Winter is coming!

[speekingtree]

Hi guys, I've heard that we are in for a terribly cold winter this year here in the UK.
Looking at the temperatures of Japan compared to England, it will be much much colder here than they (the quail) can deal with.
So, what to do......
Should I set up a shed or something that I can pack the interior with hay to give them a lot more protection from the weather?
Should I bring them indoors?
What do you guys do? what sort of winter set-ups have you got? (pros and cons)
Any advise gratefully received.
Thanks in advance xxx

 

[Lady_Bat]

Do you have them in a cage or a run? What kind of set up do you have?

Full disclosure, we're new at this but I'll share our plan. We're due for a nasty winter here in VA, USA according to the Farmer's Almanac & we've found that thing to be scary accurate.

We have quail in an outdoor run that's 8' by 12' with a coop inside of the run. Half of the run has a proper roof while the other half is just hardware mesh/cloth. We have put clear plastic over the hardware mesh/cloth side of the roof so that snow/cold rain won't come down directly on them. We also put plywood over the bottom 2 feet of the run so that predators can't see them & get excited. Coincidentally, it has helped block some of the sideways rain that we've gotten lately (yay for that!). We keep a small chicken coop (it's pretty low to the ground) in there with lots of pine shavings on the tray. We've taught them to go in there by throwing mealworms in every chance we get. I was prepared to have "stupid" quail after all of my reading but they seem quite smart after spending time with them. We've found that they huddle/snuggle as necessary & hope that they will figure out huddling in the coop is the warmest thing to do.
We plan on heating their waterer (no duh I'm sure). Also, at the Tractor Supply store near us, they had a outdoor heating pad on clearance to put in the coop in case it gets too cold for snuggles to help.
We figure that worst case scenario, we have a roll of landscape fabric that we can wrap around the sides of the run. It should allow air flow through but block the worst of rain/snow from getting in.

I hope that helps! All the best to you & your little guys!!

 

[igorsMistress]

I don't get snow but it does freeze here in winter or gets very close over night. I think the same rules apply though. Give them a draft free place big enough for everyone to snuggle up in some straw and get warm.

How many birds do you have? Are you prepared to deal with the smell if they're inside all winter?

 

[speekingtree]

Hi there, thanks for your replies
We have a small 2 box chicken coop and a large reinforced fruit cage that they roam in
, there are 5 birds

 

[Erkenstein]

Wow looks like a great setup! I'd add some plastic to the sides of that hutch (leave some venting) and consider running an extension cord with a little heat lamp into a sheltered area of the hutch.