Keeping Quail in an old chicken coop...

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Hey there! So as we are getting a ton of progress done on the new barn, my brain is thinking ahead about the quail I hope to keep!

Once my chicken flock moves to their new coop out at the barn, I will have a chicken coop at my disposal. There are two critters I plan on adding this year- Quail and rabbits.

I have kept both quail and rabbits before. I ended up selling them because I was raising them as most people do- in wire cages. I just hate seeing animals in little wire cages, not matter how normal it is, it just doesn't make me very happy. I loved keeping Quail though, and plan to do it again, but this time in an aviary-type setup.

Now, having this old chicken coop, I was curious- would It make an ideal quail aviary? It is right next to the house, which seems like a handy place to keep the little fellows. But, would quail go up the ramp and utilize the upper portion at all? I also could block it off and have a quail pen down below, and a quail pen up above. Not totally sure how quail utilize space in a larger area like this, as I have only had caged quail.

Honestly just kicking around ideas, i'd love some input on this! I've posted a pic below of the coop. It is a prefab coop (got it second hand when I was in a tricky situation) and says it holds around 6-8 i think? I am keeping 11 in it currently, but only overnight, they are free range during the day

 

[Nabiki]

That looks really nice. The quail will probably not use the ramp and coop portion, but they'd be happy in the run portion.

 

[Quailobsessed]

That looks great!

I have a giant, walk-in, mix-match coop and run for my chooks. I also have a mini coop (designed for two, I think). I was using the smaller one for quails for a bit. It seemed fine. They did use the upper coop section, but it was lower down with a shorter ramp. Quails probably wouldn't go up your one. I only stopped using it for quail because I decided keep sebrights in there instead.

I agree with you about keeping quails in wire cages. It's always good to find more people who care about giving their quails the best possible housing. Keeping them in in a large space on the ground is more natural too.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Thanks for the input guys! I was kinda figuring they wouldn't use such a tall ramp. They seem to like to stick closer to the ground.

I am super excited to have quail again, and want to give them the best space possible! They are such fun little birds!

 

[enigmachick]

I am looking at a similar setup to yours, except the run is less covered and the whole thing much smaller. I'm curious too about the ramp situation. It would be a shame for the little guys to not get to the coop!