Quail Pens/Housing

[kingmt]

What do you mean by small? Short?

Low tops keeps them from killing their self when they bonk their little head from flying up.

 

[Mary1956]

I have a couple of Gambel quail babies and will need to start building them a home pretty quick. I guess in my mind, I was thinking more like a aviary. I even considered converting a dog run that I have. Is this a good idea or not a good idea. After reading about them hitting their heads I'm not sure now. Thanks!

 

[Massey]

What do you mean by small? Short?

Low tops keeps them from killing their self when they bonk their little head from flying up.

really i never knew that,

must look in to them more before building my coop,

 

[dc3085]

Ceiling height is best either lower than 12-14" or taller than 4 ft. If you made it 6' tall youd probably have no issue

 

[Mary1956]

Thank you dc! My dog run is 6' high, 12' long and 4' wide. So it sounds like it would work. With modifications done to it. Right now is has a Wisteria vine growing on it and around it and a bottle brush tree inside it. Do you know if there are plants that are poisonous to quail? I know I always try to be careful when planting around here because my Golden's like to eat trees and bushes sometimes... But I don't know anything about what is safe for quails/birds.

Thank you for all your help!

Mary

 

[jak2002003]

Some lovely cages and coops here.

I don't like the battery cages through.... seems so little space for the poor birds in there.....

 

[Invision]

Some lovely cages and coops here.

I don't like the battery cages through.... seems so little space for the poor birds in there.....

It's all preference, if you want for egg production smaller cages are better, just for easy access and cleaning, Larger cages (flight pens) are also good for meat birds. But in the end these brid's are dumb, bred stupid over the years... They don't really care, as long as there is food and water.

 

[jak2002003]

It's all preference, if you want for egg production smaller cages are better, just for easy access and cleaning, Larger cages (flight pens) are also good for meat birds. But in the end these brid's are dumb, bred stupid over the years... They don't really care, as long as there is food and water.

Just because an animal is dumb I don't think it is an excuse to treat them badly. I've met a few dumb people... but I would not treat them any less than anyone else.

I don't have anything against keeping the quail like that.. its up to the owner... but it does not suit me personally. If I were raising them for eggs as a business I would still give them bigger cages myself. It would not cost much more money really.. especially as I would make the cages myself from recycled stuff.

 

[DK newbie]

It's all preference, if you want for egg production smaller cages are better, just for easy access and cleaning, Larger cages (flight pens) are also good for meat birds. But in the end these brid's are dumb, bred stupid over the years... They don't really care, as long as there is food and water.

I can't help but wondering, do you really think that if you gave the quail the option between a small battery cage with a wire bottom and a larger flight pen with a dirt floor, hiding places and such, it would spend as much time in the wire bottom cage as in the flight pen? I have never had coturnix, but I am very convinced that even if food and water was only available in the battery cage, my buttons would spend just about every second of the day when they were not eating, in the flight pen.
Coturnix might have been bred in captivity for more than a thousand years, but they have evolved in freedom for much longer than that. You can't breed all instincts out of them just by placing them in an environment where they don't need them, for a few thousand generations. You can weaken them, sure. And the birds might be both happy and healthy in their battery cages. But unless you have given them the choice - which you might have, in which case my assumptions about the preferences of coturnix might be wrong - I don't think it's right to say they don't care..

 

[jak2002003]

This is how I would keep them myself.. if they were for meat. If they were for eggs I would keep them in long large rectangular cages... with lots of space and low stocking density... and with dust baths, hay, etc... but wire floor so the eggs rolled out under the bottom.