Show me your quail pens!!!

[funny quails]

My pens

I wanted to tell you your wire seems a bit big if you get chicks they might slip out and snakes might get in just a warning

 

[Robert C R]

Thank you. I have a smaller pen with 1/4" X 1/2 " wire for chicks also I spray ammonia on the legs to keep snakes out. It works well as the ammonia burns the snakes skin under their scales so,they stay away. I do appreciate the concern and I will remember that for,future pens.

 

[CountryBoy47]

I call this photo Before the First Drop Falls.  There are many details included on My BYC Page, under "coturnix-quail."  I have 10 jumbos that are 2 weeks old, and 24 that are 4 weeks old.  I may move the older ones to the new pens this weekend, depending on the weather.  This is my first try at raising quail.

Is it possible for me to get plans for this quail coop?

 

[Schroeder]

I modified plans I got from this website: https://suburbansustainability.com/ Unfortunately, I did not create a new set of plans.

 

[romea]

I am relatively new to quails. It didn't even occur to me to put them off the ground so when we bought 5 quail chicks we put them in a large rabbit run and coop on the grass and we move them every few days for fresh grass and goodies to forage around for. They are so happy and they love rummaging for insects and things. We cover one end so that they can hide when they like (which is often). It's very low to the ground, but they never bash their heads on the wire because they have places to hide when they're scared.

When I first started looking into how quail are kept commercially, even on a small scale, in those raised wire cages with places for the eggs to roll, I was pretty horrified actually. These little, living birds love to run around, and they love to do what they're instinctively programmed to do, which is to forage. Ours seem pretty hardy - they love standing out in the rain. But when it gets much colder we'll move the run to a barn for the winter and give them wood chips to scratch around in on the floor.

None of this makes collecting eggs the easiest, but it only takes a few more minutes than it might for us, whereas a lot more happiness for the quails.

i am so glad you are making these points!
i, too, am rather horrified at the bare-bones cages that seem to be the norm - with wire floors throughout. some are kind enough to add dust baths but that's about it...
while people are advocating for better living conditions re: chickens, there seems to be almost no awareness what goes on re: quails.
very sad. these are such quirky little birds - it breaks my heart to see the living conditions that most people provide without thinking twice about it.

 

[eHuman]

My grow out cages that I used before the aviary was built are deep litter. I took some 2'x3'x8" masonry tubs and built a 12" tall cage to go over it and bolted it down. I still use them as quarantine or breeding cages easily holding 5 hens & a roo, though they have become spoiled with the 8'x16' aviary. This one with the metal edges and 19g 1/2" hardware cloth was the prototype the rest I built out of 14g 1/2"x1" cage wire.

 

[MontserratChick]

i am so glad you are making these points!
i, too, am rather horrified at the bare-bones cages that seem to be the norm - with wire floors throughout. some are kind enough to add dust baths but that's about it...
while people are advocating for better living conditions re: chickens, there seems to be almost no awareness what goes on re: quails.
very sad. these are such quirky little birds - it breaks my heart to see the living conditions that most people provide without thinking twice about it.

I know! Ours love to run around and forage in the grass and chirrup happily while they do. It does seem solely to benefit the owners rather than the birds to put them in these small cages. I wouldn't dream of putting these lovely birds in anything so prison-like. It's hardly a chore to have a little rummage for the eggs each day.
I'll see if I can take a picture and send it to you!

 

[eHuman]

8'x16' divided down the center. Breeders on one side grow out on other. A 2'x8' ground coop sits in the back for foul weather, and they all lay back there in a box so egg collection is a breeze.

 

[Pineapple]

 

[egg0]

Great pens!