More "Natural" Quail Coop

[The Birb King]

I picked muhly grass to start with because it doesn't have that "bias" where it's smooth one way and barbed the other—figured this would prevent issues if the quail ate it. Turns out they only see it as cover and nesting material.

The only thing that ever killed a muhly in my aviary was me by forgetting to water it lol. Never tried it with chickens, where I assume the "planted run" question has a different answer.

Just finished my aviary today

 

[Avian Egg Farms]

I'm looking at building a quail coop and I really want to make it more natural looking with branches and whatnot on the inside. I'd love to see everyone's quail coops that might be more on the natural/earthy side. Please share pictures!

Have you considered a bottomless coop with a ground cover like red clover?

 

[sleepycat]

mine is sorta natural. i have it cluttered with a lot of pots for hides as well as ferns. i dont have as many branches because they just take up space but large pieces of bark would be good as a little natural hide

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

I had 2 hollow-ish logs in my aviary for a while, but ended up trading one out for a thinner branch tunnel that provided a better bulk-to-shelter ratio. I did leave one big log that stays propped up on its own and provides a lot of cover, and I layered sticks and large strips of bark over the top to make a sort of "roof" for it. The log itself is bulky, but it has like 3 little "caves" that the birds seem to like to lay their eggs in, so it stays for now. I also got some grass rabbit houses seen in the 3rd pic, that provide a closed-in area (I find eggs in these, too). The grass houses will be difficult to keep clean, though, so I won't be replacing them once we get the nest box built. (The pearl in particular likes to perch on top of the grass houses and poo on them all day )

 

[Friskybinx]

I had 2 hollow-ish logs in my aviary for a while, but ended up trading one out for a thinner branch tunnel that provided a better bulk-to-shelter ratio. I did leave one big log that stays propped up on its own and provides a lot of cover, and I layered sticks and large strips of bark over the top to make a sort of "roof" for it. The log itself is bulky, but it has like 3 little "caves" that the birds seem to like to lay their eggs in, so it stays for now. I also got some grass rabbit houses seen in the 3rd pic, that provide a closed-in area (I find eggs in these, too). The grass houses will be difficult to keep clean, though, so I won't be replacing them once we get the nest box built. (The pearl in particular likes to perch on top of the grass houses and poo on them all day )
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Oh my gosh I love this! Do you have to hunt throughout your coop to find the eggs?

 

[Friskybinx]

Have you considered a bottomless coop with a ground cover like red clover?

No I haven’t! I haven’t even heard of this before. Do you have any photos?

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

Oh my gosh I love this! Do you have to hunt throughout your coop to find the eggs?

Not really, as of right now only one or two are laying (they’re 7-8 weeks old & jumbo) and they tend to lay in 2 places. But that might change in a few weeks But even if I have to do a little hunting, it’s a small enough space.