I am creating a 10 thousand square foot quail heaven. I need your input

[gallery2000]

I have a pacemaker and I am afraid of an electric fence. I must be very careful around electric fence. They coded me once.

 

[007Sean]

In that case, I wouldn't use e fence! Your health is worth more than that!

 

[gallery2000]

yes, I don't want to be in the news either, "Electric fence killed a quail farmer"

 

[007Sean]

yes, I don't want to be in the news either, "Electric fence killed a quail farmer"

 

[Erkenstein]

Depends on the construction of the beds, concrete retaining walls, wood, sheet metal, etc...but yeah, it could work. If you bury the retaining walls around 2 feet down that should keep most predators from digging into the enclosure.

Predators don't like to dig down and then horizontally, so an apron is a better option than burying walls IMO.

Thinking about predators: diggers can be solved by the fence you have plus an apron. Snakes can get through the chain link, though, and as someone pointed out hardware cloth would solve that but it's pricey. So what I would do is use a couple of feet of chicken wire at the base of the pen, attached to the inside of the chain link (ziptie to the fence between posts). The chain link keeps big predators out, and the chicken wire keeps out large snakes.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Keeping out large snakes won't be enough to keep quail safe, plus predators can reach through chicken wire. IMO you need that couple feet at the bottom to be hardware cloth.

 

[lomine]

That’s a really nice area but I see a lot of potential issues.

First, I agree you need something on top. Not only will you likely have aerial predators but a quail could also jump/fly right over that fence.

I also agree you need some sort of apron and something with smaller holes around the base of the fence. A quail can walk right through chainlink fencing (I’ve seen it).

Something that hasn’t been mentioned yet is eggs. If you are getting quail for eggs, you are going to have to search every inch of your enclosure every day to find the eggs. My quail are in a 200 sq ft enclosure on the ground and I have to look everywhere for eggs. They mostly lay in different spots every time.

 

[Lady_Bat]

Where do you live? We're in VA so the predators we had to prepare for are...everything! Like bear, coyotes, neighbors dogs, cats, snakes, hawks, owls, skunks, possums, racoons, etc. We have a mobile coop/run (the coop is inside the run). The run has a roof (1/2 hardware cloth & 1/2 metal panels) - to thwart birds of pray. Plywood panels that start at the ground & go 2 feet high - so hungry critters can't see them from a distance & get excited by a food source. Hardware cloth skirt that goes out 2 feet to stop the snakes & anything wanting to dig into their run. We have a radio playing in their run as well as a noise deterrent. Knock on wood, it's hardy enough to withstand a curious bear if we're not here to help.
On the inside, we've enriched it with a cat litter box full of sand & DE, complete with little steps to help them get in. We leave the grass higher in their section so they can hide & play. A little coop in case they need to get out of the elements. There are also a ton of rabbit/guinea pig huts from Chewy.com that they love to play in/on. Multiple waterers, feeders, grit stations, & oyster shell stations. It's a pain in the butt to move/clean all of that but we're "those" people that spoil the crap out of our pets.
They seem super happy with it & come running up to us every time we go check on them. Although, their love & attention only last as long as they're eating mealworms out of our hands...

 

[Erkenstein]

Keeping out large snakes won't be enough to keep quail safe, plus predators can reach through chicken wire. IMO you need that couple feet at the bottom to be hardware cloth.

Yes that's definitely preferable. I like the idea above of plywood around the bottom, but both hardware cloth and plywood will be priiiiiicey for such a large enclosure.

True that animals can reach through chicken wire. If the birds coveyed up at night away from the perimeter it would be okay, so if there were a way to encourage that it could work. Too bad they don't go into a coop like chickens.

 

[Quail Whale]

You will really have to fence around the entire bottom of the whole structure so nothing can dig under. You will need to cover the entire top. If it snows in your area you will have to consider the weight of the snow on netting / wire / or whatever rooftop material you decide to use. If you are already keeping chickens in there you should know that they can pass diseases to quail. Best of luck and keep us updated with your progress whatever you decide to do. It looks interesting.