How much room do coturnix need?

[Cherlyn]

I have an aviary with 18 square feet of floor space. How many quail can I safely keep in there?

Thanks!

~Cherlyn

 

[shelleyd2008]

Supposedly it's 1 sq ft per bird, but I have mine in smaller areas than this and they do fine.

 

[Cherlyn]

Quote:
Wow! I cannot imagine having 18 of the little guys/gals in there - will have to be very careful opening and closing the aviary door. I will have to make some changes so I can do as much as possible from the outside of the aviary (relocate feeders and drinkers, for one)!

Thank you,

~Cherlyn

 

[shelleyd2008]

I have 10 jumbo birds in a cage that is 30" x 36", so supposedly enough to have 7 birds in there (technically 7.5 birds

). They have plenty of room, and there were 12 birds in there before. They also have a long metal feeder in there, and a roasting pan for a dust bath. They still have plenty of room.

 

[Cherlyn]

Quote:
Excellent - that gets rid of a big worry! I will put in some large long feeders tomorrow, and a dustbath.

But, about the budgies - they seem to adore the quail food, and occasionally try to bully away the coturnix from their food. Any way I can discourage them from this?

~Cherlyn

 

[shelleyd2008]

They bully the coturnix from the coturnix's food? Or from the budgie's food? I don't think the quail's food would hurt the budgies, but I'm not sure. I fed my budgies pellets when I had some, so it's not all that different I wouldn't think.

 

[Cherlyn]

From the coturnixes (coturnii?) food.

~Cherlyn

 

[shelleyd2008]

Just make sure there is more than one place for them to eat, and they won't be able to bully them too badly. They'll get along eventually