Portable quail hutch? Opinions please.

[RUNuts]

I don't see anything. Something is wrong with your camera. Its all fuzzy and white.

 

[BantyChooks]

I don't see anything. Something is wrong with your camera. Its all fuzzy and white.

I know, huh? I think I need a new one.

 

[Erkenstein]

I used a tractor for some of my birds over the summer, 2x2x6 with the two feet on one end a house area with wire floor and the rest on grass. With four birds in it, I had to move it every two days. Any more than that and I had to move it every day. That meant shooing them all into the house area and shutting them in while I moved it to avoid damaging their legs. Not a huge deal and they liked being on grass.

I live in the Pacific NW, so now that summer is over it is not an option and everyone is on wire. It is cleaner for the birds, although I'm sure they'd rather be on the ground. They all have places to get off the wire, such as sandboxes and solid floor hutch areas. To give them a dry pen on ground (which wouldn't be a tractor) would mean a big project and more space than I have available. I do applaud people who manage to keep them on the ground, though.

The idea of moving a pen on wheels is okay, but for me it's better to have them stationary and clean underneath every few months and toss it into the compost bin. For pens with trays, I clean them every week, which is just a matter of scraping them out into the compost and not a major issue especially if they've scattered sand all around the trays.

 

[HappySetHayes]

I keep my birds in a small, moveable hutch which I peg down to stop it blowing away. The birds love being on dirt and although they constantly poop, if you're moving it every few days/week it should be fine.

I've left mine in one spot for a few months over winter (mild winter in Wellington NZ) with natural dirt and a bit of coconut coir to help absorb rain and keep the ground from getting muddy. I scoop out the dirt every few weeks to put on the garden, and in between scoops I turn it a bit to give them a clean ground.

The quails love digging in the dirt and eating all the bugs that live in it.

I wouldn't recommend a top opening hutch because the birds might fly out if they get spooked... but I've never tried it myself.