For those who use wire floor cage with nest box...

[laputa]

What bedding material do you put in the nest box? straw? wood shavings? How thick a layer of bedding do you use?

Do you actually need to clean the nest box area of droppings once in a while? Replace all the bedding material? Or the birds are smart enough to not poo in that area?

And do quails lay strictly in a nest box if one is provided, or they still lay on the wire? If there are bedding material in the nest box, do they ever hide the eggs in the bedding, either intentionally or by accident?

Has anyone ever tried the practice to corral all the quails into the nest box in the evening then let them out in the morning, in an effort to prevent coon attack?

Sorry if I got too many questions. I am preparing the cage for my future quails, I am modifying a typical rabbit hutch, so 2/3 of the floor on wire, then the other 1/3 is a build in nest box on solid bottom, the kind of layout I plan to keep. So I am trying to figure out all the possible issues related to a nest box.

 

[NancyDz]

I think it would be very difficult to round them up and keep them in the nest box every night. Just make the rabbit hutch raccoon/predator proof and let them run around all they want. They cant go long without eating/drinking so unless you have water/food in the nest box I dont think its a good idea.


Nancy

 

[shelleyd2008]

I don't think quail really use a nest box, though mine seem to lay in their dust pans for the most part. I know that Niki has some 'coop' type things on some of her cages, but I don't think she locks them in. I agree that you need to just make sure that the cages are predator proof, they seem to just sleep wherever. You probably could train them, but I'm pretty sure it would take a while.

 

[monarc23]

Yeppers my one pen is a rabbit hutch, that has an indoor part. They do not even use it in a torential downpour, nor in the harshest nights of winter which is why in winter I have to tarp down the entire hutch to keep them out of drafts LOL!

I agree with Nancy, just make around the pen predator proof (many different ways to do this) because it's hard to make them go in believe me lol

My birds only use the indoor part to lay their eggs (though TWO hens use the wire to lay their eggs on grr lol)!

 

[laputa]

Thank you all for the tips, that's very interesting to know, they don't love the nest box as much as chicken do. I was hoping if I could routinely corner them into the nest box for the night, then I can just build a very strong nest box with locked doors, which not only saves some material but also is a safer bet compare to make the whole hutch predator-proof. But I guess they will not want to cooperate like chicken do.

 

[shelleyd2008]

You also have to keep in mind that predators normally attack at night, but not always. It is best to just make sure the whole thing is predator-proof