate the eggs.do I just save them up and put them all in at the same time,and I assume that they cant be refrigerated?These may be stupid questions I know but I am pretty stupid where quail are concerned.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Not stupid questions, but I do know there is a LOT of information out there on the internet regarding Coturnix.
Suggested is 16-17 hours of daylight (can be supplemented with artificial) for year round laying. But don't forget - laying eggs depletes minerals and such from the birds, so it's good to give them 2-3 months off in the winter.
Save the eggs up just like chicken eggs - keep them around 50°F - don't know about refrigerating. I would just leave them in a cool place out of the sun, in a carton small end pointed down.
Good luck! I love my Coturnix...

 

[Foghorn Rock]

thanks,one other question.do I need to make nest boxes and what size or do they just lay anywhere in the pen?

 

[Mrs MIA]

I have mine on 1/2" hardware cloth (once they're full grown), and they just lay on the wire - keeps the eggs clean. Otherwise, if you use bedding material, they will likely lay wherever they want. I couldn't get mine to use a box, but that doesn't mean yours won't.