Housing for happy quail?

[Fishkeeper]

I know the recommended minimum space per quail for coturnix is one square foot, but that really doesn't seem like enough room. Maybe they'll lay eggs and won't peck each other to death, but that's not a happy life, that's a not-deadly life.

What would you say is the minimum space per quail to have happy birds? Think aviary-style keeping, in a relatively large space with plants and a sandbox and such. If I had a 5x8 pen, it doesn't seem like I ought to put 40 birds in that, but what about 20? That'd be with maybe 1 rooster per 9 hens, so the hens hopefully don't get picked on too much.

 

[feedman77]

5x8 aviary with 20 birds plants and sand box. They would be very happy birds.

Most of mine are in/on wire at 1sqf. They seem happy.

 

[DK newbie]

I'd still be worried that the roos will fight. Some roos will probably be totally happy in such an enclosure, but some won't accept the presence of others. Having to find the other roo in a group of 19 birds probably won't be all that easy though, so they'll probably not kill each other, but the dominant one might still stress the other one substantially.
I don't have cots (yet) though, so I'm just guessing. But I'm going to pick up a roo and 4 hens tomorrow and the enclosure I've prepared for them is about 8x9 ft. I know that's not necessary at all, but I have the space for it, so why not?

 

[Laurasnextstep]

Mine have just under 2ft per bird but funnily enough they all still prefer to stand practically on top of each other rather than spread out!

 

[Acre4Me]

I know the recommended minimum space per quail for coturnix is one square foot, but that really doesn't seem like enough room. Maybe they'll lay eggs and won't peck each other to death, but that's not a happy life, that's a not-deadly life.

What would you say is the minimum space per quail to have happy birds? Think aviary-style keeping, in a relatively large space with plants and a sandbox and such. If I had a 5x8 pen, it doesn't seem like I ought to put 40 birds in that, but what about 20? That'd be with maybe 1 rooster per 9 hens, so the hens hopefully don't get picked on too much.

What is your purpose in having quail? If for eggs, for example, you might want to their cage/enclosure to facilitate collecting eggs- quail do not use laying nests so they will drop an egg wherever. Hunting for tiny eggs in a large enclosure might get tedious. If it’s for pets and enjoyment (eggs are a nice bonus when you find them) then nice and large enclosure is fine. If you want fertile eggs to hatch, then the fertility might be lower when you have so many girls per male and multiple males together might cause stresses further reducing fertility.

I use wire cages with 4-5 girls per 1male. When I tried a larger number of girls with 2 males, well there was blood and injuries daily. But that was a wire cage vs a large enclosure - maybe they still would have fought with each other, or maybe not. Others on here have their quail in dirt floor style aviaries and will hopefully comment as there are certain challenges to an outdoor/dirt floor aviary.

 

[ellie62706]

I'm having the same dilemma!

I know the recommended minimum space per quail for coturnix is one square foot, but that really doesn't seem like enough room. Maybe they'll lay eggs and won't peck each other to death, but that's not a happy life, that's a not-deadly life.

What would you say is the minimum space per quail to have happy birds? Think aviary-style keeping, in a relatively large space with plants and a sandbox and such. If I had a 5x8 pen, it doesn't seem like I ought to put 40 birds in that, but what about 20? That'd be with maybe 1 rooster per 9 hens, so the hens hopefully don't get picked on too much.

I think I'm just going to build an aviary, I am keeping quail for eggs but mostly the experience. I only have two.

 

[Fishkeeper]

If they're coturnix, you need more. Buttons and bobwhites need to be kept in pairs, but coturnix need flocks with multiple females per male, or even all females.

You can probably also keep them in sort of a large rabbit hutch. One that would be properly sized for rabbits, at least, not one of those tiny ones that could barely fit a mouse.