flickerfarkle
Chirping
- Feb 28, 2024
- 41
- 32
- 59
A couple of mornings ago I went to check the birds and found a wing lying in the roll-out tray. The other wing was still inside the cage, along with some bits and pieces. The entire torso, feet, legs and head, were missing. All it left were the wings and scattered feathers.
When I bought the eggs that I started raising these quail from, I measured them all carefully to see how big the roll-out gap needed to be. Even double-yolkers can't get through. And that dimension has worked fine for about a year, until now.
Not that the roll-out has worked out as expected. They lay almost all their eggs in either the dust bath or the hidey-hole, so the roll-out function was largely a waste or time and effort. And now it's also compromising their safety. Safety aside, I'd already made up my mind I wasn't going to bother with the roll-out tray any more, just build regular cages and install them with a tilt so the eggs roll to the front.
As is, the birds can't get out through the gap (not in on piece, anyway) but that doesn't stop them poking their heads out of it. I suspect whateveritwas cruised by while this hen was poking her head out and took advantage of the opportunity. I know I'd never seen the birds -- all of them, not just that one cage -- as obviously agitated as they were that morning, so everybody in the neighborhood was aware of what happened.
The culprit didn't leave any clues to its identity but those roll-outs are about 5 feet off the ground (I've also got a guard dog but he's away on sex holiday). I've got neighbors whose cats sometimes stray into my yard but I can't see them working that hard for a meal. Nor can I see a quail poking its head out when there's a cat prowling on its front porch. I'm thinking maybe an owl, but they're not particularly common hereabouts.
I had some old gutter guard screens laying around that happened to be just about the right size, and I've used them to cover the roll-out tray (held down with quickgrips), which also blocks access to the roll-out gap at the bottom. And I put up a game camera watching the front of the two cages I've got that have (the now blocked) roll-out trays. In two nights all I've got pictures of is me checking the camera.
If it doesn't come back I think that supports my theory that it was some sort of bird because only a bird has the elevated vantage point to tell the roll-out gaps have been blocked without climbing up to see, and anything that climbs up to check is going to get it's picture taken.
When I bought the eggs that I started raising these quail from, I measured them all carefully to see how big the roll-out gap needed to be. Even double-yolkers can't get through. And that dimension has worked fine for about a year, until now.
Not that the roll-out has worked out as expected. They lay almost all their eggs in either the dust bath or the hidey-hole, so the roll-out function was largely a waste or time and effort. And now it's also compromising their safety. Safety aside, I'd already made up my mind I wasn't going to bother with the roll-out tray any more, just build regular cages and install them with a tilt so the eggs roll to the front.
As is, the birds can't get out through the gap (not in on piece, anyway) but that doesn't stop them poking their heads out of it. I suspect whateveritwas cruised by while this hen was poking her head out and took advantage of the opportunity. I know I'd never seen the birds -- all of them, not just that one cage -- as obviously agitated as they were that morning, so everybody in the neighborhood was aware of what happened.
The culprit didn't leave any clues to its identity but those roll-outs are about 5 feet off the ground (I've also got a guard dog but he's away on sex holiday). I've got neighbors whose cats sometimes stray into my yard but I can't see them working that hard for a meal. Nor can I see a quail poking its head out when there's a cat prowling on its front porch. I'm thinking maybe an owl, but they're not particularly common hereabouts.
I had some old gutter guard screens laying around that happened to be just about the right size, and I've used them to cover the roll-out tray (held down with quickgrips), which also blocks access to the roll-out gap at the bottom. And I put up a game camera watching the front of the two cages I've got that have (the now blocked) roll-out trays. In two nights all I've got pictures of is me checking the camera.
If it doesn't come back I think that supports my theory that it was some sort of bird because only a bird has the elevated vantage point to tell the roll-out gaps have been blocked without climbing up to see, and anything that climbs up to check is going to get it's picture taken.
