Unorthodox Enclosure Heights?

[Ademan555]

I was wondering if anybody had unorthodox opinions on quail enclosure heights. I built several enclosures to the recommended 12" height, but have had a few(!) birds kill themselves over the past year since they've been in these enclosures.

I'm obviously looking to build new enclosures but I'm wondering if the common wisdom could be wrong? I'm thinking of going higher, maybe to 18" (which some people do recommend). I think "Slightly Rednecked" on youtube looks to have 24" enclosures (Although I think the "ceiling" of his is hardware cloth, which obviously has much more give than plywood).

 

[Ademan555]

Thanks, these are meant to be meat and egg birds though I really only collect eggs. Maybe I'll roll with 18" and add hardware cloth to the ceiling to try and mitigate this. I expect to have at least one cross-beam on the ceiling where the hardware cloth wouldn't help, but maybe softening the blow 99% of the time is enough to prevent this in practice.

 

[CliftonQuail]

Thanks, these are meant to be meat and egg birds though I really only collect eggs. Maybe I'll roll with 18" and add hardware cloth to the ceiling to try and mitigate this. I expect to have at least one cross-beam on the ceiling where the hardware cloth wouldn't help, but maybe softening the blow 99% of the time is enough to prevent this in practice.

I raise coturnix in cages from Wynola Ranch that are at most 9" tall and I've still found a few birds with clearly broken necks. They use welded wire throughout.

 

[Whiskybear]

My two cents- from watching the Coturnix when they flush up, they seem to have their maximum momentum when they first take off, the first flap along with the jump. The 12” a lot of folks recommend always seemed the most dangerous option to me. But I’ve only been keeping them a couple years and I am obviously outnumbered on that point.

 

[Nabiki]

My two cents- from watching the Coturnix when they flush up, they seem to have their maximum momentum when they first take off, the first flap along with the jump. The 12” a lot of folks recommend always seemed the most dangerous option to me. But I’ve only been keeping them a couple years and I am obviously outnumbered on that point.

Personally, I prefer the 6' option. It's a lot easier to feed them and collect eggs when I can walk into their pen.

The main disadvantage of th e 6' option is that my birds do not have a healthy fear of feet.