Housing quail

[Silkiechicken66]

Im restocking my meat quail pen. How many quail would you keep in a 8ftL by 3ftW pen? (24 square ft.)

 

[Nabiki]

I would keep 10-12 in there, but there are people who would keep 20 or more in there.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I second @Nabiki

 

[quail gggggggggg]

I would keep about 24. No more, though.

 

[Silkiechicken66]

Thanks! I posted the same question in a quail keeping Facebook group I’m in and people suggested 80+ quail for the pen. Some lady even said 96 jumbo quail would be comfortable.... Didn’t sound right!

 

[quail gggggggggg]

Thanks! I posted the same question in a quail keeping Facebook group I’m in and people suggested 80+ quail for the pen. Some lady even said 96 jumbo quail would be comfortable.... Didn’t sound right!

Sure! I'm happy I could help. Have a good day!

 

[BESSIE THE QUAIL]

the general rule i use is 1 quail per square foot.

 

[mdees88]

Everyone does things different and it just depends on what you're trying to achieve. I'm also assuming we're talking coturnix quail on a wire floor.

Myshire farm keeps 3.5 birds per 1 sq ft in their cages. So they would put 84 birds in your cage. So I would not consider the people saying 80-90 birds "crazy"..... but I personally wouldn't keep that many in there.

My meat birds are usually 1.5-2 birds per square foot (or .75-.5 sq ft per bird). Basically I start out at 2 birds per square foot with 2.5-3 week old birds then around week 5 or so I usually process some to eat. By the time they are fully mature (around 8-10 weeks) I usually have them around 1.25 birds per sq ft. I pay attention and try to cull any trouble makers at week 5, sometimes sooner.

If I had your cage I would put up to 50 2-3 week old birds in it and once they get 6 weeks I would process some until you have around 30 or less in it. These are just ballpark numbers and it will depend entirely on how well your birds get along with each other.

For reference..... here's 14 hens in a 15sq ft cage. So basically 1 sq ft per bird which is the most recommended minumum spacing for quail. They're not crammed at all, IMO, and there's still plenty of room left inside the cage. I wouldn't hesitate put twice as many in there, especially if we're talking meat birds..... I keep my breeders at 1sq ft per bird and sometimes they have more room than that.

When talking about the 1sq ft per bird rule..... most people fail to mention that the bigger the cage, the less the rule applies.

Imagine a 12in x 12in box then put a quail in it. That seems pretty inhumane to me... even though it is the recommended minimum size for quail.

Now imagine how many quail you could physically fit inside that 12in x 12in box. My guess is 9 but let's say 10 for a good even number. Well quail are "herd" animals and generally spend a lot of time in close proximity with each other. When they sleep they usually do so bunched up in groups.

So now picture a 2ft x 5ft cage (10 sq ft). Then picture 10 quail all snuggled up in the corner just chilling. Let's say those quail are spread out over 2 sq ft so now you have 8sq ft of cage that's completely empty. It's just open space for them to roam around when they want. Similar to the picture I posted, 14 hens taking up approximately 3sq ft of their 15 sq ft cage.... with 12sq ft of wide open space to roam.

So the 1sq ft per bird is a good minumum recommendation but you can most certainly exceed it under the right circumstances....

Now if your keeping the birds on the ground you probably can't come close to 2 birds per square foot. Their living conditions would become unsanitary very quickly.....

 

[Silkiechicken66]

Everyone does things different and it just depends on what you're trying to achieve. I'm also assuming we're talking coturnix quail on a wire floor.

Myshire farm keeps 3.5 birds per 1 sq ft in their cages. So they would put 84 birds in your cage. So I would not consider the people saying 80-90 birds "crazy"..... but I personally wouldn't keep that many in there.

My meat birds are usually 1.5-2 birds per square foot (or .75-.5 sq ft per bird). Basically I start out at 2 birds per square foot with 2.5-3 week old birds then around week 5 or so I usually process some to eat. By the time they are fully mature (around 8-10 weeks) I usually have them around 1.25 birds per sq ft. I pay attention and try to cull any trouble makers at week 5, sometimes sooner.

If I had your cage I would put up to 50 2-3 week old birds in it and once they get 6 weeks I would process some until you have around 30 or less in it. These are just ballpark numbers and it will depend entirely on how well your birds get along with each other.

For reference..... here's 14 hens in a 15sq ft cage. So basically 1 sq ft per bird which is the most recommended minumum spacing for quail. They're not crammed at all, IMO, and there's still plenty of room left inside the cage. I wouldn't hesitate put twice as many in there, especially if we're talking meat birds..... I keep my breeders at 1sq ft per bird and sometimes they have more room than that.

View attachment 2125749

When talking about the 1sq ft per bird rule..... most people fail to mention that the bigger the cage, the less the rule applies.

Imagine a 12in x 12in box then put a quail in it. That seems pretty inhumane to me... even though it is the recommended minimum size for quail.

Now imagine how many quail you could physically fit inside that 12in x 12in box. My guess is 9 but let's say 10 for a good even number. Well quail are "herd" animals and generally spend a lot of time in close proximity with each other. When they sleep they usually do so bunched up in groups.

So now picture a 2ft x 5ft cage (10 sq ft). Then picture 10 quail all snuggled up in the corner just chilling. Let's say those quail are spread out over 2 sq ft so now you have 8sq ft of cage that's completely empty. It's just open space for them to roam around when they want. Similar to the picture I posted, 14 hens taking up approximately 3sq ft of their 15 sq ft cage.... with 12sq ft of wide open space to roam.

So the 1sq ft per bird is a good minumum recommendation but you can most certainly exceed it under the right circumstances....

Now if your keeping the birds on the ground you probably can't come close to 2 birds per square foot. Their living conditions would become unsanitary very quickly.....

Thank you!! And I definitely wasn’t trying to call whoever suggested 80+ birds crazy, just not what I would ever do.
I’m planning on doing 1-2 birds per sq ft. to start off with. I’ve only ever had 5-10 birds in this pen so this is the first time exploring more than that. Don’t want to overwhelm myself. I’m also not needing tons and tons of birds, as they won’t be a ‘primary’, per say, food item.
(It is also a wire floored pen)