How long do quail live? In practice 18 to 20 months — and how long do they lay?

Quail kept for laying live 18 to 20 months in practice; the keepers' literature gives two to four years, and that applies to birds nobody keeps for performance. The economic laying life is shorter still: the peak lies in the first laying period, and in many flocks the birds are replaced after about a year of laying, because performance declines gradually after that. A hen that no longer lays therefore often lives on for another half a year and longer — the question is whether you want to keep her.

Lifespan and laying life are two different numbers

The lifespan is the time a bird lives if nobody intervenes. In a laying flock that keeps its hens through two laying periods, that is 18 to 20 months in our experience — not because they are slaughtered then, but because the birds die off of their own accord around that age. The keepers' literature gives two to four years for birds kept quietly, single reports even five years and more; those are exceptions from flocks without any pressure to perform. The range is so wide because it depends on line, husbandry and light — and because hardly anyone keeps their quail that long.

The laying life is the time during which a hen lays enough eggs for her feed to pay. It begins between the sixth and tenth week of life, reaches full performance after two to four weeks — about four to six eggs a week — and holds it over the first half to three quarters of a year of the laying period. After that comes no crash but a trend over weeks: fewer eggs, thinner shells, more breakage. In many flocks the birds are replaced after about a year of laying.

What influences age

Light all year round. If you keep your flock on 14 to 16 hours of light the whole year, you get eggs the whole year — and use up the hens faster. Without a winter break the body lacks the time for moult and recovery. If you would like to keep your quail for several years, you usually do better with a quiet winter than with a season run straight through.

Breeding for performance. Laying lines bred for around 300 eggs a year are designed for a short, intensive laying period, not for a long life. Heavier lines selected less for performance lay less and age more slowly.

Husbandry. Crowding, draughts, damp and parasites cost lifetime long before they cost birds. A house that is too high with a hard ceiling leads to head injuries, a marten to the end of the whole group. Most quail in hobby keeping do not die of age but of an avoidable event.

Cocks and pecking order. Hens with too few hens per cock or in groups with several cocks are trodden too often; the bare necks are the visible sign, the constant stress the invisible one.

Laying itself. A hen that lays 200 to 300 eggs a year gives away calcium and protein with every egg. A layer feed with enough calcium, plus a calcium source offered free choice, keeps her healthy longer than any supplement.

How to tell old birds

Age is not written on a quail's face — one reason to ask for the hatch date when buying. In your own flock it shows like this:

• The eggs. Fewer, but larger, with a thinner shell and more breakage. That is the earliest and most reliable sign.
• The plumage. Gets duller, the markings more washed out; the moult takes longer and is heavier.
• Movement. Old birds sit more, come to the feed more slowly, fly up less often when startled.
• The feet. Coarser scales on the legs, longer claws.
• Weight. It often goes up, because less goes into eggs.

None of these signs alone proves age. Birds with mites have dull plumage too, and a flock in November lays few eggs as well. A bird that is suddenly different from yesterday is not old but ill — that is one for the vet. Age comes over months.

What becomes of a hen that no longer lays

That is not a technical question but a decision; both answers are fine.

Keeping her. An old hen eats roughly 20 to 30 grams a day and needs space, water and a glance in the morning — nothing more. Older birds are usually calmer, hold the group together and often lay a few eggs again in spring. They no longer need a layer feed high in calcium; a complete feed at the lower end of the protein range is enough.

Slaughtering. In flocks where the eggs have to carry the cost, the birds are renewed after the first laying period and the old hens are used for the table. That is the usual way in quail keeping. Older birds have firmer meat and are better suited to braising than to roasting. What is required in the way of competence, notification and disposal is regulated by federal state and district; your veterinary office has the information.

What is not fine: putting the decision off until the bird takes it off you. A hen that is visibly declining or being pushed around by the group needs either a place of her own or an end that you decide on.

When replacement pays is arithmetic: feed consumption, eggs per week, breakage, and the effort of bringing offspring up to laying age. A group that still lays three eggs per hen per week in its second year can be enough for a household; for someone who sells eggs it is a loss.

Records of the group's age

All of these decisions assume that you know how old your birds are. After two rounds of offspring and one purchase, a flock holds birds from four hatches, and without a note nobody remembers which came from which.

Three entries are enough: hatch or purchase date per bird or per group, the date of the group's first egg, and the eggs per week. If you do not mark birds individually, keep them by group — then the groups stay separated by age. Coloured leg rings, one colour per hatch, are the simplest way in small flocks to read an age off the bird.

With these figures you will see after two years how old your birds get in your husbandry — a number that is different in every house. That is what the key figures and bird records in the application are meant for.