Conflicting info on pen size...

[aprophet]

Quote:
I am under the impression that 1 sq. ft. per on bobwhites is no where near enough space. The recommendation for coturnix is 1 sq. ft. per. Bobwhites need at least triple that.

http://www.pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubs/PDF/B1215.pdf

this is one of the publications that is harder to find but it is one of the ones I used to build my cages by that and GQF website as far as what size they build them and for how many they recomend for their cages GQF that is


http://agalternatives.aers.psu.edu/Publications/quail.pdf

here is another good luck with your flock btw I have a few Bobs I am getting set up fo coturnix.


http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps017

 

[aprophet]

It looks like mississippi seems to think age of the bird and the temps they are kept in have a lot to do with it

http://msucares.com/poultry/game/poultry_space.html

one of the more complet books/booklets I have found on coturnix is

http://www.google.com/books?id=zmsr...e=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

another one is

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/Coturnix.pdf

 

[worldling]

Just remember that wire/wood/everything else comes in sizes. Also remember that you have a size as well.
As long as you can reach every square inch of the pen, then it's OK. The number of birds you put in that pen is up to you.

I do 24x24x12 pens, because they work for me, and wire happens to come in 24 inch widths. I stuff between 1 and 8 birds in that floor space.

 

[ugly ducky]

We build our own cages, using 1"X2" wire on the sides and top, and 1/2"X1" wire for the floors. We build them in 3 pen units, and each pen is 24" X 30". We keep 6 hens & 2 roos in each pen for breeding. Our youngsters go into these pens at 3-4 weeks of age, with 20-30 per pen. I've found they do better with 20 per pen, but when we're full up, it tends to get up to 30. Most of our birds are sold at 5-6 weeks of age, so beyond 6 weeks isn't usually an issue here. But if I have to keep them longer, then they go into breeding groups at 6 weeks, or if being kept for butchering, they are separated by sex, and kept no more than 20 per pen in subdued lighting to minimize the fighting. We've found the height is not real important with the Coturnix. Our birds are very calm and rarely bonk their heads.

 

[worldling]

Quote:
Are you serious?
20-30 birds per 24x30 pen?

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
Are you serious?
20-30 birds per 24x30 pen?

It looks like they are in the pen from about week 3 until week 6 then moved to breeder pens and or culled / freezer bound is this not a good plan??

How about these recomendations at the bottom of the description I have built a couple colony pens 30" X 36" and was only planning on keeping about half of what is recommended . thanks for all the advice so far .

http://www.eggcartons.com/product-exec/product_id/23/nm/Universal_Poultry_Box_Type_Brooder_0534

 

[Bettacreek]

Quote:
Are you serious?
20-30 birds per 24x30 pen?

I still have all of my birds in their brooder. The brooder is a 20L aquarium, measuring 30.25" by 12.5". I have 19 buttons and 7 coturnix in it. There are no space issues, no aggression, nothing. The buttons are 4.5 weeks and the coturnix are a tad over 3 weeks. Everyone will be switched around by the end of the weekend. Rabbits are now outside, and some birds will be moved to the indoor rabbit cages. I'll be keeping a trio in the 20L, simply because this trio is a project breeding. My meat birds will be kept in the 2'x2' cage. I'm trading for another cage this weekend. I'm unsure of the dimensions or anything else on the cage, so I'm not sure if it's going to be a rabbit or quail cage.

 

[Mrs MIA]

I'm going to jump in here and say the more space you can give them, whether it's coturnix or BW, the better. I know that's pretty nebulous, but it's the truth!

I have a colony of A&Ms (~ 30 adults) in a 4x4' solid-bottom pen, and there is only a little bit of picking between the males, but nothing major. I have the same number of BWs in another temporary 4x4' pen with little to no picking at all. This is worst-case, though... I have yet another 4x4' pen that has 1 male and 4 female BWs in it, and they love the space. It depends on your situation and conditions. In the winter I kept 45-50 adult BWs in a 3x5' pen outside with no added heat, and they stayed warm and didn't pick at each other at all. Lots of little boxes along the back of the pen for them to snuggle into, and they were happy as clams. But, first chance I get and the ground is thawed, we will be putting in a flight pen to give them lots of space, and room to spread their wings.
The nice thing about the coturnix is that they are bottom-dwellers, so you don't need really high cages... 12" is plenty of headroom, so you can stack cages with little difficulty. The coturnix seem to do OK in smaller spaces than the flighty BWs, and they do well on wire whereas the BWs seem to be happier in a more natural environment.

 

[Kullas]

I have 2 cages 4 pens in each cage. each pen is 2'x2' all the birds stay in the brooder until i can tell what there sex is ( i only keep corturnex in the wild color so i can tell the sex by look at them they taste the same no mater what color they are

) after they are sexed i keep 4 hens and 1 roo in each pen all the rest goes into a grow out pen. if i have one that is bigger in my grow out than my breeding stock the breeding stock gets replaced.