Tips on building large quail cage/aviary

[grabs28]

Hi! My dad and I are going to build a large pen/cage/aviary for my coturnix quail. I have five currently but will be getting three or five more hens. My goal is for it to be as natural as possible, it will be on the ground and we hope to grow plants in it. It will be 8x4 so they will have lots of space, and maybe the hens will go broody! Do you guys have any tips?

 

[eggbert420]

This video might help.

 

[grabs28]

Thanks for the link! That's similar to what we want to do but with more plants and access to the soil. Ideally it would be like their natural habitat.

 

[eggbert420]

Sounds nice

 

[DK newbie]

If you are hoping for chicks, make sure the bottom 5 inches or so are either solid or have very small spaces between the wire, to keep chicks in. Also be aware you will most likely have to remove either the mother and chicks or all other quail - otherwise the others are likely to hurt the chicks. They might even stress the mother off the nest during incubation.
Seeing as you haven't started building yet, you might be able to anticipate the need for separation in your cage design - you could for instance place a wall part way through the middle of the enclosure, leaving a smaller opening that can easily be blocked with minimal disturbance to any broody hens. Or you could plant only the corners of the enclosure making it more likely that any broody birds will be laying in a corner, and pre-fabricate two wire walls ( perhaps with a wire roof as well, if your enclosure is high) and a feeding door to fit around the plants in any corner, so you can quickly and easily fence off a broody hen and her nest. Again, be aware there are no chick-sized gaps anywhere - they can and will find them.

 

[grabs28]

Thanks for the awsome advice! The bottom two feet is solid wood and we were going to have two removable dividers so it could be separated into three spaces.

 

[JaeG]

Sounds like you are going to have some very happy birds! A solid section around the bottom is a good idea as it stops predators and gives your birds a bit of shelter when the weather isn't so great.

 

[grabs28]

That's what I hope!

 

[grabs28]

Due to some stuff that came up, my dad can no longer help me with building a coop. I was looking online for one to buy and found this:
http://www.chickencoopoutlet.com/metal-chicken-wire?product_id=73
What do you guys think? The door has major gaps but I could fix those.

 

[eggbert420]

Due to some stuff that came up, my dad can no longer help me with building a coop. I was looking online for one to buy and found this:
http://www.chickencoopoutlet.com/metal-chicken-wire?product_id=73
What do you guys think? The door has major gaps but I could fix those.

Looks like it would work.