Show me your quail pens!!!

[gardenisto]

Horsekeeper. It was already mentioned. But water in a liquid state is the real challenge, it iw for us in WY. A heated base for the waterer could work, or a heat taped recirculating system if you use nipple wateres. The nipples will freeze otherwise.

Also, as was also mentioned by Em Ty, make sure there is adequate ventilation up high, that doesnt stir the air lower in the coop. A pine shaving bedding could give them something to help hold a little heat in as well. Not to mention makes a coop smell better for longer between cleanings.

 

[clawstar]

My pen is a dog run and I'm having a few problems with it. After I discovered holes in the ground 2 years ago I added the gravel. I still have a problem with rats and the poor siding. Currently my quail are kept in smaller hutches within the aviary. I have decided to strip the kennel/run and start fresh.
What should I do for the floor?
I live in Seattle, so we get constant rain, so the floor must drain. Concrete and wire seem to be the only options I can think of.
How can I correctly make the sides Predator proof and escape proof?
What about the 2 trees in the middle? how can I make the floor without digging them up?

Also I would like to add more birds, but I am unsure of what breeds to get. I plan on adding Valley quail, and Doves/Pigeons.

 

[DK newbie]

How about large concrete tiles for the floor? Less permanent than actual concrete, though it may be some work as it seems you have a rather large enclosure. And you can just skip the spot where the trees are and keep the gravel there. Around here, you can usually get concrete tiles for free when people are throwing theirs out.
For the lower part of the sides, I'd either go with a very small mesh as I can see you do at least in some places, or maybe I'd cover them with something like metal or plastic roofing panels. And I might use a smaller mesh than you do on the top of the sides and the 'roof', but that depends on what kinds of predators you have and how likely they are to climb the lower part of the wall to get in.
Looks like a nice big enclosure Not sure it's good to mix different species of quail though, you might vant to reconsider that, but I'm no expert.

 

[paneubert]

My pen is a dog run and I'm having a few problems with it. After I discovered holes in the ground 2 years ago I added the gravel. I still have a problem with rats and the poor siding. Currently my quail are kept in smaller hutches within the aviary. I have decided to strip the kennel/run and start fresh.
What should I do for the floor?

Do you have any wire/mesh running out from the aviary walls to the exterior world? That usually helps a lot with the diggers. Just dig a trench down and out a few inches and then line that with hardware cloth. Then fill back in with dirt. That way when anyone tries to dig under the wall, they hit wire. They are not smart enough to dig away from the fence, since to an animal it makes no sense that you would want to dig a hole that is not right up against the fence/the obstruction you are trying to get under.

 

[seann]

Not really showing pens but I just love how they sand bath.

Cage is 1/2" hardwire cloth on sides, 1/4" hw cloth on bottom and wood (cushioned) top.
Regular box nothing fancy. Nothing automatic (still using g.pig drinkers etc).

 

[muleboy]

What is the best size of wire to put in the bottom of the quail pens so that their crap will fall through but their feet do not fall through and the wire does not cut their feet up? It looks like you have hardware cloth, if so, what gauge and size? And what works best for everyone?

 

[seann]

1/4" hw cloth for bottom... not sure of gauge. Bought from home depot.
After months using it, some craps don't fall down and became hard enough to pick by hand (+gloves lol).
Also feathers or whatever stuck around. Kind of hard to clean.
I wonder if I should just go full sand?

 

[Em Ty]

1/2" hardware cloth lets all the poop fall through. I'd replace the 1/4" with 1/2" as it's much easier to keep clean than the sand.

 

[gardenisto]

1/2" hardware cloth lets all the poop fall through. I'd replace the 1/4" with 1/2" as it's much easier to keep clean than the sand.

I had to quit using wire because winter temps and drafts made it impractical. It was like maintaining a box within a wire box. I've used sand bottoms, but sand IS sort of a pain to clean and I don't like how it absorbs/or doesn't. Also acted like a thermal mass, a cold one in a bad way for me.

I used a bed liner material on plywood to waterproof it. Then put a layer of pine bedding on it. My pens allow me to open and easily clean. I'm not sure I'd ever go back to wire, unless it was just walls for a pen on the ground, or I switched to a battery system for commercial style production, in an area with much nicer winter weather, or completely inside an insulated shed, small building etc.

I like my animals happy. They seem much happier on pine than on wire. Less stressed and are able to 'bathe' in the shavings like they would in sand. Just my opinions from experience and preference.

If someone went with wire, I agree with Em Ty, that 1/2" hardware cloth, Not 1/4", is the much easier to clean option.

 

[clawstar]

My Dad is helping me build a new aviary! We have up to 20' by 15' of space and I plan on using every inch! The flooring will be 1' grey concrete tiles, so it drains and is excape proof. I hope on double doors and a small heated area to keep smaller birds happy and dry. But I have one big problem.... The siding. its too expensive to put 1/2" hardware cloth over the whole thing. What can I do???