help please (all advice needed)

realy ?? 23 views and not 1 person going to help me out

Hi James I'm currently hoping to hatch a few batches of Quail and keep a male from one hatch and females from the other. Would you be interested in the females i dont want from my male hatch and the males form from female hatch? I'm also in Notts and wil lsave me having to think about rehoming or culling them. PS there Japs.

Can't really help you with housing as i'm pretty new myself mine are going into a rabbit hutch with run and eventually an aviary whe its built!

would love 2 m8.... pm me a price etc...

but cant take them untill i at least have a height for the run they will have...

im 19 but still rely on my dad for alot of things... such as building my vivariums for reptiles... and in this case... my quails home

so far thinking of boxing in the 12x6 ... with bout 4ft high sides ??

corner hutch style thing in the corner with ramp for them to go inside.. and under .... slabbing the bottom to prevent rats etc.. and using 1/2"x1/2" chicken wire to stop mice ??

peace

James

Hi,

It just depends on what sort of housing your going to get or build.You've said you've got an area of 12' x 6' (I hope it's feet?). You could have a small shed with an outdoor aviary joined on........ You could build outdoor coops or runs. Or you could buy three tier rabbit hutches and have them on three sides? What I'm getting at is, if you don't put enough information in your posts how do you expect people to answer them?.

If your planning a shed, the outdoor aviary needs to be slightly taller than yourself, so as not to bang your head each time you go in.

Coops and runs only need to be 18/24 inches tall. You could build them 6' x 2' x 2' which will house a good 6/8 birds.

Rabbit cages can be 4' 2' 18" and could also house 4/5 hens with a male.

The most important thing to remember is..... you must protect your birds from the elements. Quails are very hardy and stop outside during winter as long as they are kept out of cold winds and wet weather. They can be fine in the cold as long as they have a dry place to get out of wind and rain.Also you must protect them from preditors, with the increase of urban foxes, stray dogs and cats, your outdoor area must be protected from these too.

It is always best to hatch your own birds out, at least you can tell the age of them, select only the best for breeding. Use birds that are not related. There are plenty of people on the forum that can supply you with hatching eggs.

Derek.

4ft high is plenty James, 2 feet would still be absolutely fine. Japs tend not to jump and boink their heads, and since they rarely fly they only really need room for a good stretch up and a little hop.

I have a 4x4x2 run with a nest box on the side that I keep 9 birds in. One side and the back are boarded, then the top has a hutch (they used to also have access to this, but didn't like climbing back upstairs unless I nagged!) and a large piece of corugated plastic that overhangs the front to keep rain out. It seems to work quite well.

Like Derek said they need to be able to keep dry, but watch out as they are quite daft and will go to extreme efforts to sit in the only place in the run they can get wet when it rains!

2 ft is plenty high for the quails. However if you're planning a medium to large enclosure, I'd make it 6ft high. It just makes it easy for you to walk around in without having to crouch down too much. Remember that you have to have access to collect eggs and clean it out. It becomes less of a chore if it's comfortable and easy to get to.

Some people keep their quails in pens in a shed so they can keep the elements out and provide artifical light in winter. There is a lot of personal preference.

Have a look at the "your quail setup" in the gallery section to get some ideas.

I have a shed with 4 hutches on one wall - 7'x2'x 16"high. The bottom one has access to a full height outdoor aviary 9'x6'. The top hutches are used to keep breeding groups.

I find the quail in the inside hutches lay better than the ones in the aviary.

They seem to adjust pretty much to the height of their accommodation. In the aivary the mangage to boink the roof but inside the hutches they rarely boink!

Hope this helps - have you checked out the quail set up section? Lots of useful stuff in there and piccies as well.

That's a good point, on my 4 x 4 I have a 1.5 x 2 door on the front, and a 4 x 2 "door" on top, both allow me to crawl inside and collect eggs.

If you're making it tall you may as well make it standing size, the 4 x 4 I have can easily be lifted and moved to clean the flags underneath, but anything bigger would be a bit unwieldy to lean on its side/move alone.

may consider.. bringing it down to 3ft.. and having lifting tops...??

this way can clean and colelct easily ... sorry for the lack of information.. like i say.. never done this befor so didnt know what was needed and yes it 12x6 feet

have an area at bottom of garden aswell that is under some trees.. and next to a shed (or it will be) had considered putting there.. with cover from trees at top from weather.. and shed at side... and obviously the meshing.. but this ia a mud area.. so would be easy for rats etc to dig into

would love to hatch my own.. but dont bird eggs need to be turned ?? otherwise i have a polybox incubator that i use to hatch snake eggs.. (in tubs) could i use that with some vermiculite ? if so.. how long befor they are old enough to egg lay ??? and from reading care sheets dont they need to be kept indoors for a while .. in a brooder or something ?

peace

James

I have wire meshing at the base of mine covered with pea gravel to keep rats and foxes from getting thru. If the area is waterlogged, then you may want to create a drain away (a simple hole) on the slope away from the aviary.

If it's a decidous tree above it, you won't have cover thru out the year. Also in a heavy downpour, they will get wet.

Yes eggs have to be turned. Also check your reptile incubator can incubate at 37.5C. I think some reptile incubator don't go up that high.

My aivary is on slabs to stop anything digging under and has a PVC roof to keep them dry. They really don't like getting wet.

They will lay their eggs anywhere so in a large outside area I would think they'd be quite hard to find. I have to hunt the aviary each evening!!

andoy wrote:I have wire meshing at the base of mine covered with pea gravel to keep rats and foxes from getting thru. If the area is waterlogged, then you may want to create a drain away (a simple hole) on the slope away from the aviary.

If it's a decidous tree above it, you won't have cover thru out the year. Also in a heavy downpour, they will get wet.

Yes eggs have to be turned. Also check your reptile incubator can incubate at 37.5C. I think some reptile incubator don't go up that high.

its a custom made one...... could i turn them by hand ?? or is it worth the investment of a bird incubator ?

peace

James

Hi James,

As long as your incubator can maintain a temperature of about 37-38°C, you can turn the eggs by had with no problems.

Mark the egg with a "X" on one side and on the opposite side write a "O" this will help you know which side the egg is on.

The eggs need turning THREE times per day for 15 days. For the last three days of incubation you do not turn, add water to the incubator to increase humidity levels to about 55- 65%.

Derek.