quails not laying :(

[littlervheads]

so I'm worried my quail are still now laying yet and I know they don't lay over winter but they should be laying by now right ? they are on game bird feed and free range kinda

 

[Mark]

I know they don't lay over winter but they should be laying by now right ?

Yes, mine are laying now - they usually start laying in early spring as the daylight hours increase.

How old are your birds?

 

[littlervheads]

around 12 weeks old

 

[eggcentric]

Just wondering, did you acquire them recently? I only ask because two out of three of mine took forever to start laying (in fact, only finally started last week), and I attribute it in part to them taking awhile to acclimate to new surroundings. Mine were supposedly around eight weeks old when I brought them home, and we've had them for five weeks now. I'm guessing they were raised on wire, so being on wood chips, dried grass and leaves was totally foreign and it took awhile to get used to. It didn't take long for them to have a communal dust bath in their sandbox though, but I think that's just instinctual behaviour.
I have added different supplements to their diet in addition to their feed, including leafy greens such as Swiss chard and kale, sweet potato and sprouted grains and seeds. It might be worth adding some greens, etcetera, to see if that helps.

Also, this may be a stupid question, but are you sure they are hens?