Just about finished on the quail pen

[grouselabmike]

Work has been crushing me lately but I got the quail pen just about wrapped up. I have a few more things to add to predator proof it but it will hold birds and they are coming today. Going with quail and a few chucker. Will be putting some chucker out on Sunday if all goes well.



I will put up better pics once I get home, but here was the finished pic I took last night around 12. Then pen will be a bit crowded for a few weeks, but once quail season comes in, it will get thinned out pretty good for bird training. I am really Hoping a few of them make it and live to be honest. I did not put a recall pen in there for this year but may in the future. It will just be a small divder at the bottom with a predator proof entry. This was a fun build that took way to long. I will be doubling up the boards that are exposed and the wire is cut, to make it predator proof. I have to put a lock on both doors. It wont win any contest, but will keep birds and allow me to keep the dog on birds year round. More pics to come once I get home. I cant wait to see how my son likes them

 

[clalso]

Hello. Nice looking coop. My coops are about 14" high. Your looks to be a couple feet high, I hope your birds don't fly up and hit the roof thereby injuring themselves or worse. I think it's called "bonking". Maybe someone else here will say otherwise.

Hope it goes well.

Cliff

 

[grouselabmike]

Thanks for the insight.

The roof is 4 ft high, but I took that into consideration. The roof is not secured in the middle, and is sort of a plastic mesh material. It will give when they hit it and will flex up about 4". Once I get the boards around the base of it, It should be a bit better off for predators. If this doesn't work I may go to more of a cloth like material. I wish I had room for that high of a pen. I have seen a few pvc pens that are awesome looking for large flight pens. I may invest in one of them someday, but I believe I am too close to the woods for that.

 

[Sill]

Make sure there is a way to block predators from getting to their toes. Evidently quail toes, feet and legs are delish and will get chewed off given half a chance. You don't want to wake up to find quail with missing body parts!

 

[dc3085]

Raccoons will pull their legs off through 1/2 x 1/2 wire if they can get below it and reach them. Rats will also chew their toes off if they can reach. That is especially nasty considering rats often carry and transfer diseases and parasites.

 

[grouselabmike]

I got the birds on Friday night.

Here is an example of the size of my quail.



This guy actually blew out of the door and flew about 100 yards. My lab was in tow and chased it down and flushed it back to me. We then had a foot race. Lilly chomped him, but did it with a soft mouth and didn't harm it.




A pic of a few of the birds in the pen at the watering and feeding area.

It is a bit crowded in there for now but a bunch of these guys will be let go in a little while, once they get a bit bigger.
Lilly and my 2 year old son Corbin love them so far. Lilly definitely is helping them build up their wing muscles.

here is one of the 6 chuckars I got.



They are big enough to take out for training but I want them to be just a little bit bigger. They are mingling quite well with the quall and relax with them in the evening. I put a bunch of hay inside the house. I also put some branches through the pen for perches. I will take a few pics of the pen when I get home. It is tough to get any decent pictures because my lab roust them up so much. I will have to let her in the house.

This is pretty fun and I am surprised at how much those little guys can eat and drink. As I said it is a bit crowded in there right now with 30 quail and 6 chucker, but I may just keep a few in there once I can tell them apart and see if they will lay eggs in the fall.

Thanks for checking it out.

I may add another row of wire underneath the bottom of the house to protect their feet.