QuailTail
Songster
Hey everyone! Not sure if anyone wants to see, but I love watching step by steps of other people's set up, so I thought I'd post my aviary build for anyone that's interested 
It's a slow process as work and lockdown restrictions mean time and resources are limited, but hopefully we'll be able to finish it up in the next 2 weeks. The aviary is approx 2.8x1.5 meters, and will house 8-10 jumbo coturnix quail once we're able to pick them up.
So here is the cleared section within our fenced veggie garden that we're building on, it gets a good amount of sun during the day in winter, and I haven't been at this property for summer yet but I assume it will be even sunnier then. So hopefully long laying season!
I've designed the aviary so that the door (which will be at the shortest end) opens up right next to my compost bin so I can shovel everything straight in when I clean it out. We had to dig down a little bit as the land is on a slope, but I plan on hopefully creating a little hill at the lower end of the aviary for some interest, and so that I maybe don't have to bend down as far to collect eggs, as I have a feeling this will be the end they favour given it's the furthest from the door.
In this next photo we've laid down the rodent/snake mesh on our levelled section with enough overhang to wrap back up and around the sleepers so that nothing will be able to dig underneath. We're elevating the hardwood to try to eliminate too much rot where it touches the ground, but it's more of a precaution as we're using recycled hardwood which I imagine will last a long while!
And here is a closer photo of the mesh after we've trimmed it and nailed it down to the sleepers, so the bottom of the aviary is totally enclosed. Not beautiful, but I hope to landscape it later so that it will be prettier! Started backfilling the hole because I'm very impatient.
We have the basic frame up now - my partner (a carpenter) is doing the building and is very cross with me for not designing a rectangle.
So when he's had enough for the day I say nothing and thank him for his hard work, haha. Got it to this point though so I can start landscaping inside, woohoo!
Filling the floor in with a combo of different materials we have around - the soil that we dug out, which is super dry and dusty, and I'm hoping will do the ladies for their dust bathing. Then I've added a layer of sugar cane mulch, more soil, some mushroom compost (as I'm planting in to this space and the soil really needs some love), more soil, and a mix of sawdust and bark that has been sitting in a pile from some logs we milled a while ago. I feel like this combo imitates a natural forest floor, at least in my part of the world (Australia), so hoping the girls like it!
Here's the soil we dug out for the mesh, and at the front a pile of the sawdust/bark mulch.
And here it is layered up inside! The level is still fairly low, but I might keep it like that for now so that I have to opportunity to build it up more once the quail arrive.
It started getting dark so I couldn't do the landscaping that I wanted to get done today so that the plants have a chance to establish before the quail come in and likely eat it all, but alas! I did manage to lay everything out, though, and added a quartered log at the back so that I can create that hill I was talking about before (more like just a raised level). Need to find more soil to add to that part, but that's for another day.
I work at a nursery, so I managed to nab some great plants that I think will all be good - nothing dangerous that I know of. There is a birds nest fern at the back which will hopefully grow nice and big to provide some good hiding places, and also a native ginger in the opposite corner. Then there are 3 poa (tussock grass) in the red pots, some lomandra (mat rush) in the little tubes, a westringea (native rosemary), some sacrificial brachyscome (native aster) that I'm sure will be pecked to death, and three other pots of the same species that I can't for the life of me remember now, but they're some sort of native shrub.
I'm hoping that this gives the quail enough habitat to feel safe and happy, and me enough space to move inside and collect eggs without getting poked in the eye by grass fronds and twigs!
Aiming to get more done on the weekend, but we're wanting to clad part of the aviary in roofing sheets and at the moment we're unable to find any within our local area and aren't allowed to travel due to covid lockdown, so everything will depend on that. I will post more photos as we progress if people are interested.
It's a slow process as work and lockdown restrictions mean time and resources are limited, but hopefully we'll be able to finish it up in the next 2 weeks. The aviary is approx 2.8x1.5 meters, and will house 8-10 jumbo coturnix quail once we're able to pick them up.
So here is the cleared section within our fenced veggie garden that we're building on, it gets a good amount of sun during the day in winter, and I haven't been at this property for summer yet but I assume it will be even sunnier then. So hopefully long laying season!
I've designed the aviary so that the door (which will be at the shortest end) opens up right next to my compost bin so I can shovel everything straight in when I clean it out. We had to dig down a little bit as the land is on a slope, but I plan on hopefully creating a little hill at the lower end of the aviary for some interest, and so that I maybe don't have to bend down as far to collect eggs, as I have a feeling this will be the end they favour given it's the furthest from the door.
In this next photo we've laid down the rodent/snake mesh on our levelled section with enough overhang to wrap back up and around the sleepers so that nothing will be able to dig underneath. We're elevating the hardwood to try to eliminate too much rot where it touches the ground, but it's more of a precaution as we're using recycled hardwood which I imagine will last a long while!
And here is a closer photo of the mesh after we've trimmed it and nailed it down to the sleepers, so the bottom of the aviary is totally enclosed. Not beautiful, but I hope to landscape it later so that it will be prettier! Started backfilling the hole because I'm very impatient.
We have the basic frame up now - my partner (a carpenter) is doing the building and is very cross with me for not designing a rectangle.
So when he's had enough for the day I say nothing and thank him for his hard work, haha. Got it to this point though so I can start landscaping inside, woohoo!Filling the floor in with a combo of different materials we have around - the soil that we dug out, which is super dry and dusty, and I'm hoping will do the ladies for their dust bathing. Then I've added a layer of sugar cane mulch, more soil, some mushroom compost (as I'm planting in to this space and the soil really needs some love), more soil, and a mix of sawdust and bark that has been sitting in a pile from some logs we milled a while ago. I feel like this combo imitates a natural forest floor, at least in my part of the world (Australia), so hoping the girls like it!
Here's the soil we dug out for the mesh, and at the front a pile of the sawdust/bark mulch.
And here it is layered up inside! The level is still fairly low, but I might keep it like that for now so that I have to opportunity to build it up more once the quail arrive.
It started getting dark so I couldn't do the landscaping that I wanted to get done today so that the plants have a chance to establish before the quail come in and likely eat it all, but alas! I did manage to lay everything out, though, and added a quartered log at the back so that I can create that hill I was talking about before (more like just a raised level). Need to find more soil to add to that part, but that's for another day.
I work at a nursery, so I managed to nab some great plants that I think will all be good - nothing dangerous that I know of. There is a birds nest fern at the back which will hopefully grow nice and big to provide some good hiding places, and also a native ginger in the opposite corner. Then there are 3 poa (tussock grass) in the red pots, some lomandra (mat rush) in the little tubes, a westringea (native rosemary), some sacrificial brachyscome (native aster) that I'm sure will be pecked to death, and three other pots of the same species that I can't for the life of me remember now, but they're some sort of native shrub.
I'm hoping that this gives the quail enough habitat to feel safe and happy, and me enough space to move inside and collect eggs without getting poked in the eye by grass fronds and twigs!
Aiming to get more done on the weekend, but we're wanting to clad part of the aviary in roofing sheets and at the moment we're unable to find any within our local area and aren't allowed to travel due to covid lockdown, so everything will depend on that. I will post more photos as we progress if people are interested.
