Quail, ground, aviary, idea.

[freddiethedog]

T

Try bobwhite quail in a ground aviary.
If it's natural enough and you only keep a few, they will probably raise their own chicks.
Mine did for years in a row, and that wasn't the same pair every time. One pair got loose and a few weeks later they were walking through the yard with 7 chicks behind them.

Adorable! I was going to try coturnix first, I do like the looks of bobwhite, but I've read coturnix are a bit better for meat... meaning bigger.

 

[freddiethedog]

a very fun endeavor im sure they wont disappoint! I love the naturalist ground aviary's for quail it makes for very happy birds. Unfortunately the birds would tear up the plants at the very least trying to bath near the roots. However if you raised the plants off the ground even just in big pots, you could fix that. I dont think raspberries would be toxic but you better look that up just to be double sure. Most of the domesticated coturnix wont lay in a nest box so it will make for a daily easter egg hunt, but theyd love having lots of low things to play in. Theyre a ground dwelling species insticts only let them fly if they "flush" toward the ceiling which they can do to the degree of breaking their fragile necks so depending on your plans ypu may need a net to break the impact. 10x 20 for 25 quail would be a jungle often they can Happily be kept in areas as small as 1 sq ft per bird and your allowing for 10 and a half

Great confirmation on the net cushion. I was planning on that too. Deer netting for gardens was what I was thinking about, it is about 1/2" or so square openings and seems pretty flexible. Do you think that would do the trick?

 

[mixedUPturk]

Great confirmation on the net cushion. I was planning on that too. Deer netting for gardens was what I was thinking about, it is about 1/2" or so square openings and seems pretty flexible. Do you think that would do the trick?

That would be perfect!

 

[mixedUPturk]

Thank you for all the feedback! Great tip on protecting the core rows of raspberries and I will make sure they are ok for quail before I build the aviary. I do plan on making it a quail wonderland so lots of brush and I want to plant tall grasses in areas so they can futz around in there and possibly forage seeds from grasses and any tasty critters. I will for sure post pics when it is finished and I appreciate any pics of your aviaries too.

I am planning on coturnix because I will be doing eggs and meat with the birds and from what I've read they provide the most meat. My goal will be to keep the best birds for breeding stock and seasonally adjust my flock numbers with fewer birds overwintering. I may build a raised cage system for inside a garden shed for winter simply because this is wisconsin and keeping water fluid will be easier with heated waterers, but even with that I want the cages to be humane and keep my birds happy.

I do have a questing about the flight issue, I plan on encasing the roof in 2x4 welded wire, but was thinking of a finer mesh net, like deer fencing, that would drape down inside under the wire roof. My thought is this fine plastic netting will keep the birds from slamming into the roof and in this case, obviously keep them in. What do aviary folks use to keep the birds from breaking their necks if they launch?

The sides of the pen will be quail worthy wire mesh, 1/2 in or 1inch welded wire, skirted to prevent digging critters.

I think you have a really great handle on this and im following you cant wait to see how your project turns out! I forgot about @igorsMistress 's pavers around her plants thats someone who recently has a thread on a "quail Garden"

 

[mixedUPturk]

@freddiethedog do you have a plan on where to get meat lines? I had alot of bad luck with the local breeders down here. The lines of my last flock were so inbred the males started not to follow the feather sexing showing spotting on their chests. They were rescued and i didnt breed them. When i got them the previous owner was mad they were 9 months old and still not laying. They were all so overcrowded w so many males all of them had bare backs. Not ever allowed to dust bathe on wire but rained on they were so Oily it was really terrible. One wk after i got them and got them treated properly they were laying.

All that to say i had gone thru 5 different people, all told, none of them produced the quality i have seen so far in my new flock of James Marie Farms XL Meat pharrohs. These do breed true but you would have to incubate hatching eggs to get a line directly from him. Probly something you need to practice anyway if you want to raise quail for meat.

 

[freddiethedog]

Gosh, I've never considered this situation! Great advice/tip. I do have an incubator so why not learn how to use it right away. I do think there is a regional breeder in my area that I will investigate. They have quite a few specialty breeds of all sorts of birds and seem to be very much focused on quality breeding, but now that this is in my mind I will continue to investigate and will check out James Marie Farms.
Thank you.

@freddiethedog do you have a plan on where to get meat lines? I had alot of bad luck with the local breeders down here. The lines of my last flock were so inbred the males started not to follow the feather sexing showing spotting on their chests. They were rescued and i didnt breed them. When i got them the previous owner was mad they were 9 months old and still not laying. They were all so overcrowded w so many males all of them had bare backs. Not ever allowed to dust bathe on wire but rained on they were so Oily it was really terrible. One wk after i got them and got them treated properly they were laying.

All that to say i had gone thru 5 different people, all told, none of them produced the quality i have seen so far in my new flock of James Marie Farms XL Meat pharrohs. These do breed true but you would have to incubate hatching eggs to get a line directly from him. Probly something you need to practice anyway if you want to raise quail for meat.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Well Wisconsin is kinda far away for shipping hatching eggs they do get scrambled when shipped. Im sure there are places up that way who have his lines but its something to be considered so im glad i put it on the brain. Sounds like your embracing this learning curve and i really look forward to watching you grow.

 

[mixedUPturk]

I tried once shipping from Michigan(turkey eggs notoriously fragile yeild 0) and once from Tennessee(call duck eggs notoriously difficult yeild 2.) Quail eggs are tough not likely to get broken so im sure it could be done to start a line still if it was your last resort but just another thing to be taken under consideration.

 

[Gamebirdfowl]

Adding new landscaping to an aviary is always fun. You can get creative as you want with it. The size of your pen sounds awesome! I would live to do a pen that large. Enjoy landscaping it. I usually like to do stumps or logs, and different grasses to give them cover. Have fun.

 

[Fishkeeper]

If the roof is high enough, flying won't be an issue because the quail will lose speed before they get high enough to hit the roof. I think it's 6 feet or so?