Today, I found time to build the drawer frames and started enclosing each cage.OK, here's the progress so far.
@RUNuts Yes, there are plans for poop trays. As for plans on paper... nope. I am basing it on a number of things I have seen as well as what we like (and dislike) about our existing quail cage.
Front
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Front with poop drawer faces set in place (added boards)
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Back
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Sides. The angled boards were not in the previous pics. They show the slope of the floor though, which will bring the eggs to the front for us (works great in our current cage).
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Now I (and DS who refuses to let me work alone) just need to staple in hardware cloth on the floors. I think I am just going to use deer fencing or chicken wire on the sides since this will be protected inside the shed or garage. It saves money, and I have it on hand already. I am going to place two doors in the front of each cage. I may or may not add a slot and ledge for eggs to roll out of the cages. That's actually the place that our younger quails escaped numerous times (fortunately, they were still in the sunroom then). I figure that it's not difficult to reach in and collect the eggs, especially when they will roll right to the front anyway.
I have to figure out a no-spill feeder... The current cage has a coop section with a solid floor so we don't them spilling food so much. They just eat it off the floor once the feeder is empty. Now that the new cages have all wire floors, spilled food is going to go right into the poop trays/drawers and be wasted. So I need to minimize the amount of food they spill.
BTW, this is only five 2x4s so far. I ripped them each down to three 1"x1.5" boards. I have two more 2x4s left to work with to frame the drawers and add some reinforcements to the structure. I think I can do it. I will need to get some thin plywood though for the drawer bottoms.
The drawer frames in place. They are pulled out for you to see them better.
One of the drawer frames
We used some scraps of vinyl window screen for the back. I am hoping this provides airflow but prevents things from falling through the back. I don't want feed, poop and feathers piling up behind the cage.
Here you can see the hardware cloth floors installed.
We covered the sides in deer fencing. We had it on hand and it is durable.
And just for @Texas Kiki, here's our garage heater. I hope it helps clarify a bit of your confusion.
