how many quail pens can i have on top of each other?

[youridreezen]

would like to know if i should put 2 or 3 quail pens on top of each other.
each pen will be 16 inch high and the bottom one will be 12 inch off the ground.
any help would be great.

cheers youri.

 

[chickenwhisperer123]

If you have poop trays underneath each one, so they arent pooping on eachother, I dont see why not.

I think thats how a lot of people do it.

 

[youridreezen]

i should have said they will be on wood shavings.
how many quails do you think i can have in a 2 X 2 cage and also a 2 X 2 1/2 cage.

thanks again.

cheers youri.

 

[chickenwhisperer123]

What kind of quail? That makes a HUGE difference.

 

[youridreezen]

sorry i always forget to add that.
they are Coturnix.

cheers youri.

 

[Ironsun]

Hi,

Coturnix will require 1 square foot per bird, so a cage 2ft X 2ft will hold 4 birds correctly. A cage 2ft X 2½ft is 5 square feet so five birds.

I don't always follow this rule though. In the hight of the breeding season I might add one or two more to a 4 or 5 square foot cage to make decent breeding groups up. As long as they are not over crowded I find this works.

Solid floor cages can be stacked to whatever hight you require and are comfortable working with safely. Cages only need to be about 12-14inches high so you could safely have 4/5 cages high. Make sure the top cage is at eye level so egg collection is made easy for you to see in all the corners.

If possable, have food and water on the outside of the cage, this will allow more space inside the cage and can be easier to supply food and water.

Ironsun.

 

[youridreezen]

Quote:
thanks alot for the info.
i think with the colours that i wont to have a lot of i will have bigger pens and more birds.

i am going to make the cages 15 3/4 inch high so the birds have some space.

i will have a small nest box for them to lay in so the eggs don't get under the shavings (have had a lot of people tel me don't use shavings because the will hid the eggs so will use a small nest box)

food and water will be on the out side of the pens.

cheers youri.

 

[Wifezilla]

If possable, have food and water on the outside of the cage

No kidding...it also stops them from pooping all over the feed.

i will have a small nest box for them to lay in so the eggs don't get under the shavings

Don't be surprised if they never use them. Coturnix tend to just lay eggs wherever. Mine lay in their little twig hut, in the dusting box, in the feed cups, on the wire.....​

 

[shelleyd2008]

Mine almost always lay eggs in their dust pans, if there is something to dust in in the pan. If it is empty, they might use it, and they might not. So your best bet would be too keep sand in your nest box

Make sure your dust pan is big enough for all of them to get in at the same time, or they will fight over it.

 

[canter6]

From an engineering standpoint I agree with Ironsun's dimensions. I also agree that 1 square foot per bird is optimal, but can be fudged, especially if one or both your food or water is on the outside of the pen and off the floor. I use pop water bottle caps to get the bulk of the water on the outside of the pen as well as getting rid of the floor space hogging quart water jar things, because coturnix can't seam to figure out if it's a water fountain, or a toilet.

i am going to make the cages 15 3/4 inch high so the birds have some space.

To ground dwelling birds like coturnix quail, extra head space is not needed, and a waste of wire. If you want to give them "some space" it should be floor space, not head space. Also the shorter head space may allow you get an extra pen in the stack. I say 12" max. 10" is not unreasonable.

Nest boxes are debatable. Like Shelly says, I collect about 85%+ of my eggs out of my dust pans. They tend to lay eggs in the place the are most often, and coturnix love their dust pans.

Edit follows:

Sorry, forgot to answer the first question. You can stack your quail pens as high as you are willing to fall