Quail pen, feedback, and wire size question

grouselabmike

In the Brooder
5 Years
Aug 29, 2014
18
3
24
Good afternoon,

I am constructing a quail pen for my sons enjoyment and bird dog training. The fly way is 4' high by 8'long. I am planning on building the house itself to be 4 feet wide and 2 feet tall. The entire pen will be elevated 2 feet off of the ground.

Is it necessary for a quail pen to be elevated off of the ground that high? I was under them impression that if they are off of the ground, they will be less likely to pick up parasites and such. The whole pen will be sort of a tractor type design and have

The attached image is the flightway construction that I have designed so far. It is constructed of 1 x3's the white cross members are going to be pvc pipe I am going to use as perches.

My main question is: Should I have the wire go all the way down, except for the 3" off of the ground presented by the 1 x3 or just keep it 24" as my original design shows. I want these birds to be the best flyers possible, so my Lab will not catch them when she flushes them.

What is the best type of wire for quail. I found some chicken wire but it is 1" x 2". I am worried about a raccoon reaching in and grabbing the birds. I have found wire that is in a hexagon shape but it does not seem very durable. These birds will be in my yard, but butted up against a mountain, where there are fox, coyotes, raccoons, and bears.

Any suggest on what type of wire to get, and the best sizes/ places to get them.

Any tips on my quail pen. I will design the house section soon, but and still up in there air on how I want to do it.

Thanks,

Mike
 
1/2 x 1/2 inch hardware cloth U-nailed on, not stapled is a start. If you have serious bears like we do, keeping them away from the cage is better than making it bear-proof.
 
Absolutely nothing smaller than 1/2x1" and 1/2x1/2 is better. I had a roadrunner grab one of my quail hens through 1/2x1, but I don't think raccoons can reach through. If you have anything bigger than raccoons cover the edges of the wire with strips or panels of wood nailed on. Raised is good as it makes it harder for predators to reach them, but I suggest 3 feet up. I have the wire doubled under my cages so nothing can grab their toes from below.
 


This is what I will be finishing up tonight hopefully. put the house on there and the rest of the framing. I am working with a buddy who is getting 250 bob whites this week that are 6 weeks old. Obviously I will not be putting in that many but will have bird soon. Will put up pictures when it is done.
 
Here is the step by step photo-reel of how I got to where I am now with the house.

started with the framing for the floor and roof
(2) 46.5" L1 x 3
(2) 96"L 1 x 3




I then made the vertical supports
(2) 72"L 1x3's butted together to form and L shape

total of (8) 1x3's 72" L



I was constructing this upside down so I screwed the roof on first then measured 24" from the top down, slid a table under to help me hold it, and screwed it into place.ds



I added cross supports in the top and bottom, I may be adding a few more to the floor to ensure a sturdy walking surface.

(2) 1 x3's 46.5" L per section
Total (4) 1 x 3's 46.5" L



The corners had a little flex so I added some gussets that will serve as mounting surfaces for purches off of the top of the pen to promote flying.

(8) 1 x 3's 24"L with 45 degree miter cut.


I was happy that this was all of the scrap that was left behind from the first part of the job.


a pic of the finished work of the fly way/run for that night.



This is what I have after last nights work. I got the quail house just about wrapped up. Debating on whether I should add a door on the front or not. These birds may end up in the wild so they will need to be acclimated to the cold anyway. I doubt I will go out every evening to ensure they are inside the house.











I put a simple latch on the house for the outside access. I am going to install a larger door where the vertical framing is to allow me and easier way to catch them for dog training use. All in all this has been a fun project and have roughly 80.00 wrapped up in it and a little over 4 hours of work. Will be putting on the wire soon and finishing this up. I am planning on adding wheels to the house side and possibly adding another house in the future on the other side.

I will be getting the 6 week old quail soon at a very low cost so I am eager to finish this up and get Lilly on some birds.

Here are a few photos of lilly the morning after working on the pen until 1:00 in the morning. :)





Thanks for following along, and I will keep putting up pictures.
 

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