Quail Aviary 2.0

[le_bwah]

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

I think the birds will "help" you with those . I've never given mine broccoli, but they went nuts over a cup of halved Brussels sprouts. Anything else you plan on planting, or just go all out with the yummy stuff?

It's been raining here the last two days, with more on the way. The new topsoil is soaking it right up—the next few days will be a great time to plant.

Gonna slather this hollow log in a "moss milkshake" and see if I can't green it up.

Also, I think I've been holding my birds wrong (mostly two handed). The less nervous ones are perfectly content to be scooped up like this—a bit like chickens.

 

[el dorado quail]

I think the birds will "help" you with those . I've never given mine broccoli, but they went nuts over a cup of halved Brussels sprouts. Anything else you plan on planting, or just go all out with the yummy stuff?

It's been raining here the last two days, with more on the way. The new topsoil is soaking it right up—the next few days will be a great time to plant.

View attachment 1724903
Gonna slather this hollow log in a "moss milkshake" and see if I can't green it up.

View attachment 1724904
Also, I think I've been holding my birds wrong (mostly two handed). The less nervous ones are perfectly content to be scooped up like this—a bit like chickens.

CUTE!
The area that I'm clearing has St Johns Wort, blackberry, grape, and some other ground covery stuff but I might see about getting a manzanita bush to grow there or maybe some blueberries??? But it is probably 60% shade during the daylight so food stuffs might be out of the question. I've also got some old strawberry plants that were NOT happy in the bed they were in so they will probably get thrown in there as well. I have some olddddddd seeds probably 10-15 yrs old of random veggies that I might just sprinkle around the ground as well, extra greens if they grow.

I've got some cedar branches that came down in the last heavy snow that I'm going to kind of frame together to make something of a log type thing. I also have a million scions off a partially downed giant apple tree that I can weave? into the big cedar branches to make a cool little log cabin of sorts for them.

I have no birds yet to hold I went and saw chicken chicks at TSC today and they were soooo cute.

 

[le_bwah]

CUTE!
The area that I'm clearing has St Johns Wort, blackberry, grape, and some other ground covery stuff but I might see about getting a manzanita bush to grow there or maybe some blueberries??? But it is probably 60% shade during the daylight so food stuffs might be out of the question. I've also got some old strawberry plants that were NOT happy in the bed they were in so they will probably get thrown in there as well. I have some olddddddd seeds probably 10-15 yrs old of random veggies that I might just sprinkle around the ground as well, extra greens if they grow.

I've got some cedar branches that came down in the last heavy snow that I'm going to kind of frame together to make something of a log type thing. I also have a million scions off a partially downed giant apple tree that I can weave? into the big cedar branches to make a cool little log cabin of sorts for them.

I have no birds yet to hold I went and saw chicken chicks at TSC today and they were soooo cute.

Manzanita would be nice cover—also gives you room to access the birds/eggs around the base. I'd try those old seeds anyway, you just might get something!

Maybe gather the branches into a little teepee? Wouldn't even need hardware, just some cord to lash it together.

You'll have birds soon enough, I bet. Will you get them full-grown or hatch/source some chicks?

 

[el dorado quail]

Manzanita would be nice cover—also gives you room to access the birds/eggs around the base. I'd try those old seeds anyway, you just might get something!

Maybe gather the branches into a little teepee? Wouldn't even need hardware, just some cord to lash it together.

You'll have birds soon enough, I bet. Will you get them full-grown or hatch/source some chicks?

@CoturnixComplex is gonna help me out with hatching eggs/chicks when I make my mind up about which will work.

Yeah they will have a little insulated nest box (not anticipating much use out of it) and then maybe some apple teepees Now I just need to uproot some baby manzanitas off the side of the road and plant them over there haha

 

[CoturnixComplex]

They will murder your strawberry plants leaves and all, so I would recommend sticking to either tall leafy greens plants or woody shrubs like the manzanita.

 

[el dorado quail]

They will murder your strawberry plants leaves and all, so I would recommend sticking to either tall leafy greens plants or woody shrubs like the manzanita.

They're there to get murdered gotta get new ones for me this year haha

 

[CoturnixComplex]

They're there to get murdered gotta get new ones for me this year haha

Oh gotcha gotcha. Yes they'll be excellent for that!

 

[le_bwah]

@CoturnixComplex is gonna help me out with hatching eggs/chicks when I make my mind up about which will work.

Yeah they will have a little insulated nest box (not anticipating much use out of it) and then maybe some apple teepees Now I just need to uproot some baby manzanitas off the side of the road and plant them over there haha

How cool! Hope you can get some fun colors—really helps with telling birds apart, too.

My initial designs included a nest box until I read all the posts asking why quail never used them . In my experience, it seems that aviary-raised quail have favorite "nest" spots, and usually lay in the early morning or late evening. I've seen all seven hens lay in one nest before—it's not a waste to build them nest boxes, but you're right to temper your expectations.

Got a bit of ornamental strawberry I was thinking of transplanting, but this talk of plant murder has me rethinking—the violets are taking a hit, too.

 

[le_bwah]

Had to cull a roo this morning. He was too aggressive toward the rest of the birds (hens included) and was over-mating the only girl who would tolerate him. Not a bad bird—he was just doing what males do. From now on, I'll keep it simple: one boy or none at all.

RIP, Tex.

 

[Fishkeeper]

That is a bad roo, with the understanding that "bad rooster" refers only to a bird that's too aggressive. It's not the bird's fault, but you don't want that bothering your girls, and you don't want those genetics in with your others.
If he was aggressive towards the girls as well, that probably means he was just an aggressive bird. The trouble probably wasn't the number of roos, just this particular roo.