Quail housing

[le_bwah]

Any suggestions on nesting spots?

I've found most of their eggs inside hollow logs and under bark sheets laid over bricks or branches. Grass clumps work, though, plus cardboard boxes or plastic animal houses, etc. Pretty much anything that covers them from the top and on 2-3 sides and has bedding for them to dig into.

 

[LemurFox]

Give them a heap of straw in one corner, with some fake brush next to it, and a little box-house dealie elsewhere. If you're lucky, they'll lay in those areas. It's still not a guarantee with coturnix, they've had all the smart domesticated out of them, but it's worth a shot when they're happy and content in a nice setup. Just don't disturb their nesting spots too much, so they'll think it's safe there.

So that works out to 28 square feet. Still more like 14-16 quail worth of space, not so much 20-14.

Thank you!

 

[Bluemonster107]

Coturnix aren't like chickens—they won't instinctively take shelter in a coop and they don't roost. Their pens should ideally be all "run" with scattered cover (branches, grass houses, overturned flower pots, logs or driftwood, etc.).

1 square foot per bird is as low as you can go without entering factory farm levels of overcrowding. So for 24 quail, a 3'x8' or 5'x10' ground pen would be humane and appropriate.

Question on the “shelter coop or box”...so it would be pointless to add a little sheltered dog house style box off the ground pen? (I’m currently building my structure)... like it would get more use to just have the pots on their sides kind of thing? Or go ahead and build the little nest type box off the side? Like it could get used??

 

[le_bwah]

Question on the “shelter coop or box”...so it would be pointless to add a little sheltered dog house style box off the ground pen? (I’m currently building my structure)... like it would get more use to just have the pots on their sides kind of thing? Or go ahead and build the little nest type box off the side? Like it could get used??

A small-ish shelter is fine, but you might be happier with it if it's impermanent and movable, especially when it comes to egg-collecting. There's no guarantee they'll lay in a designated "nest box."

I used an overturned half of a plastic doghouse for their winter shelter and packed it with straw. After I laid a branch over the front I would find 2/3 of them in there at a time. They only ever went in during the day.

 

[Fishkeeper]

They don't tend to go into something that's off the ground. That's the structure you want for birds that roost in trees. Just on the ground is best.