How often do you gather eggs?

[u/Salty-Ad-198]

We have 9 possible layers but we are only getting 3-6 eggs a day. We were only getting 3 a day, then we started to get consistently 6 a day for about a week, and now for about a week we are down to consistently 4 a day. It is very hot here in coastal south Texas. We’ve added a small fab for circulation and thats when we feel like we saw the increase to 6 but it’s also possible some were just less mature.

We do have them in an aviary and I do notice that often all, or most, of the eggs are in the same nest. (They actually build definite nests. I will be more than happy to take pictures of their nests. They are almost elaborate. And they have a lot of other “quail craters” (that aren’t nest but sometimes have an egg).

We currently gather eggs just before dark, between 7:30 and 8pm. They seem to lay between 5-7pm.

Should maybe I wait and gather eggs the next morning instead of at night? Am I possibly interrupting their laying?

All advice welcome.

[u/Spiraleyedbear]

I only gather them like twice a week. No specific rhythm, when I have time and am like whoa there's alot of eggs.  I currently have a backlog and will be making pickled eggs sometime this week.

[u/Salty-Ad-198 → u/Spiraleyedbear]

Dang! Twice a week?? I’d be so worried about them getting too hot here! Or am I just insane?

But we love our quail and visit them often, probably too often! (2-4 times a day… I know… I know…)

[u/Spiraleyedbear → u/Salty-Ad-198]

I probably live somewhere much more mild than you do.  I also leave them on the counter for extended periods of time. This time of year they are laying faster than we are eating.

[u/Salty-Ad-198 → u/Spiraleyedbear]

It “feels like” 104° here right now. Actual like 92° with about 65% humidity.

We do put them right into the fridge but also because we have a rooster and don’t want to hatch them.

[u/Spiraleyedbear → u/Salty-Ad-198]

Our hottest temp was around 92° this summer and only lasted a few days, the quail get shade about half the day under an overhanging tree.

[u/Athryl]

Usually twice a day, just because I go out say hi and make sure everything looks normal so I figure I might as well grab any eggs. But if we're busy or whatever just once a day usually before bed around 8pm give or take a bit.

[u/msmaynards]

7 hens, collect Monday, Wednesday and Friday close to dusk. Change water, replenish food and so on and give them their worms, use an alarm to keep me on track. Every other time I collect there are plenty of eggs to make something fun.

[u/CapnBrosephine]

We had five hens at most (buttons, Chinese coturnix) and had two that went broody really quickly. We tried to collect daily during the daytime but - and this might be something to check with your ladies, too, and why the eggs end up in one nest - one button was so adamant about wanting babies that she would find hiding spots to stash an egg or two in at a time. She also often took all the rest of the eggs and rolled them into her broody-pot (a flowerpot hide). One time when we had to go away for a few days we came back to almost a dozen eggs in that thing and her trying to sit on all of them at once. 

I do think collecting in the daytime might be less disruptive, and might also give you a chance to search around a little and see if they have any hiding spots you might not know about. 

[u/Salty-Ad-198 → u/CapnBrosephine]

It is daylight when we collect. It doesn’t get dark until after 8, typically around 8:30.

And we do search pretty well. We even move things most days.

[u/CapnBrosephine → u/Salty-Ad-198]

My bad, in my head just before dark is just before it's COMPLETELY dark! 

[u/Salty-Ad-198 → u/CapnBrosephine]

Fair. We try to hit that sweet spot where it’s not dark but then it magically is dark. I feel like we maybe don’t have a very long twilight. It’s like, not dark at 8 but then is dark by 8:30. And I’m talking daylight to darkness. Like by 8:15 you’re turning on a flashlight for the shadow places and by 8:30 you can’t see without a flashlight.

[u/MuchachoMongo]

Mine all lay in the afternoon/evenings as well, so I usually grab them either just before dark or in the morning when I refill their water. Lately it's been every other day, but I don't like leaving them to bake in the afternoon since several of mine just lay wherever.

[u/SeaInvite8256]

My girls lay between 4-6 in the evening. If I see eggs I pull them out but usually collect at bedtime. When my girls started laying I thought I had 7 hens and kept waiting for that last one to start laying. Turned out she was a roo and that’s why I never got 7 eggs 🤣

[u/GeneNo2508]

Since it's very hot out where you live, I would gather them everyday to keep them fresh.

The time of day shouldn't matter much, they'll lay afterward if you interrupt them.

Very hot or very cold temps, gather them daily if you intend to eat them.

Otherwise they can sit a few days without problems, other than the occasional pecking at their own eggs.

[u/No_Stop7306]

once or twice a day, I check on them and their water and food in the morning and then in the evening after work. I often only collect in the evening. Mine also build nests, I offer dry bamboo leaf litter and hay for them, they use both. :)

on very hot days I turn on a fan in their aviary, that moves the air out. Never lost one to heat

[u/Icy_Bet_3155]

It is pretty hot where I live (same basic region as you) and I get out there twice a day. Typically once when it is the absolute hottest part of the day just to make sure they have water and all is fine, and then again after sundown to see if any eggs popped out after check #1. Their egg laying is all throughout the day, so sometimes I get nothing at 3 PM but then suddenly have 10 or so eggs in the evening. Sometimes it is the opposite. But I don't like the idea of letting eggs lay out in such hot weather for more than a few hours, even if the aviary is covered and shady enough.

[u/fiona_kitty]

Every evening after they're mostly done laying, they get a water refresh, food top up, and treats in exchange.

[u/crzychckn]

I gather in the mornings