Best way to house quail?

[chipens]

Hey, so i am thinking about getting some quail mainly for eggs.
So what are the best ways to house quail?
What do they need etc
I'd ideally want something easy to clean low maintaince but also a nice place for the quail so they are happy
Also I live in new Zealand so mild climate but do get some rats.

 

[CCUK]

@JaeG will be best for advice!

 

[CCUK]

Hey, so i am thinking about getting some quail mainly for eggs.
So what are the best ways to house quail?
What do they need etc
I'd ideally want something easy to clean low maintaince but also a nice place for the quail so they are happy
Also I live in new Zealand so mild climate but do get some rats.

I have five quails. I did have 24 at the most. I mainly had then in double rabbit hutches and a run on the grass. They do well outside and handle cold quite well but keep them away from draughts. Mine are on shavings and had a plastic tub inside filled with sand for a dust bath. They are quite easy to look after and I've not had any real problems with them apart from too many males. Male sure you have atleast 4 minimum females to 1 male if you want fertile eggs. Incubating is relatively easy and only takes 16-19 days to hatch. They are fully mature in 8 weeks. And they love millet!

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Do quail go broody, or do you have to incubate?

 

[CCUK]

Do quail go broody, or do you have to incubate?

They do and they don't!? I have never had a Quail go broody but my conditions aren't the best for that. I am led to believe that because people tend to incubate more often than they have a broody quail it sort of breeds to broodiness out of them. I'm not sure if that is correct because I have seen people with broody quail. I think it's just not that common with domestic quail.

 

[chipens]

Thanks! I am thinking along the lines of a rabbit type cage/hutch but on google theres so many diffent ways of housing them and want to make sure I do it right. How well would they use a ramp? Like in a two story hutch

 

[CCUK]

Some of mine used it not all of them though. Im thinking of rehousing mine in a eglu so they can be on the grass more often. Some people have avairys with budgies and finches the quail clean up all the seed that gets dropped! Just make sure whatever you get is predator proof. I lost all my first quail to rats. And the ones I have now have had a magpie trying to get them. Fortunately they were secure.

 

[JaeG]

I've had trouble with rats this year, digging under my big run on the ground to pull quail through the 13mm galvanised wire. They even tried chewing through it and broke a few threads before giving up! So mine are in elevated, stacked cages - much smaller than their old run but they seem happy enough.

Mine are solid wood other than the front which protects them from most of the elements as does the pohutukawa tree their cages are under. Think about what's a comfortable height for you to clean out because they are messy birds. I use straw as bedding as shavings get in their water and food every time they flap their wings.

It's best to keep a group that have been raised together, but you can still get the odd bird who likes to make trouble and pick on one of the others. They can be vicious if personalities clash. But once you have a happy group they are lovely birds. They can be very docile and friendly, especially if they are raised with lots of handling and exposure to people.

When were you planning on getting some? It's just we have Autumn around the corner (great to see another Kiwi on here) and they won't lay over winter without additional lighting. I like to give mine a winter break as otherwise they burn out faster. But our first females laid just as well in their third year as their first (before the rats got them) despite being indoor birds for their first winter and laying all winter.

Anything else just ask!

 

[happyhens1972]

Thanks! I am thinking along the lines of a rabbit type cage/hutch but on google theres so many diffent ways of housing them and want to make sure I do it right. How well would they use a ramp? Like in a two story hutch

Quail are naturally ground dwelling birds so they're not big on ramps but that said, I had a batchelor cage which was a two storey chicken house, like the one below, and they used the ramp daily....but I encouraged them up there by initially shutting them into that area for a few days and letting them explore their way downwards, rather than the other way round. I also kept the sand bath up there and as they seem to be obsessive sand bathers...they had to go up there to use it! I had to raise the end of the fitted ramp onto a block and put another ramp up to that to reduce the steepness of the ramp overall as they really struggled to get up there otherwise. I also might add, this cage was kept WITHIN a fully predator proof pen where my chickens lived as it really wouldn't have kept anything out on its own!

I also had 40 others in a 'Japanese garden' style fox and rat proof pen. With sandy coloured pea gravel as a substrate, decorated with mossy logs, miniature acer trees (with canopies high enough that they couldn't destroy them) and large pebbles. I then grew large patches of grasses for them to hide in. I had one girl go broody a few times but I never let her hatch out as I didn't want any more birds at that time. They didn't have a 'house' to go into but there were three wooden shelters that they could go under when it rained.

 

[CCUK]

This is my setup. Not the best but it works.

Rats do seem to be the biggest threat to quail. Horrid creatures.