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

 

[EvaP2025]

Flooring question! I have 5 quails... 1 california n 4 coturnix. Just lost 1 today after treating a bumbelfoot for the pass few wks. Super heart broken! I have 3 adults about a yr old. N had 2 that r 4 month old. Lost one of the 4 month old. Why r the 4 month old getting bumbelfoot n the older ones or california quail r not? What can I do to prevent it! I have a mix of sand, dry grass, timothy n pine shavings... clean them offten... the set up is indoors so I can't keep them on a wire... need something that will absorb n dry the droppings to prevent smell

 

[Creede]

Flooring question! I have 5 quails... 1 california n 4 coturnix. Just lost 1 today after treating a bumbelfoot for the pass few wks. Super heart broken! I have 3 adults about a yr old. N had 2 that r 4 month old. Lost one of the 4 month old. Why r the 4 month old getting bumbelfoot n the older ones or california quail r not? What can I do to prevent it! I have a mix of sand, dry grass, timothy n pine shavings... clean them offten... the set up is indoors so I can't keep them on a wire... need something that will absorb n dry the droppings to prevent smell

Wish I could help you out. Maybe someone has answers.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

It gets to -40 in my area in winter, so bedding is a must to keep their feet from freezing on wire. I also like the look of bedding better when showing my hens off to friends. If I had more space, I'd put them on the ground in a little greenhouse, since I really like the idea of deep litter to make infinite compost for my garden. I also like the idea of quail tractors, especially as a grow out cage, but don't have one set up yet.

My quail are 2 weeks away from moving into my greenhouse. I'm excited for them to get outside. They're on deep litter atm but are making a heck of a mess.
@Creede Deep I haven’t needed to change the deep litter since they hatched. I've just had to top it up. It smells less too.

 

[Creede]

My quail are 2 weeks away from moving into my greenhouse. I'm excited for them to get outside. They're on deep litter atm but are making a heck of a mess.
@Creede Deep I haven’t needed to change the deep litter since they hatched. I've just had to top it up. It smells less too.

I found this DL Method and giving it a try. So far so good, but I've only had my 4–5-week-old coturnix outside for about a week.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/quail-on-deep-litter-why-it-works.832431/

 

[Creede]

Quail Pens are still in progress. Go ahead and give me your inputs, though.

I've got four separate cages, 2 in the front (top and bottom) and 2 in the back (top and bottom) that are not pictured. Each cage has three rooms. The center room is fully enclosed except for the hardware cloth ceiling for ventilation. All three rooms are accessible with cutouts in the sidewalls and an 8" wide platform that runs the entire length of the cage. This is elevated above the quails ground level ~6-7 inches. Each room has a large tub filled with DL or sand. Left room has automatic feeders, right room has automatic waterer. Each front facing door can open individually for maintenance as well as be secured in an open position. Tubs can be stirred, raked, filtered or replaced with ease. I'm trying my best to avoid the wire flooring, due to my personal opinion. Still installing some hardware and miscellaneous items. Planning on roofing over the top so that I will have shelf storage above the pens and added shade. Roofed over the 5-gallon bucket that feeds the waterlines. The water was getting warm in the North/Panhandle Texas Heat.

Three tubs (3 tubs per cage setup) total about 8 square feet. The waterer and feeders do not take away from this square footage. They have an 8" wide platform across the back of the entire cage and a little bit of that platform turns and runs across the left side with feeder. I plan on have coturnix breeder's in each setup (some standard, some jumbo). How many birds for each cage would be good? Assuming 1 Roo to 4-5 Hens. Is 10 too many birds in each setup? Could I squeeze anymore, especially if I have a setup for growouts or just hens/roos?

@Nabiki, @catesquire and any other experienced opinions?