Quail bedding or wire?

[Creede]

The lighting system has two elements. The lights are inexpensive kitchen cabinet-type LEDs. Four linkable lights are attached to the underside of the boards running lengthwise across the tops of each cage. Separately, I purchased an outdoor controller switch with a daylight sensor. The controller is plugged into an external power outlet at our backdoor. An outdoor extension cord brings power from the controller to the lights in the cage.

These were bought on Amazon, so yes, very readily available. The lights were about $18 and the controller was $10.

Very nice. I’m hoping to setup something very similar

 

[Creede]

@catesquire
Do you have any pictures of your quail setup with bedding that you would be willing to share?

 

[catesquire]

@Creede Sure! Behold, my super janky but highly functional quail fortress:

Dog kennel base, 1/4" hardware cloth wrap because we wanted to be able to move it to our garage if it proves too smelly for the porch and There Be Mice out there, blue tarp keeps them from kicking poop out (especially in back. I was NOT dealing with moving the cage to clean behind it.) Deer netting strung on the top to safely bounce against if they flush. I recently moved their water/food/oyster shells up off the floor so they could use the full floor space. There are paver bricks to help them reach + create up/down places for them to bounce around on + keep their toenails worn down. The girls love nesting directly under the water. I toss in various plants I'm growing for them every few days as enrichment. They LOVED dragging around and tearing apart a pea vine the other day. Nothing like watching four hens play tug-of-war all day. I found that sand kept in the cage turned into a literal cesspit, so they now have a separate sand play bin I toss them into every day or so. MUCH easier to scoop poop when it's a half hour of poop in discrete poop piles instead of 24 hours of sand-poop-slurry.

The teenagers are over in a twin sized mosquito net pop-up as others on here have recommended; definitely liking it for temporary housing, though with the way they're pecking at the netting, I suspect repairs will be necessary between hatchings.

Hope that helps!

 

[Creede]

@Creede Sure! Behold, my super janky but highly functional quail fortress:

View attachment 4167656

Dog kennel base, 1/4" hardware cloth wrap because we wanted to be able to move it to our garage if it proves too smelly for the porch and There Be Mice out there, blue tarp keeps them from kicking poop out (especially in back. I was NOT dealing with moving the cage to clean behind it.) Deer netting strung on the top to safely bounce against if they flush. I recently moved their water/food/oyster shells up off the floor so they could use the full floor space. There are paver bricks to help them reach + create up/down places for them to bounce around on + keep their toenails worn down. The girls love nesting directly under the water. I toss in various plants I'm growing for them every few days as enrichment. They LOVED dragging around and tearing apart a pea vine the other day. Nothing like watching four hens play tug-of-war all day. I found that sand kept in the cage turned into a literal cesspit, so they now have a separate sand play bin I toss them into every day or so. MUCH easier to scoop poop when it's a half hour of poop in discrete poop piles instead of 24 hours of sand-poop-slurry.

The teenagers are over in a twin sized mosquito net pop-up as others on here have recommended; definitely liking it for temporary housing, though with the way they're pecking at the netting, I suspect repairs will be necessary between hatchings.

View attachment 4167657

Hope that helps!

That is legit! Very creative. I'm learning you can create habitats out of so many different things.

 

[Creede]

That is a huge raccoon! As I was reading the story, raccoon was the primary suspect. I've heard of stories where they just reach in and pop the heads off of chicks. Apparently quail too... Sorry about your loss. Do you keep that many bobwhite quail together through breeding season? I heard they do not cooperate with more than just their mate.

@DJ_Quail