So will they or won't they climb a ramp? *Update* YES THEY WILL!

Quote: LOL....I am not sure the breed really matters....I think they all have a loose screw up there someplace.
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But I still love them all.
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Mine are Coturnix too! I hope they're not too dumb to use a ramp?

I have them in the new coop. I've put them in the upper section, with the door blocked off, and I'm using it as a brooder for now. I've removed the heat lamp and they're doing fine. They're in a 55 degree garage right now in the coop. So maybe if they learn to associate the upper part as "home" they'll learn to return to it when I take the temporary door off?

The nights have been cold around here lately. Below freezing. I'm still afraid to put them outside. They're 4-5 weeks old now and pretty much fully feathered, but I'm getting them used to cooler temps gradually.
 
Mine are Coturnix too! I hope they're not too dumb to use a ramp?

I have them in the new coop. I've put them in the upper section, with the door blocked off, and I'm using it as a brooder for now. I've removed the heat lamp and they're doing fine. They're in a 55 degree garage right now in the coop. So maybe if they learn to associate the upper part as "home" they'll learn to return to it when I take the temporary door off?

The nights have been cold around here lately. Below freezing. I'm still afraid to put them outside. They're 4-5 weeks old now and pretty much fully feathered, but I'm getting them used to cooler temps gradually.
This is perfect! You should lock all new quail into their "coop" area for a bit before introducing them to a run or levels. This way when you do go to open the door, they will slowly venture out, but will always remember where home is. Now....some quail do prefer to sleep outside in all weather, good or bad, some will naturally return to the coop at night. So you can either try the clicker training thing or manually put them inside IF you want them inside.

Enjoy your birds! :)
 
Here are pics of my new coop! I got it at TSC and it really is sturdier than I expected. I also painted it red to match my barn and outbuildings. I reinforced it with extra brackets and mounted the whole thing to a base that I'm going to attach an old rubber stall chain too, for use as a handle to drag it to fresh grass each day (it's only 150 pounds). I'll park the coop near my livestock guardian dog's pasture, and the dusk to dawn lights at night, to keep predators away. (We don't have much of a predator problem with the dog around anyway.)

I'm just not sure when to put the birds outside? I'm so nervous about them getting too cold. I actually just bumped up the thermostat in the garage to 60 degrees for overnight, just to be on the safe side. I'm in south central PA and it was feeling like spring a few days ago, but winter has returned again!

I have the door blocked with a piece of cardboard for now.
The doors slide open for ventilation. It has a poop tray that pulls out and nest boxes, which I could take the dividers out and just let them use it as "living space". I think I'm going to fill the nest box area with straw, twigs and branches.
I have their water up on a board to keep the shavings out of it. I'm going to come up with a different watering system when I move them outside.
 
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Aww.....they are adorable!
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Once they grow up and become acclimated to your summers and your winters, they should be able to tolerate pretty much everything, as long as they have some place to get out of the wind and stay dry. I am up in the mountains at 7,000 feet and we have seen it get as low as -30 Fahrenheit! And while I did run two heat lamps in their hutch and they had NO interest in going outside, LOL, I could not get the temp up higher than -15 or so in their coop. For 3 days it was this brutally cold. I can remember evenings in past winters where it was already 5 degrees at dusk, the wind is ripping, the snow is flying and they were ALL snuggled up outside in the aviary ready for sleeping outside!! Oh NO.....all of you get inside right now!!..I told them. LOL I am sure they would have survived as quail come equipped with all kinds of downy feathers to keep them warm! But the mommy instinct in me made them march right inside! And still to this day, I sleep WAY better if I know all of them are locked up and inside their coop. So I do run all of them in at night, summer or winter.

Enjoy those babies!!
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Oh and if they are fully feathered, you might start introducing the out of door to them on warm days. Get them used to wind in their feathers, bright sun, clouds moving across the sky, etc...do it slowly and they will acclimate just fine.
 
I reinforced it with extra brackets and mounted the whole thing to a base that I'm going to attach an old rubber stall chain too, for use as a handle to drag it to fresh grass each day (it's only 150 pounds). I'll park the coop near my livestock guardian dog's pasture, and the dusk to dawn lights at night, to keep predators away. (We don't have much of a predator problem with the dog around anyway.)
The quail will love being moved to fresh grass, but be aware if you are keeping them for eggs it might affect their laying. Moving their home likely stresses them (even if they'll love it) and when stressed they lay less. So if you're not getting the amount of eggs you were expecting and you are sure feed and light is as it should be, consider keeping the cage in one place when you want them to lay (and know that the cage might need to be in the same place for several weeks before their laying reaches its max.)
 
That's good to know. Hopefully I will only be moving them the length of the 7 foot coop each day, and maybe not even every day, we'll see how hard they are on the grass. This is all an experiment, so I guess it will be trial and error! I won't be moving them at all in winter when there is no grass.

Maybe I'll try and furnish their coop with lots of branches and things so the interior view never changes, then perhaps it will make it less stressful for them? I guess I'll find out!
 
I moved the kids and their coop outside today! It's sunny but only about 50 degrees. I have their vents open and they don't seem to be cold at all. They're really enjoying it!

It is supposed to drop to about 40 tonight, so I'm going to rig up a heat lamp. I'm going to try and use a lower wattage bulb to just try and keep it around 45-50, I don't want them to get too hot.

The long range forecast is showing 50-60 degree days for the next few days and then it may get into the 30's over the weekend so a heat lamp is going to be necessary at night for now. I don't think I'm going to move them back into the garage, I think they'll be okay outside with some assistance.
 
I moved the kids and their coop outside today! It's sunny but only about 50 degrees. I have their vents open and they don't seem to be cold at all. They're really enjoying it!

It is supposed to drop to about 40 tonight, so I'm going to rig up a heat lamp. I'm going to try and use a lower wattage bulb to just try and keep it around 45-50, I don't want them to get too hot.

The long range forecast is showing 50-60 degree days for the next few days and then it may get into the 30's over the weekend so a heat lamp is going to be necessary at night for now. I don't think I'm going to move them back into the garage, I think they'll be okay outside with some assistance.
Aww....they sure look like they are enjoying themselves!! They should do just fine with adapting to colder temps, the way you are doing things.

Cutie pies!!
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