Coop questions

[azdbacks]

Hello everyone...
I have been researching/lurking around on here for a month and decided I'm going to get some quail in a month or two. I want to make my coop, brooder and incubator first. I have a question about the location of my coop. I have a detached garage that is behind my house. My fence line is about 3 feet behind and on the side of the garage. Its pretty much waisted space. I was thinking of placing my coop in there.


This space is 3 feet wide with a 6 foot tall wood fence on the left and 10 foot tall garage on the right. I was planning a 3 tier coop, 3 feet in depth with removable poop pans to clean out. Each tier would be 9 square feet. Bottom 2 tiers would be for meat production (9 birds each) and the top for egg production with probably 3 female and 1 male. I live in Arizona and it gets HOT as you know what! the front and back of coop will be open with hardware cloth. Will this be enough air flow? I was planning a drop down panel on the back hooked to a pulley where i can pull a rope and "close" the back when its windy/rainy. I know I will need a light to keep my egg layers laying in the winter.Anyone see any flaws or have any ideas that might work better? ANY help is greatly appreciated, I am new to this, Done a ton of research and Im ready to start building! I just want to make sure Im on the right track. Thanks guys and gals! One more thing, if there is anyone in the phoenix area that will have some fertile Texas a&m eggs for sale in about a month please let me know. Thanks again!

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to the quail forums!

Any space will work as long as it provides the birds with proper shelter against the elements and keeps them safe from predators. Do not under estimate predators and their persistence. They have a lot of time on their hands at night and will work at something until they get in for a meal. So over build everything. Do not use chicken wire as critters can chew thru it. Use 1/4 to 1/2 inch hardware cloth, chainlink fencing and the like. Keep the roof solid as well.

Make sure that no rain or snow gets in, and you have a good wind break for the strong desert winds. If you are not hot in there, than neither are they. If you notice the quail panting, then you need to get the air moving. I have found that temps over 90 in the aviaries, (and I have thermometers to keep tabs of temps), I need to use fans to keep the quail cool. You can mist with water, the area, cages, floors ect...and let the fans blow on the quail to keep them cool.

And of course, do not over crowd them, offering them as much space as you can afford. Crowded quail become cannibalistic.

Depending on what type of quail you are raising, you need to keep the ratio of females to males in proper order to reduce fighting or injury. .

Good luck with your new quail ventures!!

 

[azdbacks]

Thanks for your response. I don't have to worry about snow at all!! A few days near freezing is as close as we get per year! I am now worried about the heat. You mentioned 90 degrees, we reach any where form 110-115 on our hottest days. Can quail survive in this heat? Do different breeds of quail deal with the heat better than others? I was planning on getting Texas A&M unless they are not as heat tolerant and a different breed is more heat tolerant. Again any help is much appreciated! Thanks, Robert

 

[Sians quails]

not sure if i read it right but make sure your able to get to them!

a different way of doing it (if you only want to produce meat OR eggs) could be to just put a roof on and a door at the front

or.. just another idea
put 3 doors along it like 3 meters apart.. maybe just a normal house fly screen door... that way they can be on the ground (which saves a lot on food I've found)
also that way you can separate them into their groups with less construction and an easier way to provide them with plants to hide under

i don't know what your predators are like over there you might have to put something down the side of the fence so nothing can dig its way under