Coturnix confusion

[0wen]

A lot of info on them here, so I'm sure it's my mind not processing the information properly after a very long couple of weeks at work... That being said, a few questions..


Outdoor living on the ground.... These will essentially be for egg production and "pets" for the kids to watch while out in the yard; can they realistically live healthy on the ground? Reading on health issue with them, I'm unclear of the hazards of them living on the earth. Not opposed to putting some sort of florring in the coop/run then adding some sort of organic material for litter or such, just looking for clarity of what the issues are. I use bark, wood, etc as cover for my chickens and would like to do the same for quail if I go that route. Also, I'd planned on building a 8w x 16l x 6h hoop coop for ducks. I have one for my chickens and like it a lot. I've been at odds with adding ducks as I really don't want to deal with the mess; so contemplating quail in their stead and would use the same enclosure. I'll add a sample photo of the one I use for my chickens and plan to basically replicate that for the quail with whatever housing adjustments they would require. Again, unclear on coop spaces - reading has read me to them killing themselves via flying into coop roofs akin to Wil E Coyote smacking the painted train tunnel.. Do they need a smaller space to limit their velocity or would they do well in a larger setting?

Climate... Once they've matured - how do they overwinter? Would I need to run any heat? I don't do so for my chickens - only provide them a place to get out of the wind with the interior box as pictured below. It's basically just the raised floor and 4 walls - the roof is open in that the wire run and tarp in the only 'roof' provided - ventilation and all without direct exposure to the wind.. Would the quail stand a chance in a similar set-up or would they need heat?

 

[gpop1]

I don't see a problem with keeping quail on the floor but others might depending on all sorts of circumstances. I would recommend cleaning the floor with a bleach solution or raking a little lime into the soil before adding wood chips as they do not do well with mold. If you want really want happy quail leave about a 1' square free from mulch and add some sand because they love to dust bath.

As for hitting there heads they tend to pop up then fly. As long as they have enough space to pop up then they are fine. The trouble comes when you keep them in rabbit hutch size cages where they hit the top before going into flight mode. Your coop looks fine.

Im not sure you can get a quail to go up into a raised night time coop. They will probably just stack up in one corner for the night. Some people have managed to train them to use a night time coop so it can be done.

I live in florida so mine generally don't need heat as long as they have a way to keep the wind of them. I do have a heat lamp that I may turn on at night if its going to be a major change in temperature from one night to another as we can go from 65 one night to 35 the next which doesn't give them a chance to get adjusted to the cold.

Hopefully others will chip in with there advice.

 

[DK newbie]

I don't have coturnix myself (I'm assuming those are what you are considering), but the issue I see with keeping them on the ground is that it's hard to clean properly. If you have 5-10 birds in an enclosure of that size, it might not be much of a problem, but if you go by the 'one square foot per bird' rule and keep 60+(just guessing the size of the enclosure), the amount of poop, bacteria, parasites and so on might get out of hand and cause trouble.
Coturnix are cold hardy but as gpop mentioned they might not go into the coop on their own, even in very bad weather and the wind and rain outside could hurt them. People usually keep a roof over the entire enclosure and something to break the wind on the sides. Even if the coop was on the ground, they might not go in there.
Another issue I see with the layout, is the area below the coop. Quail would most likely love laying their eggs down there and you'd have a hard time getting them out ^^

 

[0wen]

Thanks...

I had planned on building the coop to the floor - I just have that space in my chicken coop to give them extra floor space and shade (although that isn't needed as they're built within a grove of maples + tarp). I'd only planned on a dozen or so quail at most at a given time - a single cock over 10-12 hens give or take. As mentioned, I know basically zero on quail (btw, yes to coturnix), and am becoming uninspired on their intelligence/instinct, or lack thereof. Amazing really that they won't seek cover from elements - I feel like I'm about to venture into raising Warner Brothers cartoon inspired Dodo birds...

On flooring - I use a deep litter(ish) method in my chicken coop and run - mostly an assortment of bark, wood, etc - Basically set up for 'Back to Eden' gardening where the chicken activity essentially continually composts the material and new organic material is periodically added - virtually zero manure or ammonia odor via this method - this isn't a viable control method for quail?

 

[Dani xxx]

I use this method in my quails run they are on bark chipping which I turn over every week or so, I only have 7 quail but I don't have any problems with smell. They have a tunnel, x 2 hideaway igloos, 4 grasses which they love to hide in and I gave them some millet sprays today which they are happily demolishing and most importantly a sand bath which they go crazy for with some mealworms and bird seed to find.

 

[gpop1]

I use this method in my quails run they are on bark chipping which I turn over every week or so, I only have 7 quail but I don't have any problems with smell. They have a tunnel, x 2 hideaway igloos, 4 grasses which they love to hide in and I gave them some millet sprays today which they are happily demolishing and most importantly a sand bath which they go crazy for with some mealworms and bird seed to find.

I like that set up.

Thanks...

I had planned on building the coop to the floor - I just have that space in my chicken coop to give them extra floor space and shade (although that isn't needed as they're built within a grove of maples + tarp). I'd only planned on a dozen or so quail at most at a given time - a single cock over 10-12 hens give or take. As mentioned, I know basically zero on quail (btw, yes to coturnix), and am becoming uninspired on their intelligence/instinct, or lack thereof. Amazing really that they won't seek cover from elements - I feel like I'm about to venture into raising Warner Brothers cartoon inspired Dodo birds...

On flooring - I use a deep litter(ish) method in my chicken coop and run - mostly an assortment of bark, wood, etc - Basically set up for 'Back to Eden' gardening where the chicken activity essentially continually composts the material and new organic material is periodically added - virtually zero manure or ammonia odor via this method - this isn't a viable control method for quail?

yep dodo does come to mind. Once you have learnt the basics to keeping them alive till adulthood there easy to keep. I keep my quail in the bottom of large bird aviary's that have a deep litter type of base and ive never smelt anything. The aviary's are covered so the floor stays dry, once a month the aviary's are sprayed down with a bird safe cleaner that kills germs and mold.
The quail are really there to eat spilt seed and scratch around the floor to keep it healthy. (the aviary cleaner is more to control the seed that's spilt from causing a problem)

Once cornixs get use to you there not to bothered by you entering there cage so you have to watch where you are walking as they wont get out of the way. They tend to lay in set spots but sometimes they will just lay all over the place so taller is better as crawling around finding eggs takes the fun out of it. The more natural you make the inside of the cage the happier they seem to be and the more time you will spend crawling around hunting for eggs.

 

[JaeG]

It doesn't take long to breed the instinct out of quail. Just artificially incubating their eggs for a generation or two can leave you with birds that don't know how to parent. Button quail are a good example of this. Japanese quail have been artificially bred and raised and kept in 'battery farm' cages for a very long time, so they have lost many of their instincts, but that has also made them so docile and friendly and easy to keep so it's not all bad. Our kids love them as they are so easy to handle and we have some very friendly ones.

 

[rita2paul]

i really love your setup Dani, very smart. how large is your eglu also do you have waterproof covering over it, i see you also live in the uk and the weather can be so unpredictable at the moment, i had to scrap the car this morning and this afternoon i was out walking with just a jumper on.

 

[Dani xxx]

Thanks ! X I'm quite proud of my creation for my monsters I have the eglu classic so ment to be for 2/3 chickens or 4 small chickens with a 2 m run attached I have a bad weather jacket on the coop still but thinking of removing that soon as weather is looking better. They have an all weather cover on them half shade half clear but I was worried about rain getting in from the sides so through winter I had a clear tarp up on an external frame but storm Doris broke it and I took it down and they have been fine since only very edges on coop get a bit wet. Dimensions of coop 80 cm l x 65cm h x 80cm w the run tapers out at the end to 155cm wide really easy to clean and I think is is so cute to look at and people say lasts over tens years plus so they seem expensive but it's an investment ! X they have added a new feature to add extra door to the run as that is my only issue moving things at the back of run I have to use a litter picker or something long to move things to me but I still love it and my squailies love it too ! X

 

[0wen]

Ducks are starting to sound not so bad after all, maybe a second chicken coop.

A few more questions while debating passing on the quail experience..

Brooding - I use a Brinsea ecoglow in place of a lamp for my chickens. Any chance quail are smart enough at all to use this or would I need to grab a lamp for them?

More on housing -

I'd really like to go with a walk-in coop/run to avoid bending, squatting, crawling - all the things that are a pain in the rear as you get older. Outside of bringing the interior coop to ground level, what else would you suggest I do on the cattle panel design? Would a small barrier wall along the bottom of each side help at all? Maybe a 6" or 8" high strip to cut off direct wind in case they don't go inside the interior box?

Roofing - I'm reading correct that the entire 16' would need some sort of roof and not just the interior coop? That's terribly inconvenient if so..