Cheap and efficient housing for 30 quail?

[HighLiteEggs]

Good morning everyone!
I have decided to get into raising Coturnix quails. I've never raised them before, but I have helped care for chickens and rabbits on a family member's farm. I want to get 30 to start with. How should I house them? I have thought about the pros and cons of each type.

Wire Cage
Pros: Cheap to make, take up little space, easy cleanup, easy egg collection
Cons: Doesn't look to comfortable for the birds, will they be bored in the cage?
Hutch
Pros: Looks nice
Cons: Expensive, harder to clean (wood), harder egg collection, hutches are small
Aviary
Pros: Looks nice, quails get space to roam around
Cons: Expensive, needs more space, harder egg collection

I have also thought about building my own outdoor enclosure. Can something like a kiddle pool with raised sides and a hardware cloth top work? I would prefer something more movable so nothing wood.

-HighLite

 

[WolfGirlMagic]

Wire cages also lead to higher instances of bumble foot.
Also, anything you get needs to be no taller than 1ft, or 6ft tall or tallertto avoid the quail flushing and breaking their necks.
One of my rescue quail had bonked her head and now she can only walk backwards due to brain damage.
I personally would try to build something.
I think it should work with the pool but remember it needs to be 1square foot of space per bird.

 

[Kaya1]

I started with a metal shelf with 1"/ 1/2" wire around it, linked with zip ties and small Rubbermaids for sand. It ran me around $150, but like you said, they get bored, and they were less happy. Now I have 14'/10' chain link fence with chicken wire on dirt.

 

[sunbursts]

Aviary is best in my opinion, closest to what they naturally would live in. If you care for the wellbeing (happiness) of your quail, don't put them in small wire boxes, imagine how you'd feel trapped in such a small space.

 

[le_bwah]

In my honest opinion, if you can do an aviary, you should do an aviary.

I've seen aviaries made of dog runs, made of PVC, made of aviary netting strung between a house and a fence. As long as it can keep predators out and quail safely in, it's a good aviary. You can also set one up to conform to irregular-shaped space in your yard or against your house—it doesn't need to be a boxy structure.

Also, finding eggs is remarkably easy so long as you give the birds cover. Unstressed quail will tend to lay in specific places, usually sharing several nest spots among multiple hens. Once they learn what they like and you learn where those spots are, collecting eggs becomes a matter of making the rounds from spot to spot. Only hard part is bending down—I find a pasta scoop makes an excellent "egg scoop" for harder to reach places.