Quail Aviary 2.0

[le_bwah]

You're making quick progress, it looks good! They're going to love it when it's done.

I know! First time took months, this time it was barely two weeks. The original was good practice, I guess.

The quail are warming up to it already. I transplanted a couple clumps of violets and laid some branches over a log—instantly they were more comfortable. Here's a 10-second clip of the girls going after some scattered treats.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Quail are just such good little ovals, aren't they?
Have you taken them out of the old pen and put them in the new, or are they able to go between the two?

 

[le_bwah]

Quail are just such good little ovals, aren't they?
Have you taken them out of the old pen and put them in the new, or are they able to go between the two?

Good little ovals, yes indeed!

I snipped out a section of wire on the old pen—they can move freely between the two. So far, the two roos have separated themselves and taken their favored ladies with them. It's still a bit empty in there, but the new distance lets them get out of each others' way.

Gonna pack this thing with plants if at all possible for maximum cover. Can't wait til grasses are in at the nursery!

 

[igorsMistress]

Good news. I'm happy for you that they seem to get along a bit better now.

 

[le_bwah]

Good news. I'm happy for you that they seem to get along a bit better now.

Thanks, it helped a bit. But today they're back to chasing, biting, and crowing like never before . I'm giving my "problem bird" a week tops after the planting's finished to settle, or else he's gone. I need to do something before a bird loses an eye, and the stress of the scuffling isn't good for any of the flock.

 

[el dorado quail]

This is GREAT!
I'm planning something similar but like...20x10 in a semi wooded area. I'm thinking of making half the roof clear corriganted plastic and the other half 1/2 inch HWC
Please do post your plans I'd love to have some more inspiration

 

[le_bwah]

This is GREAT!
I'm planning something similar but like...20x10 in a semi wooded area. I'm thinking of making half the roof clear corriganted plastic and the other half 1/2 inch HWC
Please do post your plans I'd love to have some more inspiration

Thank you, I'm so pleased with it! 20x10 sounds really nice—I'd have wired in the whole yard if my family had let me .

The roofed section here is topped in Suntuf panels, "solar gray" to give them some relief in the summer. The material looks great and was very easy to work with—it's also supposed to have a super long life when installed correctly.

A hardware cloth roof lets the light and rain through, but I anticipate scraping off snow/banging it through from beneath come winter. Worth it to keep hungry critters out. I'll give an update if and when that's a problem.

I can't share the SketchUp file yet (because the model's full of mistakes ) but I'll do a full write-up/article later (hopefully some time this month) with more process pictures and a list of the main materials/final price.

 

[el dorado quail]

Thank you, I'm so pleased with it! 20x10 sounds really nice—I'd have wired in the whole yard if my family had let me .

The roofed section here is topped in Suntuf panels, "solar gray" to give them some relief in the summer. The material looks great and was very easy to work with—it's also supposed to have a super long life when installed correctly.

A hardware cloth roof lets the light and rain through, but I anticipate scraping off snow/banging it through from beneath come winter. Worth it to keep hungry critters out. I'll give an update if and when that's a problem.

View attachment 1724338
I can't share the SketchUp file yet (because the model's full of mistakes ) but I'll do a full write-up/article later (hopefully some time this month) with more process pictures and a list of the main materials/final price.

Well it looks amazing! Those dang families getting in the way of quail dreams...would a sloped HWC roof help with snow at all or nah? We usually don't get all that much snow but this year was gross.

Yeah I am gonna maybe collect rainwater for them from the roofed part. I'm in process of clearing a bunch of brush to build this monster...but its slow going due to immense amounts of rain. I'm hoping to have tons of edibles growing inside for them to snack on. Might leave the wild grape I found this afternoon.

 

[le_bwah]

Well it looks amazing! Those dang families getting in the way of quail dreams...would a sloped HWC roof help with snow at all or nah? We usually don't get all that much snow but this year was gross.

Yeah I am gonna maybe collect rainwater for them from the roofed part. I'm in process of clearing a bunch of brush to build this monster...but its slow going due to immense amounts of rain. I'm hoping to have tons of edibles growing inside for them to snack on. Might leave the wild grape I found this afternoon.

I think snow would only be an issue when it's more "wet" or there's a ton of it, but it gets like that often enough where I am. Not sure if a slope would help or not. Collecting rainwater is a great plan, as long as you can keep it clean.

In my experience, quail will peck apart a leafy plant even if they don't intend to eat it—they're curious, maybe playing. Anything that's safe for chickens is generally safe for quail. My relatives have a chicken run covered in grape vine and the birds go nuts for the leaves. Maybe quail would like it too?

 

[el dorado quail]

I think snow would only be an issue when it's more "wet" or there's a ton of it, but it gets like that often enough where I am. Not sure if a slope would help or not. Collecting rainwater is a great plan, as long as you can keep it clean.

In my experience, quail will peck apart a leafy plant even if they don't intend to eat it—they're curious, maybe playing. Anything that's safe for chickens is generally safe for quail. My relatives have a chicken run covered in grape vine and the birds go nuts for the leaves. Maybe quail would like it too?

We got 2ft in one night on a few occasions. Pretty disgusting. And the wet snow here is totally unpredictable.

Good, good maybe they will kill any brush that tries to resprout I have probably 45 romanesco, broccoli, and kohlrabi plants (maybe more...) that quite a few will go in and around the outside. The seeds I got were old heirloom cultivars and some reviews had poor germination SOOO I planted 3-5 seeds per root trainer pods in a total of 12 pods