- Aug 11, 2011
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Looking at building a PVC/Hardware cloth tractor for approximately 10 coturnix quail. I attached a humorously terrible drawing, but the footprint would be 3ftx4ft, and would have a domed roof that I would cover during inclement weather, which in Seattle is rough
My main question is - is 5.5ft at the top of the dome tall enough that coturnix quail won’t brain themselves on it? This is something I am looking at doing along with my kids, and thought it would be nice to be tall enough that they could go in and give them treats etc, without opening the top and risking popcorn escapees. However, a lower design would make moving it MUCH easier, and I could put a flat roof on half it so that they’re always protected from the weather (with the rest easy to cover with a rain guard). As much as having them on racks would make more sense given how small our yard is, I just feel kinda bad about the idea of keeping birds in shelves
I was also trying to figure out how I could attach wheels on it. I might just take apart our toddler’s old stroller and repurpose the frame, haha.
Also, since I have you here - I originally posted intending to get ducks! I had wanted to let them have free run of the yard during the day, and use small coop or pen with solid walls to secure them from predators at night. Included is a photo of our very small yard. However, several people chimed in warning that they can be quite noisy and might be too messy for the 135ish SQFT we have to work with (the yard is about 14.5 x 9ft).
We are trying to decide between quail, ducks, or chickens. Our concerns are noise and mess, and what we would like is (ducks/chickens)a pair or trio of laying hens, or (quail) 10ish birds, with 8-9 females to two males. Basically, a dozen “chicken egg size” worth of eggs a week.
Quail seem to be the path of least resistance, but I worry if they will be too flighty for the kids, or that they will hurt themselves/break their necks/drown themselves in their water dishes/succumb to just being a quail, generally. However, they don’t live nearly as long as ducks/chickens, and therefore might be a better “soft” commit to keeping poultry in such a small space. They’re also much quieter, and frankly I’ve probably heard louder crickets than the boys crow (first time I heard one I thought it WAS A cricket, or maybe a very determined cicadia haha).
My main question is - is 5.5ft at the top of the dome tall enough that coturnix quail won’t brain themselves on it? This is something I am looking at doing along with my kids, and thought it would be nice to be tall enough that they could go in and give them treats etc, without opening the top and risking popcorn escapees. However, a lower design would make moving it MUCH easier, and I could put a flat roof on half it so that they’re always protected from the weather (with the rest easy to cover with a rain guard). As much as having them on racks would make more sense given how small our yard is, I just feel kinda bad about the idea of keeping birds in shelves
I was also trying to figure out how I could attach wheels on it. I might just take apart our toddler’s old stroller and repurpose the frame, haha.
Also, since I have you here - I originally posted intending to get ducks! I had wanted to let them have free run of the yard during the day, and use small coop or pen with solid walls to secure them from predators at night. Included is a photo of our very small yard. However, several people chimed in warning that they can be quite noisy and might be too messy for the 135ish SQFT we have to work with (the yard is about 14.5 x 9ft).
We are trying to decide between quail, ducks, or chickens. Our concerns are noise and mess, and what we would like is (ducks/chickens)a pair or trio of laying hens, or (quail) 10ish birds, with 8-9 females to two males. Basically, a dozen “chicken egg size” worth of eggs a week.
Quail seem to be the path of least resistance, but I worry if they will be too flighty for the kids, or that they will hurt themselves/break their necks/drown themselves in their water dishes/succumb to just being a quail, generally. However, they don’t live nearly as long as ducks/chickens, and therefore might be a better “soft” commit to keeping poultry in such a small space. They’re also much quieter, and frankly I’ve probably heard louder crickets than the boys crow (first time I heard one I thought it WAS A cricket, or maybe a very determined cicadia haha).
