Aviary for Quail - practical housing?

[KingOfFools]

That looks great!  When using deep sand what type of sand do you use?  Construction grade?  Play sand?  Does it matter? 

Actually it's on a concrete slab that was the perfect size. We have a large cage in the house for a Galah and two blue Parrotlets; I just empty the catch tray in the aviary so that they can get the scraps and it is a surprisingly clean bedding over several weeks. Some of the seeds have sprouted so I have some grass-like patches. It might sound like nastiness due to laziness, but it isn't. Every time I go to clean it out, my wife asks me why and I can't give her a good reason ha ha.

 

[SoLittleDime]

Here you are. As promised, I included our aviary design. It was pretty easy to build, but as you can probably tell, we are still learning. The Button Quail we have do spook sometimes, and they pop up, but they do not reach the top ever. You can see we have plenty of roosting sites in there, but they will never use them. I put three pieces of scrap wood together in two of the the corners for a small shelter for them, and some nesting grass that they appreciated. We also keep Red Rumps and budgies in the cage. The quail eat what is dropped and we throw a handful of game crumbles and on occasion straight seed for them. Here, palms are abundant. I tore three dead palm tree branches off of a few and put those in on the deck and they love running under and around them.








I am curious how keeping budgies with your quail worked out! I love them and have not been able to justify keeping them for just a pet but if they can use the high spaces in my quail aviary and eat the same food, that's a win for me!

 

[Krispy07]

Hello from CT. New quail owner here. Built a large aviary (8’ tall) to house 10 coturnix quail. They did great in the summer! Recently we had a rat get in and kill one so we took them all out and renovated the coop. We got them back in after a few weeks of living in the garage… they seemed so happy! Last night the temps got down to 8 degrees, I wasn’t too worried being that they are cold hardy however, this morning all were dead! Every single one! I’m so confused and in shock really. There’s no sign of a predator. Non were eaten, but they have peck marks on their heads. My only thought is that they were startled and flew up and broke their necks??? I know so many people have aviaries, is this more dangerous because of them leaping up like that?? I’d love some insight. I don’t want to give up, I would like to make it right for spring.

 

[Nabiki]

Hello from CT. New quail owner here. Built a large aviary (8’ tall) to house 10 coturnix quail. They did great in the summer! Recently we had a rat get in and kill one so we took them all out and renovated the coop. We got them back in after a few weeks of living in the garage… they seemed so happy! Last night the temps got down to 8 degrees, I wasn’t too worried being that they are cold hardy however, this morning all were dead! Every single one! I’m so confused and in shock really. There’s no sign of a predator. Non were eaten, but they have peck marks on their heads. My only thought is that they were startled and flew up and broke their necks??? I know so many people have aviaries, is this more dangerous because of them leaping up like that?? I’d love some insight. I don’t want to give up, I would like to make it right for spring.

8' high is plenty tall enough that the shouldn't have hit their heads with enough force to kill them.

Can you post pics of your setup?
Did they have anough places to hide and keep warm?
Were they wet or even damp?
Any signs of predators?

 

[Krispy07]

8' high is plenty tall enough that the shouldn't have hit their heads with enough force to kill them.

Can you post pics of your setup?
Did they have anough places to hide and keep warm?
Were they wet or even damp?
Any signs of predators?

Thank you for the response. I will attach pics. There’s several areas to hideout in plus it’s wrapped in tarp now to block the wind. Just the craziest thing! No sign of predators but feathers everywhere with no injuries. Which is why I thought they freaked out and flew up and hit themselves.

 

[Nabiki]

That looks like a wonderful home for them. There are plenty of places for them to hide and keep warm.

Since you said that there were feathers everywhere, I'm guessing that a predator scared them. We may never know, though.

 

[Krispy07]

That looks like a wonderful home for them. There are plenty of places for them to hide and keep warm.

Since you said that there were feathers everywhere, I'm guessing that a predator scared them. We may never know, though.

Thank you for the reply. We found out what happened… it was a weasel! We caught him yesterday.

 

[threeepeat]

Thank you for the reply. We found out what happened… it was a weasel! We caught him yesterday.

So sorry to hear that! Do you know how the weasel got in?

 

[Kathleen Sanderson]

Weasels can fit through any hole that a mouse can fit through, which means a hole need be no larger than a dime to allow them access. We've lost whole batches of half-grown meat chickens to a weasel before -- as long as there is movement, they keep attacking. Mink are just as bad; they need slightly larger holes, but can still get through small spaces.

 

[bhaugh]

Watch for predators that will dig under. I lived in Wa two years and anything that crawls, slithers or flys will see quail as an easy meal