Quail (and rabbit) – housing & feeding best practices?

[eve789]

I've been keeping chickens for awhile, primarily for eggs, but today I am processing our two roosters – first time ever (wish me luck!).

I would love to continue expanding the variety and amount of food we grow ourselves. We're getting ducks in June. I am also thinking in the long run of raising either rabbits or quail and have a sort of general question.

We pasture our chickens – they have free range over about two acres – and will do the same with our ducks. Obviously, you cannot let quail or rabbits roam, but I wonder about keeping them in these tiny hutches. In chicken world, we have an idea that pastured is best, and if not pastured, the more space you have in your coop and run the better. And if you're not pasturing, then plenty of fodder, veggie scraps, mealworms, etc. are important for mimicking the diet they would get on pasture.

From what I've read on rabbits & quail there isn't as much of a conversation on what gets you the healthiest, most delicious, as close to nature product in terms of eggs & meat. Is it just a matter of feeding them the highest-quality diet? Or are there certain styles of housing that would be healthier or kinder than others? For example, I know certain breeds of quail in certain climates can be best kept indoors, but I wonder about raising any sort of animal without access to fresh air and natural sunlight. My instinct is that bigger, more spacious is better, but then I've also read that making quail hutches too large or high can actually cause quail to fly around and injure themselves.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[eve789]

This one, for example, looks pretty big!

 

[ThaJuicyJuice]

After having just about everything I could here in the city, I've cut it down to rabbits, quail, and bees. The quail are on hanging cages, and wish I would have done the same with the rabbits. Follow the recommended sq ft for rabbits, quail you can get away with more cramped quarters if ventilation is good.

You wouldn't want to put too many quail in doors, they are messy animals. They also need a high protein diet that is considerably more expensive than chicken feed.

Rabbits will eat pretty much anything vegetative in addition to their pellet diet. I grow sweet potato vine and comfrey and they do great on it.

 

[Tammy N]

I keep my Rabbits and Quail totally seperated as a rule animals carry different bugs or Diseases
quail food is too rich for rabbits and rabbit food isnt rich enough for quail . another issue
now i have seen a friend raise silky chickens and rabbits together only to find her silky bald and its fine hair in the rabbits nest .


but you can raise them both its fun and enjoyable if you know your limits

 

[eve789]

Thanks for your replies. I didn't mean that I would keep the rabbits and quail together. More that these are animals people generally keep in very small cages, in habitats that bear no resemblance to their natural states. Our chickens have full run of our two acre yard and while I can't do the same for rabbits or quail, I'd like to find a way to create a suitable, safe habitat that allows them to engage in more of their natural behaviors.

 

[nayeli]

Some people do rabbit tractors and quail tractors. The only bad thing about that is worms. Here is a webpage I was reading as I'm considering putting my rabbits outside and allowing them to graze. http://www.permacultureeden.com/livstock/rabbits/

 

[Tammy N]

If you put up a 24 ft run Liker a dog kennel Had A rabbit wire floor 1 ft down attached to the kennel you could out them in that with a inside house Cover floor with Clean Soil No fertilizers and No pesticides and then plant their Favorite veggies and foods with good grass still feeding rabbit pellets but i know you will find we have totally domesticated some breeds to the fact they do not know Grass is good for them , you also would want them the same sex for this pen and a nursery for any thing you bred

you have to feed them in a cage and teach them MY rule for a rabbit cage is 4x4x36 tall Not including the bed area and NOT all wire.
but i agree in a way it is sad

 

[bugflipper]

One aspect of flavor is definitely what they eat. A wild quail tastes much different than a quail raised on wire and fed high protein game bird feed. I'm assuming it has a lot to do with the variety of seeds and bugs a wild quail eats. I have raised them on wire and now have them on wire in the cold months then in a chicken tractor in the warm months. The flavor has improved considerably with them having access to bugs in the garden.

 

[ThaJuicyJuice]

Look up Joel Salatin and Polyface farms. I don't think he does quail but he uses all kind of animals on a grazing paddock shift system. This can be reproduced on a small scale or multiplied for multi-acre set-ups.

The free ranging of animals is not the best use of their abilities to produce fertility in the land, especially with chickens. The idea is to pulse your animals through the land in a strategic and purposeful manner to produce the best results. Great stuff--- this is the basic principals of permaculture application on small and large scale.