Quails, Predators, and Coops.

[Deebot]

Hello! I've got some Coturnix eggs coming to me coming to me next week and am very excited! I've raised chickens but never quails & trying out incubation for the first time

I'm struggling to figure out what to build (or buy, if there's a good option) for them. I've heard that hardware cloth underneath is rough on their little feets, but I am concerned about raccoons, as they've gotten some of my chickens before (my fault, only when I forgot to lock them up... they've never broken into our coop!).
I'm also worried about mice, as they get into the chicken food sometimes til we made some changes, and I've heard hardware cloth all around the run is a good way to keep them out of quail's food as well.

I really like this coop design for my quail, but it's a bit small, so I'd either get two of these and keep 5 or so birds in each, or I would rebuild my own larger one that I could potentially walk-in and house a larger flock. (This coop is 184 L x 98 W x 85 H cm, just under 12 sq feet in the run area specifically.)

I was hoping to not have to bolt down the entire structure so that I could move them to new tall grass patches occasionally (not too often to stress them out)

Any ideas how to prevent raccoons from getting in something like this? Should I scrap this idea completely? I see a lot of people making aviaries for quail, which I like, but again a lot of them seem to be made of chicken wire or weaker materials that I fear a raccoon could break into easily. Building an entire aviary out of hardware cloth sounds rough...

Any ideas, plans links, or purchase links are welcome! Thank you for any help <3

 

[Kiki]

I built this cage with a hardware cloth floor but I dont actually use the wire flooring.
I covered it in boxes of dirt.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xSwtBfNYAZo?feature=share


I have three rabbit cages that I wrapped in half inch hardware cloth that I use also:
I pretty much have the floor covered in dirt boxes here too.

https://youtube.com/shorts/neZm-OsbKJ0?feature=share

 

[FloorCandy]

I have one run that I put wire on the bottom with the intention of moving it around like a tractor. However the quail will kill the grass so fast, you need to move it every day. This was a pain because I had to take out all the bowls and hides and stuff each time so none of them got crushed. Now it’s my male jail and I just put a bunch of bedding over the wire and leave it in one place.

I’ve found the best pens I’ve made are out of pvc and hardware cloth. I have one I made by making a pvc frame around a folding table, and it’s great. I make the doors with cookie wire cooling racks, and I line the doorway with the edge protective stripping you can put on car doors, this keeps me and the birds from getting poked. I haven’t had any issues with rodent access, I ring the bottom of the pens in patio blocks or cinderblocks with plants in the holes.

 

[Deebot]

thank you for the responses! the dirt boxes is a really interesting idea, I had never considered putting that many boxes in over the flooring. also good to know they kill grass that fast, I thought it would be slower than chickens because of their size but I guess not.... lol.

do you think quails would go up a tiny ramp like this one, or am I better off just sticking with something totally ground level?

 

[shrimpsilkies]

thank you for the responses! the dirt boxes is a really interesting idea, I had never considered putting that many boxes in over the flooring. also good to know they kill grass that fast, I thought it would be slower than chickens because of their size but I guess not.... lol.

do you think quails would go up a tiny ramp like this one, or am I better off just sticking with something totally ground level?
View attachment 2604783

They are capable of going up that ramp, but they may not want to.

 

[Nabiki]

thank you for the responses! the dirt boxes is a really interesting idea, I had never considered putting that many boxes in over the flooring. also good to know they kill grass that fast, I thought it would be slower than chickens because of their size but I guess not.... lol.

do you think quails would go up a tiny ramp like this one, or am I better off just sticking with something totally ground level?
View attachment 2604783

I would stick with something completely ground level.

 

[FloorCandy]

thank you for the responses! the dirt boxes is a really interesting idea, I had never considered putting that many boxes in over the flooring. also good to know they kill grass that fast, I thought it would be slower than chickens because of their size but I guess not.... lol.

do you think quails would go up a tiny ramp like this one, or am I better off just sticking with something totally ground level?
View attachment 2604783

My first pen is similar to that. I found the prefab pens are junk, and to keep it from falling apart I spent a whole afternoon and $70 reinforcing all of the joints with hardware and attaching the wire securely. I adjusted the roof and added hinges so I could open the top, otherwise it is unusable for Quail because the nest box access is too small for cleaning and catching them.

my ramp broke within the first month, just caved in in the middle, it is now nonexistent and I put a patio block there so they could just hop in and it works fine, the block is now under deep bedding so it doesn’t even matter.

But here’s an interesting thing about the ramp, Quail are soooooooooooo stupid, I was raking out bedding one day, and one of the Quail comes waddling out of the house, walks to the side of the ramp and looks over the edge. She must have seen something she wanted because she tried to reach under the ramp from standing on top. She tumbled over the edge, and her head was stuck under, there was a hide next to it and she was trapped upside down, feet in the air, between the ramp and the hide, head under the ramp, if I wasn’t out there she surely would have broken her neck flailing. I suppose me raking stirred some bugs she saw run under for cover and she got into trouble going after one. I would just remove the ramp and give them a step up.

I also put a step up into the nest box, and I put a plastic bin inside the box, with a big hole in the front, because I felt the nest box was the least secure spot of the pen, so if a predator opens it, or rain gets in, everything is protected and blocked by the bin.

Anyway, I paid like $300 bux for the cage, $70 bux for the hardware to strengthen it, and like 9 bux twice for a tarp, because the first one ripped over winter from taking off and on and water freezing on top etc. I am, right now, making a new cage to replace it. It was such a pain in the winter, I can’t collect eggs in the rain, because I have to take the tarp off the whole thing to get them and everything will get soaked, plus quail, especially young ones, like to fly up out of the top open pens, and make a run for the woods. My new cage is a new table cage. The table, hardware cloth, pvc, connectors, cookie racks and edging cost me less than $150, and I even bought the more pricey, coated hardware cloth because it’s easier to work with.

Here’s a photo of the original cage, and also some pics of my first table cage. I plan to keep the coop part of the prefab cage, I’m planting an apple tree in the corner of the yard. I’m going to cover the entrance with hardware cloth so it only has access from the top, and I’m going to put it out in that corner, as the new male jail. I’ll put some nice decorative rocks around it and make it look nice. I hate to waste, but the run is so rickety and cheap, I am throwing it out.

Here’s some photos of my wire bottom “tractor” cage.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

My first pen is similar to that. I found the prefab pens are junk, and to keep it from falling apart I spent a whole afternoon and $70 reinforcing all of the joints with hardware and attaching the wire securely. I adjusted the roof and added hinges so I could open the top, otherwise it is unusable for Quail because the nest box access is too small for cleaning and catching them.

my ramp broke within the first month, just caved in in the middle, it is now nonexistent and I put a patio block there so they could just hop in and it works fine, the block is now under deep bedding so it doesn’t even matter.

But here’s an interesting thing about the ramp, Quail are soooooooooooo stupid, I was raking out bedding one day, and one of the Quail comes waddling out of the house, walks to the side of the ramp and looks over the edge. She must have seen something she wanted because she tried to reach under the ramp from standing on top. She tumbled over the edge, and her head was stuck under, there was a hide next to it and she was trapped upside down, feet in the air, between the ramp and the hide, head under the ramp, if I wasn’t out there she surely would have broken her neck flailing. I suppose me raking stirred some bugs she saw run under for cover and she got into trouble going after one. I would just remove the ramp and give them a step up.

I also put a step up into the nest box, and I put a plastic bin inside the box, with a big hole in the front, because I felt the nest box was the least secure spot of the pen, so if a predator opens it, or rain gets in, everything is protected and blocked by the bin.

Anyway, I paid like $300 bux for the cage, $70 bux for the hardware to strengthen it, and like 9 bux twice for a tarp, because the first one ripped over winter from taking off and on and water freezing on top etc. I am, right now, making a new cage to replace it. It was such a pain in the winter, I can’t collect eggs in the rain, because I have to take the tarp off the whole thing to get them and everything will get soaked, plus quail, especially young ones, like to fly up out of the top open pens, and make a run for the woods. My new cage is a new table cage. The table, hardware cloth, pvc, connectors, cookie racks and edging cost me less than $150, and I even bought the more pricey, coated hardware cloth because it’s easier to work with.

Here’s a photo of the original cage, and also some pics of my first table cage. I plan to keep the coop part of the prefab cage, I’m planting an apple tree in the corner of the yard. I’m going to cover the entrance with hardware cloth so it only has access from the top, and I’m going to put it out in that corner, as the new male jail. I’ll put some nice decorative rocks around it and make it look nice. I hate to waste, but the run is so rickety and cheap, I am throwing it out.

View attachment 2605122
View attachment 2605124View attachment 2605125View attachment 2605126

Here’s some photos of my wire bottom “tractor” cage.
View attachment 2605136View attachment 2605135

I love it! I love the PVC handles. That's brilliant.

 

[Deebot]

But here’s an interesting thing about the ramp, Quail are soooooooooooo stupid, I was raking out bedding one day, and one of the Quail comes waddling out of the house, walks to the side of the ramp and looks over the edge. She must have seen something she wanted because she tried to reach under the ramp from standing on top. She tumbled over the edge, and her head was stuck under, there was a hide next to it and she was trapped upside down, feet in the air, between the ramp and the hide, head under the ramp, if I wasn’t out there she surely would have broken her neck flailing.

Omg I am glad she was okay but the mental image here is hilarious.

Your whole post was very helpful, thank you! Good to know about the prefab, I had suspicions but was feeling lazy, lol. I am pretty sure I am just going to build something simple as I have ample time before they'll be of size to need it. I came across this design that I really like and is quite simple, but I'll make my hutch without a ramp probably, it is kinda similar to your table cage but lower since no table

I love your little tractor. Do you just take them out and put them in there often and they dont get stressed out? Is it just PVC, hardware cloth, and what looks like zipties around the edges?

 

[FloorCandy]

Omg I am glad she was okay but the mental image here is hilarious.

Your whole post was very helpful, thank you! Good to know about the prefab, I had suspicions but was feeling lazy, lol. I am pretty sure I am just going to build something simple as I have ample time before they'll be of size to need it. I came across this design that I really like and is quite simple, but I'll make my hutch without a ramp probably, it is kinda similar to your table cage but lower since no table
View attachment 2605429

I love your little tractor. Do you just take them out and put them in there often and they dont get stressed out? Is it just PVC, hardware cloth, and what looks like zipties around the edges?

Yup it’s pvc, hardware cloth, and zip ties. Right now it is stationary in the dead grass area where we set up our quik set pool in the summer. I just put like 4 inches of wood chips inside on the ground, and scoop a bunch out and put new every so often. I use it as male jail, and there are currently 5 boys in there, but I’ve had as many as 11 with no issues. I have it covered on all sides but the front, with a reflective tarp so it doesn’t get hot inside, the whole thing faces west, so it only gets direct light for a short time each afternoon. This keeps the boys pretty chill. They still chase a bit and try to mate each other, but the crowing is pretty infrequent, and I haven’t had any injuries besides some overmating baldness on the favorites.

It’s a great place to stick young males who don’t know how to treat a lady. After being the “new girl” in the male pen for a day, they often return to their ladies with much better manners. Or sometimes they become the new king of male jail and their ladies get a more docile male instead.

I’ve been growing out hens, and I’ve nearly sold them all, but I kept several males to offer free with the purchase of 4 or more laying hens. Once they’re all sold, and the extras go to freezer camp, it will probably go under the deck until I need it again.

It’s easy to hose off too.