Anybody quail break their neck

[Chickensarecool123]

My very first batch of quail had two. One flew into the solid wood side of the coop and died right in front of me. The second one must have done the same, but I didn't actually see it. I took the feeder out, refilled it, and when I got back to my coop, it was dead.

I didn't take either of them to the vet, though, and this hasn't happened to any of my other birds since.

What do you think is the lowest a quail coop could be? I’m a smaller person but still need to fit in there to get their eggs etc. but our neighborhood has coop height limits, thanks in advance

 

[McChooky]

I’ve heard this years ago and I’ve this as recently as last year. Anybody ever take their quail to a vet and it was determined they broke their neck from flying into the ceiling?
And here’s some of my eggs and processed meat from my new babies now that I’m back into the quail game View attachment 2142716View attachment 2142717

I watched a video on building quail cages after discovering my neighbor was raising quail .The video warned anyone interested in raising quail to make their cages tall enough so they can fly .It also said they are easily startled and can accidentally break their necks if the ceiling isn't tall enough.Recommended height is at least 7 foot

 

[Chickensarecool123]

I watched a video on building quail cages after discovering my neighbor was raising quail .The video warned anyone interested in raising quail to make their cages tall enough so they can fly .It also said they are easily startled and can accidentally break their necks if the ceiling isn't tall enough.Recommended height is at least 7 foot

Do you think I could possibly pad the top if it was lower? Possibly 4 feet?

 

[Nabiki]

What do you think is the lowest a quail coop could be? I’m a smaller person but still need to fit in there to get their eggs etc. but our neighborhood has coop height limits, thanks in advance

You want your coop to either be 10-12" high or 6' high. One is too low for them to get up enough speed to break their necks when they flush, the other is high enough that they won't be going fast enough to break necks when they flush.

You could so something in between there if you put something at the top such as padding or netting that hangs down so they slow down when they hit the net.

 

[catesquire]

Seconding the netting idea; I hang deer netting over the top of my grow out cage (a repurposed dog kennel), and I've seen them harmlessly bounce off of it. A sheet or something would also work; I just like the netting because it's easy to zip tie into place.

 

[Chickensarecool123]

Seconding the netting idea; I hang deer netting over the top of my grow out cage (a repurposed dog kennel), and I've seen them harmlessly bounce off of it. A sheet or something would also work; I just like the netting because it's easy to zip tie into place.

Does it work since it’s so loose rather then the roof being completely solid (dont know what else to call it so solid it is even though both are solid lol) thanks everyone~, also do you guys hatch your quails or buy the chicks online? Im located near Houston, tx and cant find any that i dont have to hatch or ship

 

[Nabiki]

Does it work since it’s so loose rather then the roof being completely solid (dont know what else to call it so solid it is even though both are solid lol) thanks everyone~, also do you guys hatch your quails or buy the chicks online? Im located near Houston, tx and cant find any that i dont have to hatch or ship

Have you checked your local craigslist? I hatch mine. Myshire Farm and Thieving Otter are the two that I would recommend.

 

[Chickensarecool123]

Have you checked your local craigslist? I hatch mine. Myshire Farm and Thieving Otter are the two that I would recommend.

Will check right now, I can believe I haven’t checked Craigslist, I’ve checked facebook google all that stuff but haven’t even thought about Craigslist, thanks a ton

 

[catesquire]

I did craigslist to get an initial flock, now I'm planning to hatch my own from here on out. If you're planning to breed yours in the future make sure to save your extra males (probably in a share cage/bin) until you're sure your "best" male is fertile and good with the girls. I made the mistake of keeping only the one, and had to buy eggs all over again when he turned out to be a hen-scalping little monster.

Re the netting: I get it as taut as I can, then check by bopping my hand against it that a quail flushing upwards would stop at the net and not be able to hit with enough force to whack into the ceiling above (aka put the netting a generous few inches from the ceiling). Then it basically acts as a reverse quail trampoline: they hit it and bounce back down. The stretch of the net as they hit defuses the momentum more safely than whacking into something unmoving would.