PVC Quail Tractor Design? Possibly Other Fowl instead?

[TeePants]

I forgot to ask when this thread was new, is your home a tiny house or is there more of it outside the photo? I’m obsessed with and addicted to tiny houses. I want to buy land so I can build one in my free time haha.

Ha! I am obsessed with tiny homes too, but no, the building in the photos is an 8x12 outbuilding my partner uses as an office for remote work. We finished a shed the previous owners left in the yard and got electricity run to it. We’d need too many permits to get water and sewage or I would probably have been tempted to make it into a tiny house, either for visitors or an Air B&B.

The photos of the yard were taken upstairs from our living room window; we live in a duplex townhouse. It is very much cookie cutter, but it was in our budget and it’s across the street from a large park.

We have two kids, three dogs, a cat and two parrots in addition to the future quail so I don’t think a tiny house will be in the cards for us anytime soon.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

I don’t know if the magnolia tree is a different species than the ones in the south east. If they are the same I would consider removing it pretty soon. They get massive. Like push your fence into your neighbors house massive.

 

[TeePants]

I don’t know if the magnolia tree is a different species than the ones in the south east. If they are the same I would consider removing it pretty soon. They get massive. Like push your fence into your neighbors house massive.

I grew up in Louisiana and I’ve never seen one get that big? The ones my grandmother had grew up more than out. They’re pretty popular here in Seattle. Certainly not small, but they make great shade and are beautiful. It’s my favorite kind of tree, so if it starts to pose an issue I’ll hire a professional arborist to trim it. They don’t take well to trimming or I would do it myself. Either way they don’t grow that fast.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

I could be trying to project super old trees off a property I maintain into the same spot. I’m 6’1 I can’t wrap my arms around the base or hands around the lower branches. I’d be scared to guess the age of the trees because I would either sound crazy or under guess. I’m sure yours will be a lovely shade tree for many years.

 

[TeePants]

That must be crazy old, my grandmothers magnolias were at least 20-30 years old and even as a kid I could easily wrap my arms around them, and they were about 30-40ft tall if I had to hazard a guess. They were shaped like big pine cones, the lowest branches were adult height thanks to careful pruning. I’ve definitely seen some that sprawl but there are a lot of great tree management companies here and I am hopeful with a good regimen we can get ours into the shape we want - poor thing is crooked now from trying to grow out from under the larger trees that were in the yard.

Best of luck dealing with yours!

 

[Feathercrazie]

Quail will make a break for it every time you open the door and they can really take off (and then glide into the neighbors yard-- ask my husband!) You might want to plan a 2 door solution where you close the door behind you before opening the door to the enclosure. I had a large low cage for them and my husband accidentally released about a dozen of them before he realized how fast they are.

If you don't plan to incubate eggs then don't bother with the males and just get females. They will stress out the females unnecessarily. I had breeding groups and can attest to at least 2 scalped girls because the roo I had in their pen sucked at doing the deed. You can also always add a boy later if you decide to grow your flock.

Yes! I realize I was confusing - If we had chickens or ducks we’d just fence the yard off. I was told though that the chickens would likely hop the neighbor’s fence, so I think quail is the way to go here.

You might consider bantam ducks. They are not as messy as the larger ducks and a lot cuter. Why not consider putting a wire top on your whole backyard since it is so small? You could build a small house for your birds to roost in at night and to contain them in inclement weather. If you go with quail you would not have the problem of catching them if they escaped their coop.