Paneubert's Quail Aviary Adventure

[blackdust951]

WOULD YOU EVEN HAVE ENOUGH SPACE FOR SIXTY IN YOUR CAGE? YAY! WHAT'S THAT 25%? THIS IS THE CAGE I BUILT IT'S 4 METRES SQUARED THEY SAY THAT EQUALS 13 FEET HOW MANY QUAIL COULD FIT IN HERE?I'VE BEEN ON THIS SIGHT FOR 5 DAYS AND I CAN'T EDIT SOME OF MY FIRST POST'S JANOEL12 INCUBATOR VISIBILITY IS MUCH WORSE

 

[paneubert]

Most people will say about .75 to 1 square foot per bird. But that is more for smaller cages that only have a few birds. For larger enclosures, you can get away with more, especially if you put some hiding spots or visual barriers. If that is 13 square feet, you could probably do 20 birds easily. It is going to be more about finding the correct male to female ratio to keep aggression down. I can't ever remember the dimensions of my aviary (I am sure I posted it a few times on this thread somewhere). But my point is I had 21 birds originally, with at least 3 being male. I suspect I might have had 4 males. I never had any aggression problems. It was because my aviary is big enough for the ladies to run from the guys.

I won't be keeping 60. A lot of the eggs were shipped, so I do not expect a high hatch rate. I do plan to keep probably 15-20 on the ground and then maybe a couple sets of specific colors up in my newer pen I built within the aviary. I will sell the rest.

Edit: I always have to search for the post in a different thread where I posted dimensions. So I am going to post it here so I know where to look next time.

107.5 inches wide = just under 9 feet
88 inches high from dirt to ceiling = 7.3 feet head space
80 inches deep from front of deck to wall of house = 6.6 feet

Call it 55 square feet on the conservative side.

 

[blackdust951]

Whoops sorry I meant 42.25 square feet

 

[paneubert]

Whoops sorry I meant 42.25square feet
AM I RIGHT ANYONE? I THINK I AM

You are from upside down land. So methods of measurement is hard for me to convert. But I think based on how the curb and street look in your photo, that is probably right. When you say 4m squared, are you saying it is about 2m/6 feet per side? 2m X 2m = 4m squared?

 

[blackdust951]

YES THAT'S RIGHT

 

[paneubert]

YES THAT'S RIGHT

42 square feet can handle a lot of birds. It will depend on if you ate going for egg/meat production, or more of a natural look and more of a pet situation where you mostly want to raise them for fun. I was somewhere in the middle when I picked 21 for my 55 feet of space. I wanted eggs, but also wanted males so I could breed them eventually (which I am doing now in year 2) and wanted them to have lots of space. Since my aviary is walk in, I also did not want to be walking on birds all the time. I don't like the look of one quail per foot in smaller cages, but it can be done, and I will do it if I ever try to selectively breed for colors. Also, like I was saying earlier, the large the space, the more you can reduce the "per bird" requirement since they do like to hang out together dust bathing and sleeping and stuff. You will naturally have 3 or 4 birds all next to each other in less than a square foot, not because they need to be, but because they choose to be. So 42 square feet could have 60 birds and not look super crowded.

Where in NSW are you? My father lives in Noosa, outside Brisbane. North of you a little bit.

 

[blackdust951]

I CAN'T SAY EXACTLY BUT I'M NORTH OF SYDNEY AND SOUTH OF NEWCASTLE UNFORTUNATELY I DON'T HAVE THIS CAGE ANYMORE AS I SOLD IT ANYWAY HAVE ANYMORE CHICKS HATCHED?WHAT TIME ZONE DO YOU LIVE IN? OH AND THANKS FOR ANSWERING ALL MY QUESTIONS

 

[paneubert]

I added a stuffed bear in the brooder since I was worried they were starting to pile up on each other. They still like to pile up, but now a few climb on top of the bear as well. I am surprised that they are centered under the "lamp" (it is actually a ceramic heat emitter, not a lamp). I know the concept is "if they huddle, it is cold, if they spread out to the edges, it is hot, if they are random, it is all good". The thing is.....I use a laser IR thermometer and the ground reads a little over 100, even a good distance from right below. When they are under there, I am certain it is heating them at least that much since they are closer than the floor. But they don't seem to mind. They still like to huddle. The last batch I hatched on the 4th of July did the same thing. I did not lose any that time, and so far I have not lost any this time. So who knows what is up with their behavior. Wonder if they just want to snuggle each other.

 

[Binki]

I added a stuffed bear in the brooder since I was worried they were starting to pile up on each other. They still like to pile up, but now a few climb on top of the bear as well. I am surprised that they are centered under the "lamp" (it is actually a ceramic heat emitter, not a lamp). I know the concept is "if they huddle, it is cold, if they spread out to the edges, it is hot, if they are random, it is all good". The thing is.....I use a laser IR thermometer and the ground reads a little over 100, even a good distance from right below. When they are under there, I am certain it is heating them at least that much since they are closer than the floor. But they don't seem to mind. They still like to huddle. The last batch I hatched on the 4th of July did the same thing. I did not lose any that time, and so far I have not lost any this time. So who knows what is up with their behavior. Wonder if they just want to snuggle each other.

Haha awwww grats on your hatch and lol they're in the "cuddle huddle" mode - even with naturally brooded coturnix quail, they are very cuddly under their mom, mostly only leaving her to zip out to grab the food she tidbits - several at a time will get in her feathers and all you'll see are their little toes popping out randomly under her LOL!!

Oh and sometimes you'll see a beak and eye peek out from on top of her wing lol. Good call on the teddy bear to break them up to give each other a rest from their near constant "desperate" snuggle pushing xD!!

Because I've seen this behavior, I was considering next time I brood trying a dollar store feather duster suspended and seeing how they do with that?? They may just settle nicely into the feathers

Even the adults like to snuggle to the point where I can't keep more than one cuddler in a group or they get jealous over each other and chase/peck each other away from my hands lmao... Adorable little fools!!

Sometimes they will shove their head up my sleeve and try to stand tall and snuggle in more, one time a male actually managed to climb up all the way into my sleeve and since it had an elastic on the end I didn't want to squish him back through (like he squished himself in haha) so I had to remove him at my sweaters shoulder area

I gently pull my sleeve away to pop their heads out after about a minute because I think they would stay in my sleeve until they would pass out in there LOL. They are usually panting..

I had a little tux chick like yours in your picture, and she always looked like she was giving dirty looks haha but she relished the hand snuggle and pets!! I mainly pet mine while they're in their cages

Okay done with the gushing !

 

[paneubert]

View attachment 1097312

That is pretty cute.

I ended up with 32 babies when all was said and done. I thought I had a higher %, but I guess not. That would put this around a 50% survival rate for this incubation/clutch of eggs. Not bad since I did not candle or remove any eggs from day 1 and since about 3/4 of these were shipped eggs. I did squish the eggs that did not hatch and I think I had only 2 or 3 that had somewhat developed babies. The rest were all yolk. I did have a couple that pipped and then died, and two that died in the brooder. So yeah, I guess that is adding up to match with the 50% survival rate I am seeing. Photo from when I was cleaning the brooder tonight.