'Natural' quail habitat

[Emmaxx]

I'm interested in creating an outdoor quail habitat for my buttons and was hoping for some info/advise and ideas. I want it to be like those tortoise habitats I see (will add some example pics when back on phone)
Is this doable? I have heard of people adding quail (although bigger varieties I think) to raised, cloched beds to turn it over, pick weeds and bugs, fertilize etc, but would it work in a permanent setting or would I need to rotate them when they produced too much "fertilizer", or need an impractically large area to make it work?

Is raised better? I was thinking of adapting a raised planter, would this be best? more protection from wind, better drainage possibilities, easier viewing - any drawbacks that I haven't thought of?

Covering? I think the only predators I would need to worry about is cats and rats, maybe crows or magpies. Would 1cm wire mesh be enough? Chicks couldn't get through that could they? Would I need extra cover on the top for boinking or are they less likely to do that if they have sufficient ground cover to hide in?

That's the main points for the moment and then just general things like what sort of planting would you recommend/safe or unsafe plants, ground covering etc?

Thank you!
ETA photos to give idea of what I'm hoping for, with a fully enclosed end for nesting etc

 

[mdees88]

Can't wait to hear what people have to say. It would be pretty cool to have some in a more natural environment. I raise meat/egg birds in wire cages. I needed some more room so I let my 2 bobwhites go in my yard. They flew 2 different directions and the male started calling for his mate. She called back then he started strutting around like a turkey and ran over to her. It was pretty cool to see them "in the wild". I've seen/heard them a few times since then.

1/2" hardware cloth will keep just about anything out/in.

I would love to keep a few bobwhites in some kind of aviary but I do not want to "have to" clean it out often. I guess one of the most important question for me would be how much area is needed per bird to let you get by "X" amount of days before cleaning the poop. Or hopefully its large enough that the poop just breaks down on its own.

I have 30 in a brooder right now and the shavings need to be changed/added about every other day.

 

[JaeG]

Love those tortoise habitats. I think raised would be best as then they are off the ground (so a little warmer in winter) and easier for you to see/interact with. I would put hardware cloth on the bottom before filling it with soil to stop rats tunnelling in (and they will). I'd have a band of wood around the bottom to ensure nothing can try and grab them through the hardware cloth. I'd go with quarter inch hardware cloth as I've had Coturnix quail grabbed by rats through the half inch stuff. (I really hate rats)!

How many Buttons were you thinking of putting in there? They'll need about 5 sq/ft per pair which is about half a square meter each, but more space is always better when trying to keep multiple pairs in an enclosure as the females will fight over territory and the males will fight over females. A longer enclosure would be better than a squarer one for multiple pairs.

If there are overhanging plants that should stop them from boinking and injuring themselves. It makes them feel more secure.

My only concern would be a Button escaping when you have the door open to change food and water. I think herbs and leafy, green vegetables would be enjoyed as well as grasses to hide in. And they will need lots of shelter for when it rains where they can also get away from each other.

 

[Emmaxx]

I would love to keep a few bobwhites in some kind of aviary but I do not want to "have to" clean it out often. I guess one of the most important question for me would be how much area is needed per bird to let you get by "X" amount of days before cleaning the poop. Or hopefully its large enough that the poop just breaks down on its own.

That's a good 50% give or take of why I want to do it and the end goal I hope to achieve the stink is just getting too much for me to stand indoors anymore!

I think the reason I found BYC was through a post about someone hatching supermarket quail eggs, and when she let the one quail that hatched out in the aviary and opened the door it immediately flew away never to be seen again I'm glad yours have stuck around!

I'm trying to figure out how much space I want this thing to take up in my garden so people can recommend numbers of birds for the area and maybe make it easier to visualize what would be possible.

 

[Emmaxx]

Let me see if I can find my tape measure and a torch.....and keep my fingers crossed I don't get attacked by rats while I'm out there!

 

[Ladybird CA]

Looks very nice. Only concern is I read that buttons need to be indoors but if you live in a warm area it’s probably ok

 

[Emmaxx]

Okay, so it would be about 50cm by approx 2m, the long side could be a little bit more flexible, so that would be roughly 1 and a half feet by 6 and a half feet, if I round that up to 10 square feet for easy maths that would be 2 pairs, correct? what if there was just one male and some females, how many could I have? (I'm not too bothered about fertility ratios)

The narrow end would butt up to my house so it may be able to steal a bit of heat from there and I would make that end the 'house' end. One of the long sides would be flanked by a 6 foot wooden fence, so it wouldn't be overly exposed to the elements I don't think. However, would I actually need a heat source or could they be kept sufficiently warm with extra bedding and insulation? What about making part of it glass covered rather than wire for a greenhouse effect?

 

[Emmaxx]

Looks very nice. Only concern is I read that buttons need to be indoors but if you live in a warm area it’s probably ok

It's Britain so not exactly warm and certainly not all year, but I'm sure it's not as cold as some places. If bedding and insulation or other adjustments weren't enough to keep them warm enough (one of the sticky threads said above 50F so I don't know) I suppose I would need to have a back up for periods of bad weather.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Raise it up off the ground and add walls/roofing, wrap the entire thing in hardware cloth to keep rats from gnawing in, and that should be a pretty good quail habitat.
Truthfully, the exact details don't matter. If your quail have a sandbox to dustbathe in, something like leaf litter to scratch in, brush to hide under, and perches, they'll be happy. You could make all those details bright pink, and they wouldn't care.

 

[Emmaxx]

You could make all those details bright pink, and they wouldn't care.

I'd rather not though

Perches? Everything says they don't perch so I've never bothered providing any...I have seen them jump on top of boxes and the like so would put some branches on the ground and things for different levels, is that what you meant or do you mean actual perches?