4'x8' Quail tractors effect on a suburban back yard in arid Eastern WA

[Quailsong]

OP, considering you're moving the quail around & they're all healthy (as you say) then I think 'overcrowding' in that manner is safe. It's not a permanent home & the location is changing enough to stop any extreme territorial behavior. As James linked to that other thread, people there tend to agree that it depends on the quail you have and your situation RATHER than the basic "1 bird per square foot" guesstimate. So that's fine.^^

I love your tractor, OP. I've no intention on keeping my quail on wire mesh & if I can get them out on the grass asap I will definitely go for it. Now if only my move date will come sooner...

Also, not to pick sides but I can edit my post upwards of 3 times within a certain time-frame before it tells anyone I edited it. I edit a lot 'cause my grammar & spelling sucks.

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[speedy2020]

In this picture the quail tractor with 70 adult Coturnix Quail has been getting moved once a day starting in the far right rear corner of the yard moving side to side and towards the camera position. You can see how the grass close to the fence is a darker shade of green and as you get close to the tractor it is yellowish. Once you get ahead of the tractor you can see the yard is a yellowish color but not as yellow as it is just after the quail have been on it.

In the picture below you can see the shades of grass a bit clearer. The middle of the yard where its the most yellow is where the tractor has recently been. Its kind of hard to tell from the pictures but there was a good amount of weeds in this yard and they are gone where the tractor has been for the most part.

In this picture you can see where the tractor has just been and the part of the yard it has yet to reach. Notice the weeds here and there in the distance where the quail have not been.

In this pic to the left is where the tractor has been and to the right it has yet to reach. If you look hard you can see the weed differences.

In this pic you can see how patchy the grass is and see the weeds a little better.

Here are a couple more pics of the quail tractor. As you can see the birds have plenty of room to move around even though they are stocked at half the so called rule of thumb for Coturnix Quail? Again this tractor is moved at least once a day so the birds are always on fresh greens and have the ability to search for seeds / bugs.






This is a trick i use to clean up weedy areas the tractors wont reach. Just a simple rabbit type cage with the bottom removed. The bottom is flipped on top and used as a roof. Also doubles as a medical ward or time out area :+)




P.S. I also added a water filter to the hose for this yard. This is equally as important as the quail if you want to bring your soil back to life and use less water in arid areas. You can order the filter housing and filter cheap on e-bay or buy a simple throw away models from a RV supply shop or at some retailers.

Weed your yard without chemicals, bring your soil back to life, use less water and get eggs & meat if you like. Oh and most of all give your Quail a much better life than in some cage with a 8" roof and metal floor. Talk about not getting to express their Quailness.

How well your quail laying after you move to the new grass location? Do you have issue finding and collecting eggs? I go with cage design above ground & roll out eggs for my coop.

 

[LJpnw]

Every day around 2pm the eggs are removed from the coop as we re-fill the water, food & move the coop. The eggs are easy to find. If i miss one it is not crushed when the tractor is moved because there is flexable garden trim blocking the birds from escaping but giving way for eggs to slide under.

This design is not for ease of gathering eggs. Its for quality of life, eggs & meat. Nothing like grass fed. But its not hard to open the tops and reach in for eggs.

The quail learn how to move along to fresh grass in the tractor in about two weeks. They happily run to the new grass and eat all the weeds first. Then they go for bugs and seeds. Grass is the last thing they munch on.

 

[AletaG]

LJpnw, it looks like you let them loose also? The top is propped open in one picture, is that just for the pic, or do you let them range sometimes? My hubby and I are hoping to start quail in the fall or maybe next spring, and would love to have them outside like our chickens/banties...

BTW, see lots of conflicting info regarding having q and c together? Do you have any chickens also? If you are planning on selling eggs or chicks for others, do you need to keep them separated, or is that another hyper-concern that may not have a real basis.

We know very little about quail, other than I'd like to go with the Ca Valley ones, since they are often found locally wild anyway. just in case some get loose, I don't like messing with local gene pools. No worries on that with Banties or chickens, as I've never seen those naturalize!

Thanks, Aleta G

 

[LJpnw]

LJpnw, it looks like you let them loose also? The top is propped open in one picture, is that just for the pic, or do you let them range sometimes? My hubby and I are hoping to start quail in the fall or maybe next spring, and would love to have them outside like our chickens/banties...

BTW, see lots of conflicting info regarding having q and c together? Do you have any chickens also? If you are planning on selling eggs or chicks for others, do you need to keep them separated, or is that another hyper-concern that may not have a real basis.

We know very little about quail, other than I'd like to go with the Ca Valley ones, since they are often found locally wild anyway. just in case some get loose, I don't like messing with local gene pools. No worries on that with Banties or chickens, as I've never seen those naturalize!

Thanks, Aleta G

The top was open just for the pics. If i wanted to design this tractor for letting them in and out i would simply add a door at one end that would open up fully. A door to cover one of the 4'x2' ends. Simple 1/2 plywood would be super sturdy for the job. Couple hinges and a latch would complete the job. If you keep their water and feeder in there they would prob return. You would need to clip all their wings because they could fly out of the yard. And Quail are the fav food of pretty much every predator. You will loose a bunch to hawks and owls if you have them in your area. Thats why i keep mine in pens.

I have never had quail with chickens. I have had chickens with ducks, geese, turkey, pigs, goats, rabbits, cats & dogs all together at the same time on 5 acres hahaha Only problem was one of the cats would kill the baby rabbits that were being born. So that cat got evicted / re-homed.

I like coturnix quail because they are not as smart as most true wild breeds and if they get out they would not cause much of a problem. And they hatch out in 17 days, begin laying eggs at 6 weeks, reach butcher size in 8 weeks & males are mature around 5 weeks.

And speaking of Cali Quail there is a flock of them that has moved in next to the yard this tractor is in. They must hear the Coturnix quail and feel its safe to be around. When im there i will make the cali quail call and one of the leaders of the flock will fly up and call back to me. Good times.

 

[VickieB57]

I will be getting some Texas A&M within the week (27 of them at 4 weeks of age). I love the idea of the tractor. I have cages ready for them, but was wondering if I could just put the cages out on the grass.

Aleta, I have done some reading on Bantams, a friend is wanting to give me a few. I've read that the silkies are very good brooders and are known to safely sit and brood the Coturnix. I think I might try that, just for the fun of it.

I love reading everyone's experiences, and have learned so much from you all! I do love this site! (I got some rabbits a few months ago and found this site through my BackYardHerd site where I've learned so much about the rabbits.)

 

[veggiecanner]

LJpnw, I just saw your pictures on our craig's list.

 

[LJpnw]

Good ol Craigs List hahaha.. Yeah i move allot of Quail and build lots of coops / tractors. But im doing it all wrong if you listen to the trolls hahaha

I love proving people wrong. Love watching happy customers work my systems i designed for them. Love to see my happy quail eating grass and weeds stocked 2 per sqft. And nothing like grabbing all the grass fed eggs every day.

 

[veggietreeigrl]

Cool! I want to build something similar for my pet quail. He's always scratching around the bottom of his cage, but I can tell it isn't the same for him. Just a question: I have wild bunnies that come into my yard and poop all over. I'm worried about germs on the ground. Am I just being paranoid or should I clean the area of dirt (SoCal no grass unless I want a phenomenal water bill) I'm going to sit the run/tractor on? He's not going to live in the tractor full time, it is just for a play area. Thanks all.

 

[quailswiss]

Every day around 2pm the eggs are removed from the coop as we re-fill the water, food & move the coop. The eggs are easy to find. If i miss one it is not crushed when the tractor is moved because there is flexable garden trim blocking the birds from escaping but giving way for eggs to slide under.

Can you tell us more about the flexible garden trim? The rest of the cage is fairly straightforward for me.