Show me your quail pens!!!

[goose12]

here's mine in Manchester England.

 

[DK newbie]

here's mine in Manchester England.

I love that! It's very.. Whimsical. A coop on a coop on a coop or something? Looks like the family has grown since the original coop was built ^^

 

[romea]

alice quails in wonderland.
love it, goose12!

 

[quailling101]

Here is my quail house. I converted a garden cold frame using materials I found around the house. I think I spent around $50 buying hardware and stuff. I currently have 1 roo, 3 hens and 8 5 weeks old quails , the young and old are separated inside the quail house. They see each other but can't peck. I use deep litter method and fermented feed. They seem happy.

[/IMG]

 

[quailling101]

Another picture of the house during daylight .

 

[romea]

this, too, looks really sweet - but my suggestion would be to change from "deep litter" to sand. it is super easy to clean (with a cat litter scoop), closer to their natural habitat and insect infestations are rare since bugs don't like to live on/in sand. if you want to go 1 step further: mix a generous amount of (food grade!!) diatomaceous earth into the sand (as well as their dust bath). it is safe for the quail but kills mites et al...

 

[DK newbie]

Another picture of the house during daylight .

Those are the rodent type of water bottles, right? The quail have no issues using those?

 

[eHuman]

this, too, looks really sweet - but my suggestion would be to change from "deep litter" to sand.

I would disagree with the sand. It only works for reasons that people using deep litter are trying to avoid. Constant cleaning. Deep litter composts in place and if done correctly does not smell ever. Many of the bugs and worms that are attracted become food. Sand doesn't absorb moisture and if it gets wet between cleaning can release ammonia that is harsh for the quail. It looks nice and if cleaned (at least once) every day then I can see your praises. Not every climate can take advantage of the maintenance intensive sand bed.

 

[quailling101]

The quails have no problem using the water bottles. But the problem is more water leaked out when they drink and it makes below the wood shavings all wet. If I have wire bottom cage, there would be no problem at all.

 

[romea]

I would disagree with the sand. It only works for reasons that people using deep litter are trying to avoid. Constant cleaning. Deep litter composts in place and if done correctly does not smell ever. Many of the bugs and worms that are attracted become food. Sand doesn't absorb moisture and if it gets wet between cleaning can release ammonia that is harsh for the quail. It looks nice and if cleaned (at least once) every day then I can see your praises. Not every climate can take advantage of the maintenance intensive sand bed.

i think there's a misconception about the level of work involved. yes, the coop needs to be checked on a daily basis but not the whole coop needs to be cleaned - only the droppings are scooped up. also, i was responding to a person with a (comparatively speaking) small coop & population - and i was assuming that quailling101 cares enough about his/her animals that such a task is no problem. a task that translates into taking a cat litter scoop and scooping up the droppings only - which, in such a small environment, shouldn't take more than 5 min. tops.

i have several chicken coops with 14 standard sized chickens, 12 bantams and several moms that are currently rearing offspring (including quails). the largest coop (a converted porch with several 'habitats') measures approx. 8' x 25'. i scoop up their droppings daily - sometimes twice because it is so easy to do (and fun for me

).
... but then again: i also clean the litter boxes of my cats daily.

with all that being said, i understand that sand is not ideal for every climate but where it is a good fit, it is the best. period. ;-))

The quails have no problem using the water bottles. But the problem is more water leaked out when they drink and it makes below the wood shavings all wet. If I have wire bottom cage, there would be no problem at all.

*argh*
i hope you are not thinking of converting your coop into a dire wire cage because you can not come up with another way to provide water for your birds.
why not just use a simple chicken waterer such as this:



personally, i don't like the plastic jar and prefer to use the red base with mason jars (glass) that i change on a daily basis and put in the dishwasher. for a small group like yours, you might only need 17 oz mason jars.