Temporary Enclosure Size

[holiday hawk]

I am building a 6x6x6 quail aviary/enclosure most likely this weekend. If it is not done this weekend, then it will be done by next weekend at the very latest. I am looking to getting only hens, or maybe one rooster at the most, so I can't do a straight run. I am having a very hard time finding online sellers that do hens only, and the one farm I found looks like they are down to only one shipping date left before fall before they run out for the season; shipping adult birds is also very expensive. I found a local seller who is willing to sell exactly what I want, 9 or 10 hens and maybe a rooster. My only problem is that they cannot hold the birds for 2 weeks if the enclosure is not ready this weekend. I do see that someone on Facebook Marketplace is selling a 48x30 dog cage for cheap, though. I also already have a 36 x 24 rat cage from our old pet rats lying around. So my question is, would around 10 quails be alright in that dog cage for a week if need be (I would not be getting them until Friday)? I could even rig up a way for them to use the dog and rat cage to combine the space. Is that too little for a week if it's not ready to go this weekend?

 

[Nabiki]

If you can give them the space from both that would be best. Even for temporary quarters that will be pretty crowded, but it should work for a few days.

 

[holiday hawk]

If you can give them the space from both that would be best. Even for temporary quarters that will be pretty crowded, but it should work for a few days.

Could I put half in each cage and then sit the two cages side by side so they can still see and smell each other and then let them all out into the outside enclosure later? I thought about doing that, but was afraid of creating two small flocks based off of each cage. If they all come from the same place and can see/smell each other the entire week (assuming they need to wait a week) could I put everyone in that enclosure no problems later? It would be much easier to do that than try to rig up a system to make it so they can go back and forth through the cages but not escape.

 

[Nabiki]

Could I put half in each cage and then sit the two cages side by side so they can still see and smell each other and then let them all out into the outside enclosure later? I thought about doing that, but was afraid of creating two small flocks based off of each cage. If they all come from the same place and can see/smell each other the entire week (assuming they need to wait a week) could I put everyone in that enclosure no problems later? It would be much easier to do that than try to rig up a system to make it so they can go back and forth through the cages but not escape.

That will probably work. Of course, it depends on the individual birds, but putting them all into a new enclosure all at once makes it easier to integrate them.

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

I'm in the same boat! My 3.5 week old chicks are fast outgrowing their brooder and we're trying so hard to get their aviary built this week & next, but I'm definitely feeling the pressure! I was lucky and found someone local who was selling feather-sexable jumbo coturnix chicks, but I also just ordered 3 fancy-colored jumbo hens from Southwest Gamebirds. They were pricey, but worth it (to me) for my female-only flock as I 1) am not prepared to breed or cull roosters at the moment, 2) wanted some fancy jumbo colors, and 3) am in CA, so SWGB is closer to me than the midwest/east coast farms, and didn't want to ship birds cross-country if at all possible. They were $25 each and I think like $50 for express shipping.

I don't know where you're located, but you might check their page and see if anything interests you, like I said it is expensive but may be worth it if your priorities are similar. They ship their birds between 5-6 weeks of age, so I timed it such that they should arrive right when my birds are also 6 weeks old, which will hopefully make integration a bit easier.

The tips I've seen for successful flock integrations are usually to introduce birds of similar ages, rearrange the pen at the time of introduction so the territory is equally unfamiliar to all, and add the new birds at night so they all wake up together. I'll be doing all of those things to minimize fighting risk. If you're getting all yours together and just splitting them up for a week or so, it should be okay as long as they can see/hear each other the whole time (especially since the enclosure will be new to everyone when they move in). Best of luck to you!

 

[holiday hawk]

I'm in the same boat! My 3.5 week old chicks are fast outgrowing their brooder and we're trying so hard to get their aviary built this week & next, but I'm definitely feeling the pressure! I was lucky and found someone local who was selling feather-sexable jumbo coturnix chicks, but I also just ordered 3 fancy-colored jumbo hens from Southwest Gamebirds. They were pricey, but worth it (to me) for my female-only flock as I 1) am not prepared to breed or cull roosters at the moment, 2) wanted some fancy jumbo colors, and 3) am in CA, so SWGB is closer to me than the midwest/east coast farms, and didn't want to ship birds cross-country if at all possible. They were $25 each and I think like $50 for express shipping.

I don't know where you're located, but you might check their page and see if anything interests you, like I said it is expensive but may be worth it if your priorities are similar. They ship their birds between 5-6 weeks of age, so I timed it such that they should arrive right when my birds are also 6 weeks old, which will hopefully make integration a bit easier.

The tips I've seen for successful flock integrations are usually to introduce birds of similar ages, rearrange the pen at the time of introduction so the territory is equally unfamiliar to all, and add the new birds at night so they all wake up together. I'll be doing all of those things to minimize fighting risk. If you're getting all yours together and just splitting them up for a week or so, it should be okay as long as they can see/hear each other the whole time (especially since the enclosure will be new to everyone when they move in). Best of luck to you!

Thanks for the info; SWGB is actually the site I was able to find that had hen-only orders available! They are down to just late May as their only ship date left until fall (it was 4/25 and then three different May ship dates), so with as fast as ship dates are running out I'm afraid that if I wait to make a decision they will be gone by the next time I look. Like you said they are kinda pricy w/ shipping though. I can get 10 adult birds from my local breeder for less than 5 through SWGB by the time you factor in shipping. I thought about just getting a straight run of chicks that would needed to be put in a brooder to buy myself several weeks, but we don't want more than one rooster (if that) my wife is just not ready to sell the other roosters that we raised in our basement from just a couple of days old to someone who will most likely butcher it, so I need to go with the adults which is making it more complicated! I think I'm going to go the two cage method if need be since it seems like that shouldn't create two separate flocks that will need to be reintroduced just a week later. I am excited to get into quails, but sure wish it was easier to just get pullets (if that's the right word for quails) as it was with chickens!

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

Ahh, I see! Okay cool, it sounds like you have a good plan then. Yeah, it hurt forking over $120+ for 3 birds But I'm not ready to butcher yet either. It may be in our future but... not yet. My birds will be 6 weeks the week of 5/16 so that's when mine will arrive, and I was OK with that date. Plus, there's no space for them yet until we get this aviary built!

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

I really wanted some celadons, too, but those only really seem to come as hatching eggs or straight run (even from SWGB). I also wish getting females was easier, I think because chickens are still more popular (and because chicken roosters are a bit more difficult to manage than quail roosters) there's more demand. Non-feather-sexable colors complicate things, too. Maybe it will slowly become easier!

 

[holiday hawk]

That will probably work. Of course, it depends on the individual birds, but putting them all into a new enclosure all at once makes it easier to integrate them.

Would something like this be better? I've seen reviews of products like it saying people use them as quail chick brooders. It's bigger than the dog cage, would they do fine in it for a week with pine shavings?

https://www.amazon.com/XIRGS-Waterp...1-1-5190daf0-67e3-427c-bea6-c72c1df98776&th=1

 

[Nabiki]

Would something like this be better? I've seen reviews of products like it saying people use them as quail chick brooders. It's bigger than the dog cage, would they do fine in it for a week with pine shavings?

https://www.amazon.com/XIRGS-Waterp...1-1-5190daf0-67e3-427c-bea6-c72c1df98776&th=1

That looks like it would be hard to clean, but it would work.