Need brooder help

[7L Farm]

I use a horse trough to brood my yard birds will this work for Coturnix. When do they begin to fly out of the brooder? I wanted to use the trough first & then move them into a cage right before they start flying out of the horse trough.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Your horse trough will work fine. Lots of folks use them for brooders. They will fly out at about 2 weeks. Cover the top and you can keep them there a lot longer. Scrap plywood and screen will work fine for a cover. Needs to be cat proof if your putting them in the barn. Did I mention I hate cats? Well, I guess thats another thread...

Bill

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
I'm not a cat fan either. Thanks for the response. I'll be using a metal shed for the brooder. I have a wire cage I'll probably use that around two weeks. It will be easier to use the trough at first for adding food, water ,cleaning , & all .

 

[joe125]

I'm not sure how tall a horse trough is, but a 5 day old coturnix can jump/scale a good 12-15+ inches. 3 days later...when their wing feathers are sprouting good...Could be double.
This is why I put a top on all my coturnix brooders from day one. It just saves me a bunch of heart ache!

Coturnix are over-hyped for the most part, but if you are on a chicken schedule in a coturnix world, then those little fuzzy butts will be flying up your nose while you sleep.

They mature/grow very fast!

 

[7L Farm]

Thats why I'm asking.The trough is a couple of feet high. I can design a top no problem. Thanks

 

[joe125]

You are asking the right questions my friend

This coturnix chick hatched 032511. It's about 15 days old.

That's how crazy fast they grow. Long before they can fly, they can jump like a bottle rocket. I would much rather tell folks to put a lid on the brooder, rather than trying to instruct them how to collect escapees.

Good luck with your coturnix endeavors! They will shock and amaze you with their crazy fast maturation.