Quail housing? Whats best for my situation?

[Chickengnome91]

So we sold off some of our chicks . I think our final count put us at 28 out of 45 , so just over 50% hatch rate. I think I'd do some things a bit differently hatch wise but otherwise I was happy with our rate.

I'm now stuck on housing. We planned to sell off a good portion but that's not happening very fast. (Most folks want full grown ready to lay /butcher and get mad about not being able to sex them. )

For watering , I decided on a large 2 gal auto waterer with cups attached. I figure that will make it easier to keep out of bedding as well as be able to hang outside the cage for easy refills. (Easy to clean as well)

Food I was thinking of hanging seed cup , but outside there housing so they have to stick there head out and eat. Less mess, also easy clean.

I have 2 cages I'm debating on working with. A 48"Lx 39"H x 24"W dog kennel or a 37"L x 19h x 17" w rabbit cage. They both allow for mounting of waterer and feeder. However... with the dog kennel, I have the option of making a 2nd level with ramp and adding more houses etc inside. I just dont know if they'd use a 2nd level. Both would be easy to move around outdoors so they can get grass.

Theres also the idea of hutches ( not a huge fan as I want them to be able to at least get fresh air and grass. But reading some folks journeys, most freak out in outdoor tractor) theres also tractors .

But what would your ideas be? Any suggestions of kennel over rabbit cage?

Both could easily be converted to tractor with pvc and hardwire

 

[Nabiki]

While some quail do learn to use ramps, they are ground birds, so no second level is best. For either option, you're going to want to make sure that they're predator and escape proof, so you're going to want 1/2" hardware cloth reinforcement, especially on the dog kennel.

I keep mine in movable pens on the ground (not actually tractors, since they don't have wheels or anything), so I can move them around my garden beds.

 

[Chickengnome91]

While some quail do learn to use ramps, they are ground birds, so no second level is best. For either option, you're going to want to make sure that they're predator and escape proof, so you're going to want 1/2" hardware cloth reinforcement, especially on the dog kennel.

I keep mine in movable pens on the ground (not actually tractors, since they don't have wheels or anything), so I can move them around my garden beds.

I'm actually starting to lean toward the dog Kennel, put hardware cloth over the sides. If I take the pan out, I can move them around (albeit slowly) the yard to fresh grass. I'm thinking the kennel itself would reinforce the hardwire cloth. It's also heavy enough not to get blown around and if a cat decides to play , it's not going buckle much

My partner is not exactly enthused with the idea of keeping any of them BUT he does love to put things together (though to be fair.. I only wanted to keep 6 or 7... not the 22 we counted)

 

[Nabiki]

When I started, I only planned on keeping 6 or 7...

I have closer to 60 or 70 now.

 

[samanthaoverton]

"Most folks" are lazy..they want fully grown laying poultry for a steal and never stop to think...hey this person paid for the feed to feed this animal and they had to clean the poop up, etc, and keep the animal healthy up to this point. It really gets my goat. My husband told people about me selling chicks and some people said oh I want a full grown hen laying eggs. My husband informed that, that would cost more and his wife wouldn't sell them cheap..the person informed him, but you can cut me a deal right? Seriously people, No. Straw is 6 bucks a bale. Food is 20 bucks a bag. Cheap shavings are 7. And I my friend shovel the ***t till then. I do not sell layers.

 

[Whiskybear]

If these pics load, that’s a 48”x30” dog cage. About half a million Jclips and zip ties. Be diligent in predator proofing. If ya leave one gap, the rest of your work is wasted. You’ll need to cover the bottom as well; both for security and so you can move it without birds falling through.

 

[Whiskybear]

If these pics load, that’s a 48”x30” dog cage. About half a million Jclips and zip ties. Be diligent in predator proofing. If ya leave one gap, the rest of your work is wasted. You’ll need to cover the bottom as well; both for security and so you can move it without birds falling through.

If you decide to go this way I can take more pics of one not in use, showing where the hardware cloth fits inside or outside the cage/ around doors, etc…

 

[samanthaoverton]

Predator proofing is sorta like a horror movie...there is no such thing as overkill..and sometimes they come back...

If these pics load, that’s a 48”x30” dog cage. About half a million Jclips and zip ties. Be diligent in predator proofing. If ya leave one gap, the rest of your work is wasted. You’ll need to cover the bottom as well; both for security and so you can move it without birds falling through.

 

[Ebony Rose]

You can always add those big lawnmower type wheels to the bottom of a dog kennel or even buy one of those wood & wheels contraptions for moving potted plants on. A few nuts and bolts and you're all set. Hardware cloth will be a must, a snake can wreak havoc on your covey in bird and eggs. Cats. Raccoons. (coughs) Dogs. Everything that eats meat has quail on the menu.

 

[Chickengnome91]

T

If these pics load, that’s a 48”x30” dog cage. About half a million Jclips and zip ties. Be diligent in predator proofing. If ya leave one gap, the rest of your work is wasted. You’ll need to cover the bottom as well; both for security and so you can move it without birds falling through.

This is actually similar to what I want to do to the dog kennel. (Also same kennel) it's a bummer to learn they wont really use a 2nd level. I'm debating on getting this run from chewy. It seems plenty big, and would work with the layout I want. I'm taking everything everyone gives into account, but we rarely even see most predators where I'm at. Our dogs keep 90% of things out the yard, with the 6' privacy fence going up, that eliminates the cat issue. So biggest predator issue would be aerial