Do king quails dig

[Donna Gardner]

My daughter has young quails she is new to raising them
We have a question do quails dig out of cages
And if they should get out will they come back or are they gone
Assistance appreciated

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Donna and
If your enclosure (cage,pen) doesn't have an apron of mesh wire around it, they possible could dig out. The main reason for an apron around the out side of the enclosure is to keep predators from digging into the pen. If you don't have this feature installed on your pen, I strongly suggest you install the apron. It will give you peace of mind to know your quail can't get out or a predator get in. If they get out, they may hang around, if other birds are still in the pen. Otherwise, they may choose to leave the area or a predator will get them very quickly. HTH

 

[Donna Gardner]

Thank you Sean the appron sounds like a good idea

 

[JaeG]

King quail might dig a little depression to dust bathe in but they can't dig a hole. Sounds like a rat or something similar. Rats seem to love quail! My Japanese quail cage is on the ground and has a wire bottom. I've just lost a bird from a rat digging a tunnel underneath and grabbing it through the wire. I've even had rats have a go at chewing through the galvanised wire on the sides of the cage! They've broken a few threads but thankfully not enough to fit through. The quail love their big cage but I fear I'm going to have to put them back in their much smaller, solid bottomed cages that are off the ground.

 

[007Sean]

King quail might dig a little depression to dust bathe in but they can't dig a hole. Sounds like a rat or something similar. Rats seem to love quail! My Japanese quail cage is on the ground and has a wire bottom. I've just lost a bird from a rat digging a tunnel underneath and grabbing it through the wire. I've even had rats have a go at chewing through the galvanised wire on the sides of the cage! They've broken a few threads but thankfully not enough to fit through. The quail love their big cage but I fear I'm going to have to put them back in their much smaller, solid bottomed cages that are off the ground.

Hey JaeG, I bury my wire apron about 4 to 6 inches deep then pour concrete over the top about 2" thick....haven't had mice or rats dig into my pens, yet! You might consider doing it, yeah, it can be a little expensive but I think it's worth the expense and labor. Just my 2cents.

 

[JaeG]

Hey JaeG, I bury my wire apron about 4 to 6 inches deep then pour concrete over the top about 2" thick....haven't had mice or rats dig into my pens, yet! You might consider doing it, yeah, it can be a little expensive but I think it's worth the expense and labor. Just my 2cents.

Thanks for the advice. We are hoping to move very soon so I can't do it here but that does sound like the best way to keep the rats out. I'll be doing that wherever we end up as the quail love having so much space to bounce and play in. Do you dig down to bury it or could you put fresh soil over the top? I'm just asking because where we currently are is rock hard clay - not fun to try and dig in!

 

[007Sean]

Thanks for the advice. We are hoping to move very soon so I can't do it here but that does sound like the best way to keep the rats out. I'll be doing that wherever we end up as the quail love having so much space to bounce and play in. Do you dig down to bury it or could you put fresh soil over the top? I'm just asking because where we currently are is rock hard clay - not fun to try and dig in!

Either way, some places I have very rocky ground and there I cover it with soil then concrete. Where theres soil, I'll dig out about 4-6 inches deep and 2' wide. It also keeps the larger predators from digging into the pens.
I haven't had either rats or other larger predators dig under, I have had racoons reach in through 1" x1" welded wire mesh that I build my pens with but Im not going to use 1/2" hardware cloth, just too expensive, for as many pens as I have to cover.