Housing options for Jumbo Coturnix

[Litefever]

Hi folks,

I'm hoping several of you experienced quailophiles might be able to educate me on what we should be looking for when considering housing for Jumbo quail and perhaps equally important what to avoid. There seem to be lots of options out there so any advice you can provide to help us in our evaluations of the them will be greatly appreciated.

For background we're based in upstate, NY in a lake effect snow area at 680 feet above sea level.
We want to raise quail for meat and eggs for our household of 4 to supplement egg production from our chickens.
We live in a suburban neighborhood, by necessity we have to keep things small.

Thank you.

 

[Nabiki]

You want at least 1 square foot per bird, more if you can give it. Coturnix quail are quite cold hardy as long as they are dry, out of the wind, and can keep their feet warm (a place off of wire).

If you block the wind and give them small shelters, they will be quite happy.

 

[scyllarus]

I think it would help to know certain things, like if you intend to keep the quail in an enclosure outside or inside. A couple of tips:

If outside, keep in mind that everything likes to eat quail. They're smaller than chickens, so even things like rats and snakes are deadly for adult quail. 1/2 and 1/4 inch hardware cloth is your friend here.

I also noticed you have chickens. Chickens can carry diseases which may be mild or asymptomatic for chickens, but which may be deadly for quail. Most people recommend biosecurity measures, such as keeping enclosures 6 ft apart and wear different clothes when caring for each set of birds.

If inside, they need to have like...16 hours of light to produce? But keeping your quail inside allows you to utilize cages with egg rollouts and such, as there should be less risk from predators. I would be very cautious about keeping some of the pre-made quail cages outside.

Not an enclosure thing, more a general experience thing: quail can be hideously vicious towards each other. Cull aggressive quail.

 

[Litefever]

Thank you both for your tips above. Good to know cold is OK with appropriate prep and sharing a run with chickens might not be the smartest thing to do. We have enough grass in the backyard to contemplate rotation using a mobile run. Perimeter skirt mandatory