Converting a chicken coop to a quail run

[lomine]

At my old house this was my chicken and duck coop and run. I had it taken down and took all the materials with me.

The pieces laid untouched for a long while. Modifications were made to make it lower. There were a few hiccups in trying the put everything back together but it’s finally up and ready for the quail.

Still have to do a few things, like adding the people door to the coop, but they are in and loving it.

 

[kittypaws004]

Looks so nice! I wish I had room to build something like that for my ducks!

 

[lomine]

Space was one of the reasons I moved out to the country.

 

[kittypaws004]

Yeah, there is a lot of room out there. I only have half an acre.

 

[TwoCrows]

Beautiful!

 

[RosieR]

Ooo spoiled quails!

 

[lomine]

They seem to have settled in very quickly. There's only been a slight drop in egg laying. I've been going in every morning, sitting on the ground, and tossing them meal worms. They learned very quickly and many of them now stand close by waiting for the worms. They are also completely relaxed around my dogs. (They are totally safe. The dogs are only interested in eating meal worms, quail food, and sometimes poop. )

 

[Fishkeeper]

Nice! That's an amazing quail house.
Do you worry at all about predators burrowing in underneath?
If I were you, I'd put stepping stones in to give a clear egg-free walking area. Or train the dogs to find the eggs!

 

[lomine]

There is a two foot wide apron of hardware cloth around the entire coop and run. I have skunks and have actually lost quail to them while in the old run so I wanted to make sure they couldn’t dig in.

It’s funny you say I should train my dog to find eggs. One morning I showed him an egg and said “go find them.” He did go sniffing around as if looking but I think it was just a coincidence. But it was funny to watch him walk around the run sniffing everything. It would be a useful trick though.

 

[RosieR]

There is a two foot wide apron of hardware cloth around the entire coop and run. I have skunks and have actually lost quail to them while in the old run so I wanted to make sure they couldn’t dig in.

It’s funny you say I should train my dog to find eggs. One morning I showed him an egg and said “go find them.” He did go sniffing around as if looking but I think it was just a coincidence. But it was funny to watch him walk around the run sniffing everything. It would be a useful trick though.

What a sweetheart lol. My quail have no fear of dogs (through the bars at least). Though they should because I’m sure they’d get eaten given the chance. But if they hear a crow or large predator bird they all sink down with an eye cocked up while the roo stands guard.