The Garden Ark for 10 coturnix quail?

[graceless]

I am new to the quail thing, I started keeping chickens over the summer and love it so much. I bought 10 itty bitty coturnix quail last weekend and they will need an outdoor home soon. Is the Garden Ark an acceptable residence for 10 quail? The floor dimensions are 3'x6'

thanks!

 

[katheria]

not sure what a garden ark is.....?

adult cort's need about 1sq ft per bird floor space....

for if its 3x6 you are looking at 18sq feet....more than enough for 10 birds.....

be sure and provide them a sand box to play in.......

and uhh if you have a incubator before u know it you will be overrun with quail LOL.................

6 weeks to egg laying.... process time around 8-10 weeks depending on the bird.....

 

[graceless]

http://www.thegardencoop.com/ The garden ark is the smaller of the two coops posted here. I built the larger one for my hens and it seems to be very nice.
Do I need to insulate the coop part? I worry about them getting too cold.

Thanks

 

[katheria]

LMAO....your quail are going to have a palace i see now..

corts cant fly too well when they get heavy chested....you need to build a ramp that they can walk up to the upper part of the coop....


you could honestly keep 40-50 cort's in that imo.......esp since it has 2 floors.....

i have a 8x5x2ft tall cage that i run 60 adult birds in.... 1 sq foot per bird is just a general idea of how much space they need....


not sure where you live???
they are more sensitive to cold during the winter than chickens ...

im in texas for all i do for mine in the winter is run a water proof extension cord and use a lizard heat lamp bulb in a wood box where they can get warm if needed.....

they will shut down egg production in the winter if you dont provide additional light...about a total of 14 hours....
they tend to lay their eggs anywhere and everywhere for dont be surprised by that....



they love finch seed, and green veggies

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:
That's nice! Coturnix really do BEST with AT LEAST 1 sq.Ft. of space MINIMUM. some people give them less but crowding them causes issues and sometimes it's really BAD issues.
if you want your Birds to be happy and healthy, don't over crowd them.
Insulating it wouldn't do any harm ,and if it gets pretty cold there then go for it!

 

[graceless]

Is it a bad thing i'm building my quail a palace? LOL

I live in the sandhills of North Carolina. It gets down into the teens sometimes during the winter. Normally its around freezing though.

Also, do quail stay confined all the time? or do you let them out like chickens? I haven't gotten a book to tell me all these bits of information yet haha.
Do they get along with chickens? How old do they need to be to live outdoors?

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:
No it's NOT a bad thing at all. Go for it if that's what you want.
as i said, it certainly wont hurt to insulate
Do NOT let your Coturnix near chickens. The Chickens can be carriers of diseases that the quail could easily die from....
they can go outside when they are fully feathered.

 

[katheria]

mhw,

so far i havent had any issues with the 60 in the cage with a little under 1sq ft per bird no health issues, no feather pulling, no pecking eyes ect....
'
but i agree 1 sq ft is a good rule of thumb...
.



graceless,

quail are flighty is the best word...... i know of very very few people that let them out like chickens.......they are mostly kept caged...
they are easy targets for your local cat....ect.....

your cage is big enough u can sit down and spend time with them

they can become very pet like if you work with them...i raise for meat and eggs thou.....

mhw is right try to keep them separated as far as you can from the chickens....

with your cage being two levels you have more than 18 sq square feet of floor space....

for yes 10 birds they have a Palace hehehe.....they should be very very happy little birds.....

 

[Pemburu]

Graceless... I'm just a wannabe quail person. Don't think the question got answered about "letting" quail out like chickens. From everything I've read.. You'll only let them out once. Then you will be in the market for more bodies to fill that palace. They will fly off, be eaten, or find the Bermuda triangle out to the east of you. So it's confinement for life... in a nice palace of course.

oops... 1 min late.

 

[katheria]

Quote:
lol