boinking?

[Dan Saiyan]

hello !! i recently started raising button quail chicks (they're about 4 to 5 days old now) and i'm worried about the boink factor coming into play soon. i have a reptile tank lid to put on their brooder (which is a 40 gal breeder tank currently covered by just a normal blanket on the side without the heat lamp) but i dont know how to boink-proof it. ive read that you can use foam, or even a dark material to discourage upward flight(?), but im not sure what to use or how exactly to install something without cutting off the heat from the lamp or air flow?

i would need something easy and cheap because we're VERY low on funds right now (we barely had enough to buy a new waterer), does anyone have any ideas for me?

thanks in advance!

 

[Lokibinian]

I see you've joined recently, so...

As for your question:
I've heard either make the cage one foot high, or six or more feet high.
The reason for this is because a one foot cage won't let them get enough momentum to seriously injure themselves, and 6+ feet high is enough for them to go up and down without hitting themselves.

Hope this helps!

 

[JaeG]

I occasionally had them jumping out of the plastic bin I had mine in at about a week and a half. I couldn't believe they were getting out! I found the boinking was more of an issue when they were at the juvenile stage, especially at night and we put bubble wrap on the inside of the roof. Ours have grown out of the habit but we've kept it there just in case.

Is your heatlamp sitting on the lid? If so you'll just have to leave that part (which still gives them enough ventilation) but you could put bubble wrap or a thin towel under the majority of the lid, or even some net curtain fabric so that it hangs loosely. Another thing you could try is some fake ivy tied onto the inside of the lid. Or real pine branches if you have them. Just something that they will hit to slow them down before hitting the wire netting. You probably have something lying around that will be perfect. It doesn't have to look pretty - even an old t-shirt will do the trick.

 

[GrandmaBird]

take any screen off of a window to place on top to keep them in and air flowing. as long as there is some give they should be fine until they get old enough, 5-6 weeks to move to a permanent pen, then be sure the top is no more than a foot away or more then 3 to prevent boinking. I had mine in a 18 inch tall cage and just put a sheet over the top so when they looked up there was a lid in the way, just fooling the eye. I then put some fake vines on the underside of the top and it worked like a charm no boinking. good luck.

 

[Dan Saiyan]

take any screen off of a window to place on top to keep them in and air flowing. as long as there is some give they should be fine until they get old enough, 5-6 weeks to move to a permanent pen, then be sure the top is no more than a foot away or more then 3 to prevent boinking. I had mine in a 18 inch tall cage and just put a sheet over the top so when they looked up there was a lid in the way, just fooling the eye. I then put some fake vines on the underside of the top and it worked like a charm no boinking. good luck.

i actually have some vines i can use! if they work well i think i'll use those. do they just discourage boinking or do they act as something to let the birds know there's a roof there?

thank you also!