pen size for 10-12 laying quail?

[youridreezen]

Hi all.
would like to know how big a cage should be for 10-12 laying quail.
they will be on wire floors.

also what is a good height for the pens?

i need a to have a few 100 birds so minimal size is best.

any help would be good.

cheers youri.

 

[shelleyd2008]

These are coturnix? I've got 12 in a 2' x 4' cage, and there is plenty of room for more. They only need 12 inches in height, and supposedly 1 sq. ft. per bird. You can get away with more like 1/2 sq. ft., probably more like 3/4.

 

[youridreezen]

yes coturnix.
how many do you think i can fit in a 2X2 cage?

cheers youri.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The most I would do is 6, which should be all right. Though I've had 6 in a cage that size that did fight, but I've also had 6 in a cage that size that didn't. It really depends on the individuals.

I wouldn't do more than 6 though, just to be safe

 

[darkfur]

you could do up to 5 or 6 but you could only have one male

 

[youridreezen]

Quote:
there would not be any males.
this is just for layers.
not fertile eggs.

 

[youridreezen]

Quote:
so you say that i can half 2-3 quails to a sq ft.

and then you say no more them 6 in a 4 sq ft pen.

cheers youri.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Actually, I said you could get away with 1/2 sq. ft. per bird, but I changed that to 3/4 sq. ft. per bird. 3/4 sq. ft. per bird would be 5

I think only allowing 1/2 sq. ft. per bird is a bit low, but 1 sq ft. is more than enough. They don't need quite that much space, but it depends a lot on the individual birds' personalities.

3/4 sq ft per bird would be 1 1/4 bird per square foot

 

[Bettacreek]

A good bit of it also depends on the overall size of the cage. You'd be able to fit 200 birds in a 10'x10' horse stall without any issues. Obviously, you wouldn't really want to put one in a .75'x.75' "cage".

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I agree, I was thinking of putting that myself, but it didn't make sense the way I was going to say it

The 2x4 cage I have seems a lot bigger than twice the size of the 2x2 cage. I would put more birds in the 2x4 cage than what it already has, the 2x2's get 6 at the most, but usually 5. I just eyeball it, if they look like they are stepping on each other each time they turn around, there are too many birds in the cage