Quail panting

[Hungarianquail]

So Spring is full blown and temps today went up to 84°F. My quail are outside in an elevated cage. Part wire bottom, but with solid trays under to avoid draft and catch the droppings, and part sand boxes/pine shavings. The cage is on the North Side of my house and always in shade. Today I found them panting. In the summer temps go up to even mid 90's (rarely high 90's). Will they tolerate that kind of temperature? What can I do to make them more comfortable?

 

[mdees88]

Following as mine are panting too. I'm planning on getting some fans set up and would love to add a mister but I do not want the mist getting in my food. I used to mist mine with the water hose and that cooled them off quick and it looked like they didn't mind it much....

Mine have been panting on and off for a week or two now between 1-5pm. They are in all wire cages so plenty of draft and are in the shade all day....

 

[DK newbie]

I recall some people placing shallow containers with water for the birds to walk through. I think that worked well. Guess you could put ice cubes in the water as well. Or just put a bottle of frozen water in the cage. Giving them frozen treats should work as well - like corn, peas and such.
I know some people use misters and fans as well, that's a little more high tech but probably easier once you've put it up.

 

[mdees88]

I tend to lean slightly towards more high tech / low effort. Last year I was looking at running a mister off an automatic solenoid valve, if that says anything. I plan on installing some fans pretty soon which I will run either on a timer or a thermostat. I try to make life as easy on myself as possible. I have an unlimited water supply and my feeder's hold a couple weeks worth of food. Don't get me wrong I like watching my quail and I go check on them several times a day but I like to know that I don't have to if I can't for some reason....

I've heard about the shallow water trays and I think I'll give that a try for now. But I have wire floor cages so that's just one more thing they poop in that needs to be cleaned out regularly. I checked the water coming out of my nipples last week and it was nice and cool during the heat of the day (my hose, bucket, and nipples are all in the shade). I have some old computer fans that I'm going to rig up first. If they do not put out enough air I'll try a real fan...