Preparing for winter.

[ssbs]

How do YOU prepare for winter?? My quail cage is 3X6 with a mesh top and floor, it has 1" thick pine on the ends and chicken wire on the front and back.. It is about 3 feet off of the ground.. It is getting cold, quick. My quail are fairing well so far, but it has only gotten down to the mid 40's at night.

So, what is the best way to keep them warm? And how do you keep their water from freezing during the winter?

 

[Rebel Rooster]

I have laying boxes built on my pens... they are large enough for all of the birds to get in if they like. I have light sockets mounted in the boxes with 40 watt bulbs that I can turn on when the nights get really cold...

 

[mhwc56]

i have a nice shed that i am in the process of setting up so everyone can be kept in there for the winter.
Here in maryland our winters have been fairly mild for the last few years ..until last year when we got reeeeeal cold and about 3 1/2 feet of snow.
Since they're calling for the possibility of another rough winter i'm taking no chances! i can also run electric out there

 

[JJMR794]

I Make Them Take Off Their Bathing Suits And Wear Their Bermuda Shorts, T Shirts, And Flip Flops

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:
i just got a mental picture on that one ...hehehehehe

thanks for the giggle...

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
I live at the south end of the chesapeake we don,t participate in winter

we get real suprised when it gets below 40 F

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

It was down to 50 this morning and I thought I had skipped a few months. Its coming fast this year.

But I remember someone saying they are putting moving blankets (they are heavy and warm) over their pens when it gets real cold this winter. Drapping the blankets to the ground to stop cold from seeping up under the pens. They planned on keeping the light on when its going to be real cold, to help keep the water from freezing.

Hope that helps.

 

[shelleyd2008]

It certainly is coming fast this year!

Last year when all my quail were in smaller pens, each pen had a box for them to go in. They never did

The pen they are in now has about 1/3 of it completely enclosed, they usually gather in there when it cools down.
As for freezing water? When you figure that out let me know

 

[joe125]

I just throw some clear 3.5 MIL plastic sheeting over my pens in the dead of winter. 40 deg. F is nothing for coturnix. They just look at me like..."Is that the best you got?".
In extremely cold areas, it may take a bit more, but here, at a scant 10 deg. F, I usually don't have to go much deeper. Over stuffing pens may also help. As long as the birds get along.

I'm a little further north than JJMR, so I make them take off their shorts and T-Shirts and at least put on a pair of real pants, and a hoodie!

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

This may sound really stupid. You northerners especially, probably should stock up on sand for their dustbaths.

I used to run out of sand in the winter for my chickens and the quail use a lot more. It's not something that is easy to find in the winter anywhere even in the south. I am going to buy a bag a month of winter weather, my little stock pile of sand.

If I over buy, oh well they'll use it later.

I know Southerners are

. But really, have you ever tried to dig up a little dirt for something, when the ground is frozzen. It is not fun. Been there tried that.