Do quail scratch and destroy backyards like chickens do?

[June2012]

How many quail do you have? We have 27 total & if we don't move the run/coop around every 3 days, the grass dies. In the Fall & Spring we have a little more wiggle room, in the Summer & Winter it's super hard on the grass. I think our set up is 12 feet long & 6 feet wide.

I'm having 20 live birds shipped to me, and an extra 30 eggs. So I think at least 30 or 40 birds? But, the tractors will be divided by their purposes. Two tractors will have six breeding quail each, and the remaining other tractors will have ten laying hens each. At these sizes, I should be okay with moving them once a week, correct?

We got lazy during a really cold/snowy stretch & just threw pine chips down. Worked great as far as them not sitting in their poop but attracted mice (jerks tunneled in thanks to moles) & was harder on the grass.
On the flip side of that, the grass is crazy green where we were good about moving it like every other day.
Between moving them frequently & giving them sand to dust bathe in, ours don't scratch up the grass at all. But the poop can & will kill the grass if it's in the same place too long. Also, we have chickens too & I can promise - in general - quail don't scratch like chickens do. Our 11 chickens are waaaaaaaay more destructive than our 27 quail.

Do moles harm quail at all? I read that chickens eat moles, but I feel that quail are too small for that.

Do quail "mow" the grass or do they only encourage the growth of grass? I was thinking that I could get some geese to mow the yard if the quail were only fertilizing the grass.

I can get more pictures now that there's not snow on the ground to show you the skirt Hubby made. For predator protection we:
-The entire thing (roof, sides, skirt) is hardwire cloth (1/4 inch) so that nothing can sneak through or get a hand through (in VA we literally have every predator: bears, hawks, snakes, you name it)
-Put side panels up so hungry critters can't see them
-Put hardwire cloth (1/4 inch) skirt all around it (2 feet wide) to prevent predators digging under the sides (neighbor's dogs & coyotes)
-The door has 3 locks (one at the top, one in the middle, & one at the bottom) because I read that racoons can open locks
-On the inside we have a radio going so that there's a noise deterrent to predators (the quail seem to like certain kinds of music too)
-We have motion lights on the outside

It would be AMAZING if you could show me a picture!!!

Did you make your tractor large on purpose to deter predators from tipping the tractor? I would like to make very compact tractors by only giving the quail 1 sq ft of space each with a height of 3 ft. I'm worried that maybe the tractors would be too light against predators? I thought of putting down heavy objects, but I'm not too sure if a couple of bricks on a hardware cloth skirt would be much a deterrent...

Do your neighbors mind the radio? Do you turn it on at night?

For quail comfort/safety we:
-1/2 the roof has solid roofing on so that they have shade in the Summer, 1/2 has a tarp in the Winter to keep the snow off of them
-We have netting up in case they spook, it slows them before they hit the roof (6 feet high roof, 4-5 foot high netting)
-4 different feeders to prevent fighting
-Heated waterer in the Winter
-Heating plate (the weird flat black thing) in the Winter
-2 dust baths
-Grit
-Oyster shell
-2 different coops & tons of guinea pig houses

I really love the tarp/solid roof idea. I'll definitely implement it!

How wide is your netting? Or do you think 1/4 inch hardware cloth would be enough (since my tractor is only going to be 3' tall)?

Do I really need to provide grit even though they're going to live directly on the grass? They won't just nibble and find small stones by themselves?

Mind you, to move this thing, it's a huge process. & due to the net, you are bent at the waist for far longer than your back will care for. We have to take all of their stuff out of the run, take the skirts off the run, then catch the quail & lock them in the yellow coop, then put the wheels on the run, then move the run 5 feet, go inside the run & pick up the coop/move it to the far end, exit the run & continue moving it, go back in & put the coop exactly where we want it, then exit the run & take the wheels off, then check for daylight in places where the sides meet the ground because they can & will squeeze out, plug the gaps if there are any, then put their stuff back, then let them out while throwing mealworms everywhere, then put the skirt back on.

Overall (for us), it's worth it. It's a good workout for us & the quail are super happy. They do the butt wiggle hops & happy coo every time they get moved to new grass.

View attachment 1712074 View attachment 1712079 View attachment 1712082 View attachment 1712084

I love your dedication. Your quail are definitely happy quail.

How do you take on and off the skirt of the tractor? I'd love to see how you made it detachable!

 

[Fishkeeper]

Moles are harmless to everything but worms.

If your tractor is 3 feet tall, that's a dangerous height. They can build up some speed in that amount of space. You'll need to pad the roof somehow so they don't break their necks against it if they spook.

You don't generally need grit in outdoor birds, no.

I think at 1 bird per square foot, you'll need to move it pretty frequently. That's a lot of bird density.

If you're going to make a tractor that's, what, 2x3x3, then I'd say that's probably light enough for predators to move. What do you have in the area?

You could build a big tractor, divided into portions. You could also set all your tractors in the same area, and ring the whole area with electric fence.

 

[Lady_Bat]

Are they already sexed? With 30 eggs you're probably going to end up with a lot of males. Will the extra boys be going to freezer camp? Or getting a bachelor pad?
For the 6 breeding quail, I take it you're planning on like a 1 male to 5 female ratio? I just want to make sure you won't have too many males & not enough females.

Concerning the foot print of your tractors, I would make them a lot bigger than 1 sq foot per bird to prevent fighting but that's just me. If you read through the threads someone probably posted the best minimum guideline for that. What we've noticed though, is the bigger the better. No one likes to feel cramped.

For the height of the tractors, keep it at a foot or over 4 feet with a net. 3 feet tall is just enough for them to hurt themselves. They are feathered bottle rockets when scared. They shoot straight up & when they hit a roof serious or fatal injuries happen.

As far as I know, moles only eat worms so they don't hurt or bother quail.

For mowing the grass....we didn't really notice one way or another.

Where are you located? What kind of predators do you have? We have bear so we needed the tractor to be substantial. Also, we're kinda at the bottom of a bunch of hills so the wind gets really wicked in the winter so it couldn't be super light weight. We also have small predators (snakes, mink, weasels, raccoons, etc) so it had to be pretty tight security wise too.

We used bird netting, it's pretty cheap at Lowes or Home Depot. Hardware cloth is no different than hitting a brick wall for them, there's no give. Again, I don't know what predators you're dealing with so hardware cloth is the open section of the roof for us, then the bird netting is draped inside to prevent injury.

We're on 76 acres, next to us is 50 acres of corn, across from us is 200 acres of cattle, on the other side of us is woods then a street, & behind us is our hay field followed by more woods. So...nope, no one minds our radio. We leave it on at night because that's when the coyotes are most active.

We provide grit because 27 quail in a 12x6 pen on good pasture land, are not going to be able to find enough small rocks. You need to look at the quality of your soil to see if it can provide enough. We end up refilling the dish around every 3 days.

I'm having trouble getting the pictures to load. I'll post those in a bit when I get it sorted.

 

[Lady_Bat]

The skirt panels aren't done yet (Hubby had to work on the chicken coop & our current foster kid is keeping us pretty busy). He's working on corner ones & he's going to use hooks to attach them to the run. The rope is what we grab onto to move them. The one in front helps block/lock the door so that is serendipitous!

 

[Lady_Bat]

Here you can see where we were good about moving the tractor. The dead grass patches are either from the dust baths or the the coop, I'm not totally sure. Or, who knows, one of the dogs may have been "watering" the grass to help. The dogs think finding quail or chicken poop is the best thing ever!

 

[June2012]

Moles are harmless to everything but worms.

If your tractor is 3 feet tall, that's a dangerous height. They can build up some speed in that amount of space. You'll need to pad the roof somehow so they don't break their necks against it if they spook.

You don't generally need grit in outdoor birds, no.

I think at 1 bird per square foot, you'll need to move it pretty frequently. That's a lot of bird density.

If you're going to make a tractor that's, what, 2x3x3, then I'd say that's probably light enough for predators to move. What do you have in the area?

You could build a big tractor, divided into portions. You could also set all your tractors in the same area, and ring the whole area with electric fence.

Yay for the moles!

I don't mind making the tractors shorter at 1.5 or 2 feet, but I guess it'll just lighten the tractor which is a no go...

Really? I thought 1 bird per sq ft was standard. I'd be happy to increase the size to 2 sq ft per bird if it meant that I could move the tractors only once a week.

I figured that the tractors would be too light. I live in the suburbs and no one around me raises livestock, so I have no idea. All I've occasionally seen are some coyotes.

I don't want to put up electric fence. I guess I'll go with a tractor divided into four sections, and build more if need be, in the future.

Are they already sexed? With 30 eggs you're probably going to end up with a lot of males. Will the extra boys be going to freezer camp? Or getting a bachelor pad?
For the 6 breeding quail, I take it you're planning on like a 1 male to 5 female ratio? I just want to make sure you won't have too many males & not enough females.

All the live birds will be sexed. All extra boys are going to freezer camp or sold, whatever is fastest. And yes, I will be doing 1m and 5f.

Concerning the foot print of your tractors, I would make them a lot bigger than 1 sq foot per bird to prevent fighting but that's just me. If you read through the threads someone probably posted the best minimum guideline for that. What we've noticed though, is the bigger the better. No one likes to feel cramped.

I honestly always thought 1 sq ft per bird to be the humane standard. :O I'll definitely up the space. 2 sq ft per bird enough?

For the height of the tractors, keep it at a foot or over 4 feet with a net. 3 feet tall is just enough for them to hurt themselves. They are feathered bottle rockets when scared. They shoot straight up & when they hit a roof serious or fatal injuries happen.

Oi! So, I guess it's either 1 ft tall without a net or 4 ft tall with a net? >.>

As far as I know, moles only eat worms so they don't hurt or bother quail.

For mowing the grass....we didn't really notice one way or another.

I guess maybe not then? We'll see, I guess.

Where are you located? What kind of predators do you have? We have bear so we needed the tractor to be substantial. Also, we're kinda at the bottom of a bunch of hills so the wind gets really wicked in the winter so it couldn't be super light weight. We also have small predators (snakes, mink, weasels, raccoons, etc) so it had to be pretty tight security wise too.

Like I said in the previous post, I had no idea what predators I have. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, not too far north from Portland, OR.

We used bird netting, it's pretty cheap at Lowes or Home Depot. Hardware cloth is no different than hitting a brick wall for them, there's no give. Again, I don't know what predators you're dealing with so hardware cloth is the open section of the roof for us, then the bird netting is draped inside to prevent injury.

We're on 76 acres, next to us is 50 acres of corn, across from us is 200 acres of cattle, on the other side of us is woods then a street, & behind us is our hay field followed by more woods. So...nope, no one minds our radio. We leave it on at night because that's when the coyotes are most active.

We provide grit because 27 quail in a 12x6 pen on good pasture land, are not going to be able to find enough small rocks. You need to look at the quality of your soil to see if it can provide enough. We end up refilling the dish around every 3 days.

I'm having trouble getting the pictures to load. I'll post those in a bit when I get it sorted.

I guess I'll have to get the netting and grit then! And I sadly won't be able to get the radio. Neighbors are far too close.

 

[Fishkeeper]

1/2 to 1 square foot per bird is standard, but that's the people who are going to keep them in those tiny, wire-bottom cages. That's how much space they need in order to not be overcrowded enough to kill each other, it doesn't factor in anything to do with not killing grass.

You probably have foxes, weasels, and raccoons in your general area, and I'd guess also snakes. Even big rats are a problem for quail. You'll want to build the pens with a layer of hardware cloth, and with skirts like the above.

If you have coyotes, you need good defenses. They're strong and stubborn. I'm very inclined to suggest that you just circle your whole quail area with electric fencing. I know there are portable types of electric fence designed for campers, so you could move that too. Place each tractor next to each other, put the fence around all of them, and that should keep most big things out. You'd probably just have to snake-rat-and-weasel-proof the tractors in that case.

 

[June2012]

1/2 to 1 square foot per bird is standard, but that's the people who are going to keep them in those tiny, wire-bottom cages. That's how much space they need in order to not be overcrowded enough to kill each other, it doesn't factor in anything to do with not killing grass.

Oh... What do you suggest? I was thinking maybe 2 sq ft?

You probably have foxes, weasels, and raccoons in your general area, and I'd guess also snakes. Even big rats are a problem for quail. You'll want to build the pens with a layer of hardware cloth, and with skirts like the above.

Everything except the floor of the tractors will have a 1/4 in hardware cloth. There'll be a 1/4 in hardware cloth, 12 inch skirt, too.

If you have coyotes, you need good defenses. They're strong and stubborn. I'm very inclined to suggest that you just circle your whole quail area with electric fencing. I know there are portable types of electric fence designed for campers, so you could move that too. Place each tractor next to each other, put the fence around all of them, and that should keep most big things out. You'd probably just have to snake-rat-and-weasel-proof the tractors in that case.

My yard is 2000 sq ft. I'm thinking of fencing half, and then when the time comes, to move the electric fence to the other half of the yard. Does that sound okay? Or do you think I should just fence the whole thing?

Would this charger work for my yard or is it too weak? I know nothing about electric fencing

 

[Fishkeeper]

1 square foot per bird works. 2 would be a lot easier on the grass and would mean you'd need to move the tractor less often.

I don't know about the specific chargers, but you don't need to fence your whole yard. You just need a layer of electric fence, and only electric fence, around wherever you put the tractors. Probably a lot cheaper than putting it around your whole yard, electric fence ain't cheap.

Is there a specific reason you really want to use a tractor? You could build a fixed-in-place coop, make that predator-proof, and just throw in lawn clippings, weeds, and whatever else makes for good deep litter, and that would probably work out just as easy as having tractors that you move, plus easier to secure. Deep litter basically turns the bottom of your run into a compost bin instead of leaving it to be a stinky mess.

 

[June2012]

1 square foot per bird works. 2 would be a lot easier on the grass and would mean you'd need to move the tractor less often.

I don't know about the specific chargers, but you don't need to fence your whole yard. You just need a layer of electric fence, and only electric fence, around wherever you put the tractors. Probably a lot cheaper than putting it around your whole yard, electric fence ain't cheap.

Is there a specific reason you really want to use a tractor? You could build a fixed-in-place coop, make that predator-proof, and just throw in lawn clippings, weeds, and whatever else makes for good deep litter, and that would probably work out just as easy as having tractors that you move, plus easier to secure. Deep litter basically turns the bottom of your run into a compost bin instead of leaving it to be a stinky mess.

That makes more sense, haha! I'll just stick to what you suggest for the electric fencing.

I'm renting, so I really don't want to make a dent in a yard that isn't mine, ya know? I can raise poultry, but I don't know about making a coop and killing off a section of grass. It'd also be hard to put in a coop in my yard because of the intense slope. I don't even know how I'd go about securing the bottom parts of the walls of the coop.