Coturnix Quail Basics- Information and Pictures Galore

I would definitely recommend having something to enclose the bottom. I too don't like having them on wire. Our aviary was set up with an enclosed wire bottom, then we put turf over it in the hopes it would root through the wire and grow for the birds, but quail poo put paid to that idea.

However it did form a very neat way of covering the wire and creating a natural base for them very easily. The next problem we found is the bare soil just turned to mud whenever it rained, which was not nice for us and not for the quail either. Now we have bark chips down, they like to scratch through them for bugs with ups the protein in their diet for free as well as giving them a natural life.

At some point one of the staples holding the wire onto the bottom came off and rats dug in, they didn't seem to bother the quail but they were eating their food and costing us money. We have now fixed that by wedging bricks into the side of the aviary where the hole was.

I don't know about the wildlife where you are but if rats can get in so can snakes and even if the rats don't cause big problems the snake will. It is possible to have safe quail while still giving them a natural environment.

Another option would be to have a solid wooden floor, but I've never tried that and you would have to worry about it rotting etc and it would be hard to keep clean and dry.

You can make a quail cage very simply without having it raised on wire, just by making a 2ft or so high run similar to those you can buy for guinea pigs and rabbits, if you used this with a couple of hiding places and a wire bottom covered with substrate in the same way as the coop you show it would be a safe quail cage for your males/meat birds to grow out. It would be cheap to build and you could build it to be as big as you like.

Also, keep an eye on those cats. They may be chicken safe but you never know what's going on in their heads and a quail might look like dinner even if a chicken doesn't :)
 
I have no idea, haha, I am new to quail!
But from what I've been reading people said they need little "caves" or shelters built in for them to go in.
Someone had a bunch of those guinea pig/ chinchilla plastic house things for theirs to go in.  Other people just built little houses with a tiny door.

I have chickens but just ordered quail eggs on a whim and trying to learn real quick the best set up/ sq ft per bird so I can get something built while the weather is still nice :)

I read they like piles of branches to hide in too.
Im new st this so we're building a hoop coop, easy to shift, we have rats and mice and cats..but noyhing else.
I have to go sex mine. Slightly daunted, they're 5 weeks old.
So much fun though
 
I read they like piles of branches to hide in too.
Im new st this so we're building a hoop coop, easy to shift, we have rats and mice and cats..but noyhing else.
I have to go sex mine. Slightly daunted, they're 5 weeks old.
So much fun though


Ooooooooooh what's a hoop coop???
Are they expensive to build?
I didn't plan this out too well having them hatch right around Christmas
 
I read they like piles of branches to hide in too.
Im new st this so we're building a hoop coop, easy to shift, we have rats and mice and cats..but noyhing else.
I have to go sex mine. Slightly daunted, they're 5 weeks old.
So much fun though

i've got a chicken coop, that i think i'd like to build a "hoop coop" around... but have chicken wire along the bottom, and like the bird netting along the upper areas.

so that i could grow plants in it, out the reach of always-hungry mouths.
 
Just to confirm--- I just loaded my quail eggs into the bator. It should be running the same temp as chickens, around 100, right?
And if they hatch in 16 days lockdown in 13?
I don't assume anyone takes the time to candle these tiny eggs (or if you could even see anything) and what point do you start tossing them in the trash like 18-ish? (I have 120 in the bator so even if it were easier to candle I don't know that I'd bother anyway...)
 
someone on another thread mentioned that you should leave them in for 20 days... just relaying the info
smile.png
 
Mine seem to hatch on the money, 17 days like clockwork.
I leave them at least 3 more days if there's no ODORS. Yep, smell them! I open the top and take a sniff.
Trust me you will smell real quick if you have a "time bomb".
I have had 2 explode before I started to check, not pleasant
sickbyc.gif

Have had really good hatches this year, lots in the freezer already.
I candle at lockdown only, and if they are clear they don't get set in the hatcher.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom