I'm almost afraid to go into my quail pen.

[Denninmi]

I have a big pen that is about 8 x 16 and has a hoophouse type construction so the roof is about 7 1/2 feet at the peak. So, I just step inside to do the various chores.

I am getting paranoid about going in there because the little buggers are so tame they get underfoot. I'm afraid I'm going to step on someone. One squish would be it -- I'm 6' tall and weigh about 180, so it would be crunch time for the little bones.

I guess I'll have to come up with a quail shield of some kind -- maybe a piece of foamboard that I can use to shoo them all down to the far end and keep them there while I clean sleeping boxes, water trays, fill the feeder, etc.

I guess this would be one advantage of bobwhites over coturnix -- those are NOT tame, so they would run in fear from what I recall (it was like 1993 or 1994 when I had bobwhites).

 

[Stellar]

The coturnix are like mini chickens, they get in your way huh

I don't know what would scare them, even the vacuum cleaner soothes them

 

[Rozzie]

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Ohhh maybe the vacuum cleaner would hush the roosters up some mornings.

I know my button quail like the vacuum, ROFL. Hadn't thought to turn it on around the coturnix (their area is easy to sweep).

 

[Rainwolf]

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I'd just shuffle around so that your not picking up your feet enough to squish them... Mine all climb up my arms or out the door into my lap when I'm working in their coop. I'm constantly having to pick em up and toss em back in the coop but ya gotta love em

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I don't have walk in pens, but they think my arms are branches and perch there, while I am moving things around to get at their eggs. Oh, ya they'll perch on limbs as big as arms I bet. And pick at your hands for treats and come to the door wanting pettings. Cute little beggars aren't they.

 

[Wifezilla]

Yup

I step slowly in the pen...LOL. Little dorks

 

[joe125]

If you can "step into a coturnix pen" it's way to large! You should be able to reach every square inch of the pen for cleaning and egg collection, but if you worry about stepping on birds, then you are a pen-o-holic! Chicken thinking quail person.

24x24x12=4+ birds. If you are just walking into a coturnix pen, then you under-utilizing the pen space, or are a very small 12 inch person.

 

[Wifezilla]

My quail are in a 8'x4' dog kennel. They are on the ground and have a very nice enclosure with plants, straw floor for scratching around, wicker huts and a large hutch to hide in and a big dust bath area. This enclosure even inspired one of my hens to go broody and set a clutch on her own.

Not everyone raises quail in small cages on wire. When I bought my quad they were in a cage. They had broken feathers, the hens were bald, and they were very spazzy. I was inspired by this article to try a more natural approach. (besides the dog pen was free - got it from a neighbor when they moved)
http://www.thatquailplace.com/articles/index.php?id=8
Even though the article focuses on button quail, it is working just fine for me with my coturnix quail.


P.S. If you can fit in to the quail pen, you can reach every corner and clean it quite easily.

 

[Denninmi]

Well, in my particular case, the quail pen started out life as a duck pen, but then I got more ducks so had to build them a newer, bigger duck enclosure.

I don't see a down side to giving them as much space as possible. While they may not "need" it in the sense that they can survive in less, the more the better IMO -- if they're not as crowded, it seems to me like it would cut down on fighting and other issues related to being overcrowded.

 

[Robo]

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My conure rides on the vaccum cleaner. Even the quail chicks love the sound of it.