Quails seem panicked after moving to outdoor coop

[Lady_Bat]

We put paneling up around the bottom edge of our run to deter predators (out of sight, out of mind) but found that the quail loved it/felt safer. Here's an outside & inside view of ours. Some of our ladies love using the coop & others don't, it seems to be personal preference. I did have Hubby put a textured tape on the ramps to help them with footing though.

 

[TwoCrows]

We put paneling up around the bottom edge of our run to deter predators (out of sight, out of mind) but found that the quail loved it/felt safer. Here's an outside & inside view of ours. Some of our ladies love using the coop & others don't, it seems to be personal preference. I did have Hubby put a textured tape on the ramps to help them with footing though.

View attachment 1711571 View attachment 1711572

Perfect! I did the exact same thing with my aviaries, I found that the quail paced along the edges and seemed really stressed if they could see out while on the ground. Once I paneled up the sides a couple of feet, and I too used that corrugated metal, the quail settled right down and felt more secure.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Wild quail live in brush and tall grass, right? Probably even these heavily domesticated birds still have an urge to be in cover.

Also, you should probably have more than 3. I know schooling fish get nervous if they're in smaller groups, and I suspect the flocking species of quail might be similar. The more schooling fish around, the more protection from predators. If there are only a few, that could mean that something ate the rest. Those two things (and a need for socialization) mean that schoolers need groups to be happy. Quail flock in part for the same reasons that some fish school, so I think the same idea applies.