Quails in a greenhouse?

[natureboy]

Hello everyone,

I have had chickens for about 2 years and love them. I'm building a greenhouse and thought it would be great to have some sort of poultry in there for pest control. But, chickens scratch up the ground so much and of course eat all the delicious food I want to grow.

I thought bantams might be a little less destructive. But, I was wondering about quail. So, here are a few questions...

Do the scratch up the ground?
Do they eat leaves and fruits?
How flighty are they?
If I clip their wings, will that prevent them from flying onto benches 42" high?
Aside from possible high temperatures being an issue, what other issues might a greenhouse pose as quail living quarters?

I guess I should mention I'm interested in their eggs, too, so that would be coturnix.

 

[PortageGirl]

Watching closely so I can learn too!!

 

[granmahen]

Mine do a little scratching, do like fruit, fly even when clipped (flutter hard and almost climb up the walls when upset. No matter how often I go into their pen, they are very skittery. But having said all that, I love my quail (they are bobwhites, don't know if coturnix act differently) and if I had a greenhouse, I'd try them in there. Just watch the door. Also, it gets about 100 in my backyard at times and my quail do fine. Maybe put out water dishes with pebbles in them for cooling down. Mine like getting a little wet when its hot. As for using banties, my banties aren't as damaging as my standard hens, that could work too. Good luck.

 

[becky3086]

My quail are in pens in the greenhouse, lol. Ran out of room everywhere else.

I don't know how they would do if they are loose in there but I guess I wouldn't try it unless I had two doors to go through, so that they couldn't escape when I went in.

 

[PurpleChicken]

As long as you clip their wings they should do well in a greenhouse unless the temp exceeds 100 degrees.

I'd advise caution when entering and exiting. They are quick little featherbutts.

 

[kingmt]

Mine are in a cage in the greenhouse. As for the bantams mine are more apt to eat everything then my full sized. My full sized are not as likely to fly up somewhere to eat but the bantams will fly to the roof of my two story building just to hang out for a while.

 

[eggsrcool]

Quote:
Do the scratch up the ground? Yes, but not alot
Do they eat leaves and fruits? I would have thought so
How flighty are they? Medium
If I clip their wings, will that prevent them from flying onto benches 42" high? Probably
Aside from possible high temperatures being an issue, what other issues might a greenhouse pose as quail living quarters? Will they just be inside the greenhouse? I think it could get quite messy in there.

 

[natureboy]

Smell and poop are good points I hadn't considered.

For my chickens I just use the method of piling on more straw every week or two and throwing some scratch in there, cleaning it out every six months or so.

Assuming I use wood chips for my flooring in the greenhouse, I would avoid piles mounding on top of gravel or brick.

But, what about the smell? It's going to be damp in there, unlike my chicken coup. And I think I read that quail poop has a stronger ammonia smell?

What does everyone think?

 

[farrier!]

A littlelime goes a long way...

I assume you want a few and not near the maximum for the floor space.