PVC Quail Tractor Design? Possibly Other Fowl instead?

[TeePants]

Oops, the lowest branches for the magnolia tree are only 4ft from the ground. Should I just do a low roof (10in or less) or should I try for the dome?

Another problem is that it rains like crazy in Seattle during the winter, and nothing smells worse than wet coop bedding.

Maybe the move here is to do a low, A-Frame? Will they still break their necks if the roof and sides are sloped? The height of the triangle total is 3.7ft. With an A-Frame, it would be really easy to just throw a tarp over it in inclement weather and anchor that to the ground, and run an LED striplight along the center for them (leaving the sides open for ventilation).

Also included a picture of a 3x5ft throw rug in the area I’m thinking of using, lol.

Note to self: need to make sure the door will clear the tree!

 

[FloorCandy]

My favorite cage (so much that I’m building a second one and taking down the prefab) is made from a folding table with a pvc and hardware cloth frame fit snugly around it. The table protects them from weather and adds stability to the whole structure. I have a tarp over top held down with a patio block in each corner up top.

We got 3+ feet of snow this year, which is crazy unusual for us, and the quail in the table pen didn’t even know it was happening haha. The other pens I had to keep going out and shoveling off the top so they wouldn’t implode.

mine is under my deck, you could make it look nicer with a better tarp and pretty blocks, but the only ones who see it are my dogs.

 

[TeePants]

Yeah, I think my problem is that I’m an illustrator and I’m trying way too hard to make this pretty. My “simple A frame” design has already transformed in my sketchbook into a rustic cottage with 8in tall walls, hardware cloth windows, and an A-frame roof with some kind of removable roofing element, possibly a pair of frames with shingles that can be locked into place. Not to mention the decorative elements, like the pretend shutters, cute fake hobbit-looking door, mini planter boxes...

Send help, lol.

My partner and reluctant cohort has agreed to teach me Google Sketch up, so maybe a more attractive diagram & “artist rendition” will be forthcoming.

 

[FloorCandy]

Yeah, I think my problem is that I’m an illustrator and I’m trying way too hard to make this pretty. My “simple A frame” design has already transformed in my sketchbook into a rustic cottage with 8in tall walls, hardware cloth windows, and an A-frame roof with some kind of removable roofing element, possibly a pair of frames with shingles that can be locked into place. Not to mention the decorative elements, like the pretend shutters, cute fake hobbit-looking door, mini planter boxes...

Send help, lol.

While that sounds adorable, it sounds like a lot of areas for poop to get stuck lol. I’ve been working really hard the past 2 years to make my yard nice, when we bought it, it was mud with straw mushed into it, no grass lol. I put up no dig fencing, planted grass, and found the quail pens look nicest with plants in the holes in the cinder blocks around them so at quick glance it looks like a raised garden bed haha.

 

[TeePants]

Oh, now THAT’s clever. Yeah, I was wondering about the poop getting stuck to stuff too, but I also worry with the open sides of a rectangular pen they’d get rain coming in the sides? Or am I crazy?

Oh, do they ever bash their heads on that?

 

[FloorCandy]

Oh, now THAT’s clever. Yeah, I was wondering about the poop getting stuck to stuff too, but I also worry with the open sides of a rectangular pen they’d get rain coming in the sides? Or am I crazy?

Oh, do they ever bash their heads on that?

I have only had one or two quail hit their head, and it was in the prefab cage. I think the solid roof keeps them from bonking, I do occasionally find one sitting up at the junction of the cross beams under the table, but they seem to intend to be there rather than they flushed and landed there, you know, not panicking, just chillin.

 

[TeePants]

If I have not already said thank you, thank you so much for all your help! One final question -

When you did your table cage or any other cage you intend to keep on the ground, do you run hardware cloth all along the bottom? I.E., completely encase it in hardware cloth? Or do you just bury some and put the cinderblocks? I have seen mice in the wooded strip between my street and the street above me (protected incline, can’t remove trees to prevent erosion) so I know they’re around, and I want to be absolutely sure we do not infest our yard with them inadvertently, and also that they can’t get into the coop.

I was thinking I’d try and bury about 6 inches worth of the cloth down off the sides of the pen and then put bricks around the outside?

Also looking at this feeder : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YM3ZB6...olid=2NVSW5H2A1Z80&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it because it advertises waste prevention and I don’t want the mice to be attracted by loose feed. When I had hens we had a hanging feeder that I filled daily and emptied at the end of the day, but it often got gross and needed to be scrubbed really frequently - this one looks way less messy.

 

[FloorCandy]

I make my feeders for the most part. I have 2 that I made from a tutorial on here for a no waste feeder, it’s one of the regular bowls you screw a jar onto, but modified with a pvc thing that goes from 4 inches to 3 I think, and then a piece of the sewer pipe put into that. This isn’t the exact tutorial I followed, I did not tape the adapter, I put a small piece of the proper sized tube to fit in the end.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/no-waste-chick-feeder-build.1297528/#post-21117273

For the cage, only my grow out and the tractor have hardware cloth on the bottom. The rest just cover the frame, and the cinder blocks keep the rodents out and the quail in. However, I don’t have major predator problems, to cross my yard to the quail, a rodent is taking its life in its hands, we have tons of hawks and owls, plus at least 3-4 stray cats that prowl the neighborhood, and my dogs, plus the last line of defense are pissed off quail, I’ve seen them go ape on large spiders and cicadas, I assume mice would be treated the same way, mass chased and pecked by the entire group.

Since the corners of the table are curved, and the pvc frame is squared off, there is a small gap at each corner, but I put a patio block over each corner to hold the tarp in place, and I’m careful to completely fit them into the corners and cover the gaps.

If you think the rodents would dig, you can bury the cloth, or cut each side piece of cloth 8 inches longer, run it behind the bottom bar from inside going out, and fold the cloth outward so it makes a skirt over the grass going around the pen, then lay the blocks over the skirt. I like to be able to move the pens if I want, so I try not to bury anything.

 

[TeePants]

Oops, I lied a tiny bit, I have a couple more questions. I don’t want to make a whole new thread for them!, as that seems overkill, haha.

1.) I’m going to use a storage bin with a viewer window cut out of the lid for their brooder. Would this waterer work, or should I use a chick waterer but with rocks in it? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J6S35L...olid=2NVSW5H2A1Z80&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

2.) The person who I’m getting eggs from uses a local produced gamebird feed, which is great, but it’s only 26% protein. https://www.conwayfeedinc.com/gamebird-crumble Is that sufficient or should I look for 28%+? Can I supplement the Conway feed to ensure they’re getting extra protien? Does it matter if it’s soy based or not? I remember vaguely caring about that with chickens.

3.) I read quail are prone to coccidiosis, do they need medicated feed (gamebird is not medicated usually right), or is just keeping it clean enough? Should I consider putting a wire tray in their brooder instead of having them directly on the bedding? I’ve seen both pine and stall pellets recommended, as well as wire. Since we will be keeping the little monsters in the house (we don’t have a garage), I’d prefer the LEAST stinky solution.

4.) We are setting 18 eggs, we’re picking up local and the person said they have a 50-100% hatch rate. If we somehow end up with all 18 hatching, should we split between two brooders? I read the article here says .5 sqft per chick, and I think that’d be at least two of those big plastic storage bins we plan on using.

On other news, our incubator gets here Friday and we pick up the eggs Monday! Woo! We will let them rest for at least a day before getting started. I also have a logitech security cam I want to configure into an Incubator webcam (and later a brooder cam!) I also grabbed the bluetooth therm/hygrometer recommended in the quail hatching article I found on here. We are setting 18 eggs because the owner said they usually have a 50-100% hatch rate, and I figure we can figure something out if we have an overhatch, whereas an under-hatch is just sad, lol.


We will probably begin constructing or at least getting the supplies needed for the the pen & brooder this week also, because I like to be done way in advance with everything, haha.

 

[Nabiki]

I wouldn't use that waterer for quail chicks. They'll drown in it. They're very creative at finding ways to die.

26% isn't bad. You can supplement with a bit of mashed egg yolk (boiled).

I've never had coccidiosis in my birds. If you keep the brooder clean, you shouldn't have to worry about it. I've heard that medicated feed isn't good for quail, but I haven't tested it.

Splitting them up depends on how big your brooder is. I keep more than that in mine, but it's a 50 gallon storage bin. As long as they have enough space to run around a bit and you have a warm end and a cool end, they should be fine. They may grow out of it quickly, though!

Congratulations, and good luck!