Do quail scratch and destroy backyards like chickens do?

[June2012]

That's great news!!! It's a good thing you checked. We've been annoyed with some of the impressively stupid regulations there are for almost everything. Between federal, state, & county regulations, it's gotten absurd. The stories I could tell you....we should probably start a new thread for for that though.

Please make a thread! I'd love to know what regulations you would have to face if you decided to go the organic route. I personally am not finding it to be much a hassle, I think. I just called the closest organic certifier and asked questions...

Haha, I totally get that. I'm picturing a 1 foot tall tractor & I just cant take that seriously!
For the panels, I'd suggest starting with 1 foot tall. Then watch/interact with them. You'll know if they're stressed or not. If they seem stressed, then expand the panels upward. Do you know what kind of materiel you want to use? Plywood doesn't hold up (please learn from our life lessons). If you're concerned about not enough weight, go for galvanized corrugated metal roofing. If you think that will kill your back, go for corrugated PVC roofing panels. You should be able to find both at Lowes & Home Depot.

I was on the fence about either the plywood or the roofing material, but now I know! Thank you for telling me about the plywood!

For putting up the netting, it's quite the game of guess & check. I'm sure you already have gotten the entire net concept (how to do it) but I'm gonna describe how we did it because sharing is caring!
I'd advise attaching it to the sides at 1.5 feet (on the inside of the tractor obviously). Make it loose, & run para-cord (we did all of our attachment points with this because it's moveable) or a weather resistant string of sorts down through the roof to attach to the middle of the netting/tractor because it'll sag there. Think of a giant circus tent, how they have to use a pole to keep the middle up, same concept.

Oooooh, I didn't even think of the sagging part in the middle. Thanks!

Then pretend your hand is a quail & shoot it up at the netting to see how much it gives, it your hand-quail bonks it's pretend self into the roof (too lose), see if your hand-quail hurts when you hit the net (too tight/not enough give) & see if the net holds up to repeated hits (triple knot your attachment points & check them every so often in the future). When I say a hand-quail, like punch straight up or do a backhand motion but straight up, get your anger out - it's very therapeutic to be a hand-quail.
We didn't get it right on the first try so just be ready to be out there for a bit. You're going for an inverse parachute, the attachment points are important but the amount of give/ability to slow them down is critical.

I hope that makes sense, if not let me know & I'll try to reword it.

You're saying that I should punch the netting and see how much it gives to my wanna-be-quail-fist? If so, you're making eggcellent sense! (yes i just did that)