Quail Aviary Questions

[Judith G]

I have a few questions for anyone raising quail in an aviary or walk-in ground pen (I do not understand the difference). I live in zone 7b, coastal Virginia. Our location has a fairly significant amount of predator pressure. I plan to build an 8' x 4' aviary, shed roof 6' to 8' high. Using 1/2" hardware cloth.

1. Is it better to have a solid roofing material like corrugated metal to provide shade and protect against rain or a clear/translucent roofing material like a corrugated PVC to allow more light in, but would I need to cover with shade cloth in mid-summer?
2. Is a buried 24" hardware cloth skirt sufficient to deter burrowing predators, or should I bury hardware cloth under 6 - 8" of mulch/soil under the entire aviary?
3. If my solid roof is 6' high on one side and 8' high on the other, do I still need netting under the roof to prevent bonked heads, or is the height alone enough?
4. For the occasional need to separate quail, did you build a separate aviary, or do you use a pen, dog crate? It seems that a dog crate or small cage would need to come inside to be protected from elements and predators??

I would like to build the aviary this fall with plans to hatch out in the spring. Any advice you could share would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[Nabiki]

1 - This is a matter of preference. You definitely want something that will keep rain/snow and wild bird droppings out.
2 - Since you mentioned that your area is heavy in predators, I would do the hardware cloth under the entire aviary.
3 - With that height, you will not need to worry about them hitting their heads when they flush.
4 - I use a plastic tote when I need to separate a bird. This is a temporary thing, so I just make sure the top is mostly hardware cloth.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Aviary: fancy sounding name for a bird enclosure of unknown description, mine is a mosquito netting bed tent but sounds way cooler as an aviary

Walk in ground pen: functional name for an exact description of what you have, doesn’t sound cool at all (rebrand before you advertise or talk to fussy people about it)

That is the extent of my technical knowledge!