Quail Aviary On Ground Any Advise?

[TinaandJohnny]

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I’ve since made some changes but you get the gist. Litter box dome to minimize sand losses. I’ve improved a few hides from the boxes, hung a tarp on one corner to provide shade and rain protection. Probably some other things I’m forgetting. Haven’t taken any updated pictures this yr.

Pretty sure I’m about to use wood chips to cover the lack of smaller grasses.

Awe that’s awesome! I love how spacious it is! And that’s such a good idea for the cat litter box dome to minimize the loss of sand. My girls get sand everywhere! But they love it. Yea, I just finished up with classes for the term and get to focus on building them their coop now! I’ll post photos when I’m done! So excited! Thanks for sharing and if you come photos of your improvements, I’d like to see them and get more ideas!

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

Wow, looks great! What's the ceiling height?

 

[Cool-breeze7]

Wow, looks great! What's the ceiling height?

Not sure if I’m the one you were talking to but they are (I think) around 7ft. Tall enough I don’t have to worry about either the quail or myself hitting our head. I built it over a yr ago. I do know I failed to get sufficient slope on my roof . I’ll have to modify it this fall/ winter.

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

Not sure if I’m the one you were talking to but they are (I think) around 7ft. Tall enough I don’t have to worry about either the quail or myself hitting our head. I built it over a yr ago. I do know I failed to get sufficient slope on my roof . I’ll have to modify it this fall/ winter.

Yes sorry I forgot to quote you Thank you! Looks great And I love the color of the wood. We’re putting a sloped roof on ours this fall, also

 

[HattiLongSoks]

@le_bwah I LOVE your set up so much. Can I ask more about the wood chips?

I'm in the UK so we get all weather any time of year. And more rain than I'd like! I've been using wood shavings and moving my moveable hutches round the garden, so they're on the ground, with grasses, but quail poop a lot and I want to keep flies to a minimum, so then I put wood shavings on top and sort of layer but it feels messy and not good. Raking wood shavings doesn't seem enough/to work. However, i would like to try and keep them in one place more/longer.

Would woodchips suit a uk climate? And when people say they rake them... as in just sort of move them around? Are you taking anything out? Laying down more? Any info would be amazing thank you! Everyone has such cool aviary spaces!

 

[le_bwah]

@le_bwah I LOVE your set up so much. Can I ask more about the wood chips?

I'm in the UK so we get all weather any time of year. And more rain than I'd like! I've been using wood shavings and moving my moveable hutches round the garden, so they're on the ground, with grasses, but quail poop a lot and I want to keep flies to a minimum, so then I put wood shavings on top and sort of layer but it feels messy and not good. Raking wood shavings doesn't seem enough/to work. However, i would like to try and keep them in one place more/longer.

Would woodchips suit a uk climate? And when people say they rake them... as in just sort of move them around? Are you taking anything out? Laying down more? Any info would be amazing thank you! Everyone has such cool aviary spaces!

Hi! I think wood chips (the chunky bits, not the shavings) and bark mulch works great in a full-weather environment. My climate is dry, but I notice they break down quite well when they get wet regularly—the covered side of my aviary takes much longer to break down than the exposed side.

I change out the whole substrate once or twice a year, depending on how the weather's been and how often I turned it with the shovel. When I rake between changes, I take a three-prong garden rake and shuffle the chips back and forth. It helps any big droppings fall through and stirs in some of the dirt below. The other thing I do is take a square-head shovel and do a little dig-and-flip so the less dirtied bark beneath has a chance to get soiled lol.

You might notice that they mostly poo in a handful of areas, especially sleeping spots. You can remove the bark there if it gets too dirty too fast and replace it with fresh chips, or just stir it in with the rest so it breaks down more evenly. Also nothing wrong with tossing handfuls of fresh bark/wood on top of high-frequency spots—it's not a science, just the act of keeping the birds feet clean.

 

[HattiLongSoks]

Hi! I think wood chips (the chunky bits, not the shavings) and bark mulch works great in a full-weather environment. My climate is dry, but I notice they break down quite well when they get wet regularly—the covered side of my aviary takes much longer to break down than the exposed side.

I change out the whole substrate once or twice a year, depending on how the weather's been and how often I turned it with the shovel. When I rake between changes, I take a three-prong garden rake and shuffle the chips back and forth. It helps any big droppings fall through and stirs in some of the dirt below. The other thing I do is take a square-head shovel and do a little dig-and-flip so the less dirtied bark beneath has a chance to get soiled lol.

You might notice that they mostly poo in a handful of areas, especially sleeping spots. You can remove the bark there if it gets too dirty too fast and replace it with fresh chips, or just stir it in with the rest so it breaks down more evenly. Also nothing wrong with tossing handfuls of fresh bark/wood on top of high-frequency spots—it's not a science, just the act of keeping the birds feet clean.

Thank you so much for this in depth reply @le_bwah ! I've decided I'm definitely going to try this!

 

[TinaandJohnny]

I’ve had my birds in an aviary for five years now. I really do believe they live better lives on the ground, unburdened by overcrowding.

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The current build is an add on plus the original aviary (the roofed section). The “garden side” has five grasses and a rosemary, while the oldest side has more cover clutter.

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In summer, I run sun shades from the aviary to the fence and the porch. A box fan fits perfectly into the structure by happy accident. Birds get frozen fruit and veg, and I leave a mister on during peak heat.

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For late fall and winter, I just up the level of cover and seal off the lower part of the old aviary with tarp or plastic sheeting. This is the first year I have provided supplemental heat in the form of heating pads because some of my oldies get really cold without a warm place to sleep.

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The quail usually lay in predictable nests, making harvesting eggs much easier.

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You can also get more broody behavior in a setting with more space, and especially more cover. A big space is worthless if you aren’t filling it up with “furniture” that breaks up line of sight and offers birds a means of escaping unwanted attention of all sorts.

Please raise your birds on the ground! Quail with space and security are very fun to watch, and if you habituate them to your presence they’re easy to hand feed. Good luck, keep us updated on your planning!

Hey!! So we are now onto the quail coop project on the ground! I was wondering how tall you think would be a safe height? My max height I could go is probably 8 ft just because we’re building it inside my other pen for safety. What do you think about for 6ft. I also was going to tack up some small hole netting along the roof in case they do jump, they’ll smack their heads on something a little softer. My young ones are real jumpy, not so much the older girls though. Let me know what you think!

 

[Nabiki]

Hey!! So we are now onto the quail coop project on the ground! I was wondering how tall you think would be a safe height? My max height I could go is probably 8 ft just because we’re building it inside my other pen for safety. What do you think about for 6ft. I also was going to tack up some small hole netting along the roof in case they do jump, they’ll smack their heads on something a little softer. My young ones are real jumpy, not so much the older girls though. Let me know what you think!

6' is plenty tall enough.

 

[TinaandJohnny]

6' is plenty tall enough.

Okay perfect!