Backyard Quail

[abbeydabbey]

For the first time in years, I'll be living in a house with nicely sized back yard. I want to take this summer to optimize the space for long term production. I want to set up a worm bin for food scraps, a compost pile for leaves, a small vegetable garden, maybe some berries, and a mobile quail hutch.

I have a plan in mind for a mobile quail hutch (wheels on one side so I can easily pick it up and move it across the yard). I want to build the hutch so it has an enclosed area and an open area. I want them to be able to get out in the sun but also be able to hide if they get stressed out. I want to use tight chicken wire/mesh on the bottom and sides, so the poop can all fall through and fertilize the grass and nothing can reach in grab them. There are a lot of stray cats in the neighborhood, so I'm a little worried about keeping cats away. I think I can build it out of scrap wood secure enough that I can keep predators away.

There's a local quail breeder the next town over. I'm going to get some advice from them before I jump in and start raising them, but I wanted to ask if anyone had any experience with this bird? I've heard they're pretty sweet and low maintenance. Does anyone have any advice keeping strays and other predators away from birds?

[314159]

I have no experience with birds, so I can't offer any advice. But your proposal sounds interesting!

Are you planning to harvest eggs or meat from the quail? Or would they just be for pest control, fertilizer, and fun?

[Trifle]

I haven't done quail, but a good friend of mine has.  They're beautiful little things.  I think your plan sounds good.  They do need to be kept enclosed, because they aren't like chickens who will come home to their coop every night.  (At least the breed my friend had wasn't).  Hardware cloth is your friend in terms of predator prevention for birds.   The only thing with hardware cloth is that the spaces between the wires is smaller -- maybe a half inch -- so hopefully that is big enough to let their little poops fall through into the grass.  I think it would be.   

A hardware cloth 360 degree envelope is key.  We have our entire chicken coop and run (16 x 20') covered on all sides, including the bottom and top, with hardware cloth. We live in the country (loads of predators) and in 9 years we've never had any predator get in.  Cats, raccoons, and foxes (biggest danger) can't tear it with their teeth or claws, and can't dig in because the bottom is also covered.  And the spaces are too small for the smaller predators like weasels and snakes to get in.  You can buy hardware cloth at any DIY store and it's pretty easy to work with.  You can bend it with your hands, cut it with a wire cutter, staple it to wood, and sew it together with wire -- whatever the situation calls for.  Wear gloves while you're doing all that -- the cut ends are sharp. 

In the areas where you staple the hardware cloth to wood, be sure to use longer, heavy-duty staples -- they're like an inch long.  The regular staples that people use in staple guns are maybe half that long.  Raccoons are very strong and they have hands.  They can pull those shorter staples out by grabbing the hardware cloth and tugging hard.   

I'm sure the local quail breeder can give you tons of advice.  I think there's also info about quail on the Backyard Chickens website, you could check that out.  Lots of info on there, including coop and mobile tractor ideas and plans.  Have fun!

[Morning Glory]

We have wild pheasant and quail here, but I don't know anyone who has domestic ones. I've had chickens and those were easy and fun. Mostly just posting to follow.

[elsie]

I have 14 coturnix quail living in an 8x12 greenhouse - we hatched one batch last summer and a smaller batch in the fall. It's enough space so that they don't fight and they really don't smell at all, especially since we released a ton of worms into the soil.

Most of my actual plants are either on the greenhouse bench or in vertical planters. I planted some wild grasses into the ground for them - one of everything that was on sale at Home Depot at the end of the season - and put a couple of inches of hay down periodically when it gets cold.

They are indeed sweet little birds. Care takes about five minutes a day - fill up the feeder, check the big gallon waterer and fill it up once or twice a week,  throw a couple of handfuls of grain or mealworms for a treat.

They fly very well, and every so often they'll fly up to the bench and eat any unprotected seedlings. We did lose one a couple of months ago when the door didn't close all the way. We tried to shoo him back in, but he took off and soared. We still hear him sometimes, and the kids and I have agreed he's out there living his best life.

[Trifle]

That's an awesome setup in the greenhouse @elsie -- thanks for sharing.  We've had chickens and turkeys and I think about getting quail from time to time. 

[abbeydabbey]

I'm planning on having them for the eggs in the summer and then for the meat in the fall, so I don't have to keep them over the winter. I know this isn't the most cost effective way to raise them, but I just want to experiment with keeping some live animals for food. I've read that it's really good for the environment. Plus, I just really want some critters.

I have been reading about how well they do in a green house, and I'm looking into buying a small mobile greenhouse instead of a hutch. I feel like that would save me money in the long run (not trying to buy both gardening things and quail things separately), and I could keep them further into the fall.