- Jul 19, 2010
- 1
- 0
- 7
I have some bobwhite chicks that are getting too big for their brooder and need to go outside but first I need to put the finishing touches on the pen I built and was looking for some advice. The quail are going to go into a low coop (sort of like a chicken run) inside my barn that leads to a flight pen outside. My questions are:
What is the best type of bedding/flooring for the indoor part of the coop? Should I just leave the hardwood floor as is and put them on that or should I put down hay, shavings, cedar chips, sand, etc
Currently the sides and "ceiling" of the inner coop are made out of hard wire (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch) but as they get bigger and start to fly around crazier I'm worried that they'll injure themselves by slamming into that wire at such close range, maybe even getting parts of themselves caught in it. How much of an issue is this, normally? And what else can I put in there as sort of a "cushion" for when they fly into the sides/ceilings of the pen?
The ground outside in the flight pen is mostly dirt with a few patches of grass and weeds here and there; it's also built around a portion of a tree so it has a spruce branch in there a few feet off the ground. Is there anything I could do to the ground to make it safer for the quail? Other than completely cover it up, that is. Although I've read varying reports about quail being on the ground, I'm still afraid of them getting contaminated/infected by being on it even if it is clean and dry.
(This actually has nothing to do with the pen, just a general Q) -- I'm going to be getting a shipment of chicks (chicken chicks) in the mail in a few days. They're going to be kept in an entirely different part of the house from the quail (the quail are currently in a brooder in the spare room downstairs, the chickens will be in a brooder in the spare room upstairs) but they will still be in the same building and will potentially pass each other on occasion (bringing the chicks through the house in a box and such)...would this be anything to be concerned about? They won't ever be kept together in the same pen or anything, but I'm unsure of whether or not any serious risk would be posed in having them in the same house at the same time, even if they are far apart and in different rooms.
As my username says, I'm a newbie to quail, so any help is super appreciated. Thanks!
What is the best type of bedding/flooring for the indoor part of the coop? Should I just leave the hardwood floor as is and put them on that or should I put down hay, shavings, cedar chips, sand, etc
Currently the sides and "ceiling" of the inner coop are made out of hard wire (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch) but as they get bigger and start to fly around crazier I'm worried that they'll injure themselves by slamming into that wire at such close range, maybe even getting parts of themselves caught in it. How much of an issue is this, normally? And what else can I put in there as sort of a "cushion" for when they fly into the sides/ceilings of the pen?
The ground outside in the flight pen is mostly dirt with a few patches of grass and weeds here and there; it's also built around a portion of a tree so it has a spruce branch in there a few feet off the ground. Is there anything I could do to the ground to make it safer for the quail? Other than completely cover it up, that is. Although I've read varying reports about quail being on the ground, I'm still afraid of them getting contaminated/infected by being on it even if it is clean and dry.
(This actually has nothing to do with the pen, just a general Q) -- I'm going to be getting a shipment of chicks (chicken chicks) in the mail in a few days. They're going to be kept in an entirely different part of the house from the quail (the quail are currently in a brooder in the spare room downstairs, the chickens will be in a brooder in the spare room upstairs) but they will still be in the same building and will potentially pass each other on occasion (bringing the chicks through the house in a box and such)...would this be anything to be concerned about? They won't ever be kept together in the same pen or anything, but I'm unsure of whether or not any serious risk would be posed in having them in the same house at the same time, even if they are far apart and in different rooms.
As my username says, I'm a newbie to quail, so any help is super appreciated. Thanks!
