"Quaviary" Build

[calicocows]

pancake changed her mind, she laid one egg and she's done

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

pancake changed her mind, she laid one egg and she's done

We're still just getting 2/day! The other 3 girls have decided it's not spring yet (and in their defense, it hasn't been very spring-like in CA)

 

[scyllarus]

Mine never stopped laying, but we're in Florida so I assume it just never got dark enough :/ I don't even think they really let up much - a few stopped (mostly the dang celadons) but I still got 8-10 eggs a day.

Ironically I really wanted them to take a break. I've accepted that these are effectively 'production pets' in that they pay egg rent and we're willing to cull and eat birds that don't fit into the group, but I also don't want to shorten their lives from all the egg laying.

 

[TeresaW]

omg, it's been so long since I've updated!

All the ladies are still doing well. I've had some major life events over the past few months (illness in the family, then I got married!, etc.) and haven't been spending much time online... BUT all is well, and things are chugging along in the "quaviary"!

The aggression issues vanished after molting finished (shocking, I know) but it was a looong molt Maybe since it was their first one? I don't know much about molting but I didn't expect it to last 2+ months, so we will see how this next one goes!

I've iterated upon the feeding & watering stations a few times, transitioning from cup to nipple waterers and from Tupperware to PVC feeders, both for hygiene and maintenance reasons. The new stations work sooo much better, I will take some good photos when I get a chance!

We're planning to hatch some eggs next month, and I cannot wait! I think we've officially decided on some black and celadon eggs from Thieving Otter Farms this time. We're shooting for a flock size of ~10-15, as these 5 just did not lay enough eggs for my husband last summer They were pets first and foremost, but since then he (and our dog) have developed quite the appetite for quail eggs! And every time someone finds out we have quail they ask for eggs... they're so hard to give away when we only get 5 a day

Next time I have my phone out in the yard I will also take a photo of the vines growing up the sides of the walls, the passionfruit vine is HUGE but we are keeping it controlled. The grapes lost all their leaves, as expected over winter, which was perfect as it let more light in. The black-eyed Susan vine is still going strong and never died back completely over our mild California winter.

The roof held strong over the winter, even through a few big storms with 55mph+ wind gusts. And having a flat roof didn't seem to be too much of an issue, even with our heavier-than-usual rainfall for this area. I am definitely glad we had the siding and the vines for extra protection, though, a roof doesn't provide much shelter against sideways rain! We did end up attaching some plastic sheeting to the walls during some of the really stormy weeks, so things didn't get too soggy... I think we may design some detachable greenhouse paneling for the walls for especially stormy weather in the future.

Will take some good photos of the updated setups and matured plants when I have some free time. Hope everyone else is doing well, and I will for sure be updating when we get our eggs!

Congrats on the wedding!

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

Things in the quaviary have finally reached cruising altitude, I think! The only alteration we’ve made recently is increasing the capacity of their gravity feeders, as they were going through food much faster with the new additions. Plus I no longer have to stoop to fill them, which is kinder to my back!

We had 4 hens (3 red range celadon, 1 TOF black) and 2 roos (both black) of the eggs I hatched over summer, so we kept 1 roo and all 4 hens. Sold the healthy roo to a nearby friend who also raises quail, and kept the wry-neck one for ourselves. We call him Igor. His wry neck didn’t manifest until he was ~2 weeks old, so we’re unsure if it was an injury or genetic thing, so don’t worry, we don’t plan to hatch his eggs. I just couldn’t bear to cull him since he seemed otherwise fine.

The passionfruit vine has produced 1-2 fruits this year, hopefully it gets going more in year 3. The grapes and thunbergia are going gangbusters, as expected. It’s nice that the grapes are deciduous, allowing for more warm sunlight during the cooler months. I keep all the vines heavily trimmed so they don’t take over, and leave plenty of space for ventilation and sunlight to get through. Trimmed the thunbergia down to the ground this year and it’s already popping back in time for spring. The pollinators love it. Everyone seems happy as clams!

 

[Nabiki]

Look great!

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

Well, I’m here today with a sad update, and (hopefully) as an educational post for others...

My jumbo pearl (creatively named “Pearl”) was culled on Tuesday due to tremors, balance issues, and extreme lethargy. I was unsure what happened to her, and of course worried about infectious causes (HPAI in particular). I put some Chick Boost in her water and hoped she had just bonked her head or something, but she didn’t seem to improve after a day or so and we made the decision to cull her to end her suffering, and for the safety of the other animals on the farm.

Unfortunately, as I was doing some cleaning & disinfecting around the aviary afterward, I discovered a large chunk of moldy feed in one of the gravity feeders. We’ve had a few days of rain here recently, and despite the solid roof and 2 covered walls, some moisture seems to have seeped in and soaked into the feeder somehow. A few cursory internet searches confirms that her neurological symptoms were consistent with moldy feed poisoning. Unfortunately, the symptoms are all extremely similar for several diseases including Marek’s, Newcastle, HPAI, etc. I figured the risk of them contracting something from wild birds was (and still is) extremely low due to the solid roof and covered walls of the aviary, so I feel stupid for not thinking to check other things.

I feel like an absolutely awful owner, and like I let her down. If I had discovered this sooner, I may have given her more time and supportive care to see if she might have recovered. But I also feel like she was suffering, and may not have made a complete recovery without permanent nervous system damage anyway. I’m trying to remind myself that we made the best decision we could with the information we had at the time, and it probably wasn't a bad decision to cull her when we did.

Thankfully, the other 9 birds seem to be doing well (so far). I’m still keeping a close eye on everyone. So, take this as a reminder to clean your feeders often, more often than you think you need to. And the convenience of not needing to fill them every day might bring with it more mold risk. The convenience of only needing to fill feeders once/week cost me my favorite bird Why do the bad things always happen to our favorites??

Rest in peace, Pearl. I’m grateful for the 2 years we had with you. You deserved better, and I’m sorry.

 

[Nabiki]

Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, moldy feed can poison your birds. There have been other people here who have had similar things happen. That's one of the reasons I keep my feed in the garage rather than out where the birds are. Another reason to keep in the garage is to keep it away from mice.

 

[Quailwhatdoyaknow]

You guys did a great job on building it!