Small aviary for gambel's quail, height ok?

My quail will be hatching within a week, so I've been working on their cage. I built a 4 foot high structure, one foot off the ground. Is that high enough? I wanted to let them fly around, but I don't want them hitting their heads either. I'm wondering if I have to put foam on the ceiling or not, thanks for the help!

could you put a layer of 1/2" fish net just under your roof line?

Thanks for replying, Yes, I was going to put something like that under the roof. I wasn't sure if I needed to or not, but maybe I should just go ahead and do it anyway. I still have a while to get it ready, so it won't be a problem.

mrwoodboat said:

could you put a layer of 1/2" fish net just under your roof line?

Click to expand...

With a 4 foot ceiling I would definitely do something like this ^^^

Window screen, shade netting, anything soft.

Ok, will do. Hopefully I'll be able to work on it today.

Do you have any pictures of what you've built? I've been debating doing something similar.

I can get a pic for you if you want. I'll warn you now that it ended up very different than the original plan, lol. I tried to add too many extra things to it and it is very heavy. The main thing to know is that you should have some type of airlock if you plan to keep a flighty type of quail, like the Gambel's. I have Valley quails in it now and it's saved me a lot of attempted escapes.

Yeah some pictures would be great. I'll take all the ideas I can get.

how gambles do you have and if they are any like bob white you are going to want either make a bigger cage with lots little environment in there like ( logs that the can walk through,brush piles,evan grow so crops that they eat and also put place for them to get off the ground I have ring necked pheasants they roost in trees but if you you live with a small yard and the birds aren't crowded put something soft so they don't hurt there head like some 1/2in sliek netting from tractor supply.com



Tayten .B

Hopefully these can help, the first pic is the front, I wanted it nice and open so I could see them, it has 1/2 " cloth on it. The plastic on the bottom isn't part of it, I just use that to cover it up on bad days. The second pic shows the side room I made so they can rest their feet, I have a wired bottom for the rest of the cage. The extra room was a big mistake on my part. I didn't think they would fly out of it while I was there, since they're terrified of me. I used to use this side door for cleaning, but now I have wire over it and can only use it to refill sand.

The last picture shows the run I made to use as a type of airlock so that if they get out, they're still trapped. It's working great, I just have to make sure the door is completely closed before I open the doors to the coop. I used chicken wire for the run since it's just to keep them from escaping.

This is very different than what I had in mind beforehand. I lost a quail to the side door, but never again. The main thing you need to worry about is keeping them in there. If you add a side room like me, make sure it's secure. That's my biggest regret. Other than that, try to make the dimensions comfortable for you and them. As you can see, mine is very long, and it's hard for me to clean the side room now that I have wire over it.

I like it, but the length makes it a little hard to grab quail when I need to. I made it long because I wanted the quail to have plenty of room, but it's very inconvenient for me. It's also very heavy, and I wouldn't be able to move it if we didn't add the wheels. Anyway, good luck with your build, mine's a little unconventional and shows what happens when you deviate from the plan.