[cammi]

Firstly feel free to tell me off if this forum is only for chickens!! 

Right then, i've been looking into getting some quail egg to hatch to have quail layers.  I was going to get a coop and run (like those on ebay) as they seem more than big enough to keep a few quail, but then looking around may get a rabbit hutch with run as smaller sleeping area to run ratio.  Anyway i was going to set it up the same as we now have the chickens, but on a smaller scale as this way really works for us, but reading my keeping quails book im beginning to wonder if that is ok.

The chickens coop/run is on paving slabs with a layer on hardwood chip on top (woodchip hasn't been mentioned anyway as flooring for quail)


They one of those square raised beds for veg as their bath which i put a mix of compost and sand (sand has been mention for quails and even sawdust!)

Am i right in thinking Quail scratch more than chickens?  Will they get bored on slabs as obviously they can't go out.

Do they roost?

Any hints and tips most appreciated.

[Casey76]

Quail don't roost.  you will need a pen for them with either a very low roof, or one over 3 feet high.  When quail get scared the jump vertically in the air, and if they hit their head about 2 feet off the ground they can actually kill themselves!

Quail also stink  much worse than chickens!

I had quail for about 3 months, and never again.  Bloomin things were impossible to catch, were always committing suicide and murdering each other 

[Mulberry1990]

I love my quail! I'm going to get four more this weekend!
I would say to get something with a high roof, we had ours in a chicken coop and run and one hit her head and died a few days later, so we've moved them into an aviary where they seem to be so much happier!
When ours were on grass they made a lot of mess and had to be moved constantly otherwise they would smell, but now they're on paving slabs covered in hemcore there's no smell, and very little mess. We've also started giving them a rabbit water bottle instead of a chicken drinker and this has made a big difference as now they can't spill their water everywhere and make sludge.
Our quail don't scratch much, they have a little dig around in their hemcore but nothing other than that.

You'd also need to think about how easy it is to get into them without letting them escape, one of mine escaped from the chicken coop and it took me three hours to catch her again, we now have a double door system on the aviary with a million and one locks just to be sure!

[Lloyd]

Ours don't scratch much but enjoy a shavings bath, as the floor coverring is hemcore. In mating season males will kill each other, and as they are escape artists, and as already stated, hard to catch once escaped, ours have the door openning into the chicken aviary so they can't get far. It's true they are stinkers and need frequent cleaning, but require very little space and don't get bored. They don't need a sleeping area as they will just doze day and night randomly anywhere. They do like a private area to lay eggs in though. A good gender ratio is one male to six or eight feamales. If the girls are happy they sometimes lay two eggs a day.  Hope this helps.

[cammi]

thanks for replies.  Only think of getting 6-12 girls(no boys) so do you think they would smell more than our 7 chickens??  We only have a medium sized garden on a housing estate so still want to be to sit outside without being stunk out lol.

Do you both feed quail food and chicken mash? I believbe they need a higher protein intake than chickens

If you have an aviary do they fly up to the hose bit or do they need a ladder?

sure i will come up with more silly questions  

[Mulberry1990]

We feed ours on chick crumb at the moment but are going to move them onto layers pellets soon. They can eat regular layers pellets, or you can crush them up or buy smaller quail size ones, but they'll adapt to whichever you give them.

We don't have a house built in the aviary, just a box on the floor with a cat litter tray for them to go in, but they do fly on top of the box and into the tree that's stood on it occasionally. Mainly they just stay on the floor though.

I have five girls at the moment and will be adding 4/5 more this weekend. The only time i've ever noticed their smell was when I had to crawl into the chicken run with them to put them all in  cat carrier to move them. Other than that I can't say I notice them smelling, even when i'm inside the aviary with them collecting eggs.
I've found them to be quite tidy little birds, I just empty their cat litter tray out each week and re-fill it with clean hemcore

[cammi]

Mulberry are you saying your quails are cat litter trained??

would a 4ft high run be high enough?  or how low is really low enough

oh and how big a floor area do they need

[Mulberry1990]

They do seem to prefer to go in their litter tray rather than out on the floor, it's also where they go to lay their eggs! Obviously just house proud little birdies!
I don't know about heights and floor area, but hopefully someone else will be able to help with that!
We just bought the number of quail we thought would be okay in the area we had without it looking at all over crowded, we also asked the quail breeder and they were really helpful, sent a picture to them and they said how many quail could live happily in the coop we had.

[CluckyChicken]

So do yours have an actual house bit Mulberry, or just the tray outside?  My mum wants quail, and I'm thinking of getting her a house for them for Christmas...  :happy:

[Mulberry1990]

They have a wooden box inside their aviary with the cat litter tray inside. (Think cardboard box on its side but made out of wood)
They tend not to go in there unless they're laying, but we gave them it incase it was really windy/wet/cold, just so they have somewhere extra sheltered to hide if they want to =)

[Sassy]

Quail will sleep anywhere but do need to be able to shelter from the elements. They poo anywhere as well - I wish I could litter train them. I have not found them to be smelly. I keep them in a much larger area than the minimum recommended so I don't know if this helps. You need to think where you would keep them in bad winter weather as they need more protection than chickens. They lay their eggs wherever they happen to be as well. They appreciate branches with leaves on to hide under - undergrowth being their natural environment, I use conifer branches. 4ft high should be fine for their run. Mine is 2ft 6 which is about a foot higher than the minimum recommended. We enjoy our quails - and the eggs - and will replace them when the time comes

[Lloyd]

Here's our setup;



The quailerie on the left was subsequently pushed backwards until flush with the aviary. It has upper and lower levels with the quail on the upper level giving them about 18 inches max headroom. It has different mezzanine levels with ramps between them so they can roam. The quailerie is about foor foot long by two foot deep. It presently holds one cock and six (or is it seven?)  hens, but could take quite a few more.

[Kate and her Ducks]

I also love my quail and don't find them at all messy or smelly ( but then again I'm comparing them with the ducks!).
Mine live in a double level rabbit hutch and have hemcore bedding which they love dust bathing in. I also use a rabbit nipple drinker and they adapt to this very quickly and is much better than the dishes. They turn the place into a swamp almost as fast as the ducks with the dish and then won't drink if it's not clean.
Mine just have the layers pellets as a main with mealworm treats which means they are fairly tame and tolerate handling (although I wouldn't say that they liked it). They will actually sit in the lap of my friend's two year old and be stroked if there are mealworms on offer!

I have had one or two problems with males fighting as they reach sexual maturity but that is short lived (as they end up in the freezer, and very nice they are too! ).