Ground or Wire floor???

[TGarcia]

I'm planning on building a pen for some Texas A&M quail that I am hatching.  I've been doing alot of research and have found a little conflict on people's idea of whether it's best to have them up off the ground on a wire floor, or actually on the ground.  I plan on raising them for their meat and eggs, so I"m not sure if that makes a difference or not.   I would think that it is cleaner having them up off the ground, but read they are ground dewellers,  and that it is better to have them on the ground. 

Any suggestions on this from those of you with experience would be appreciated.  Either way is an option at this point...I"m just so confused now as to which would be better in the long run. 

[slider]

Rule # 1 on raising Corturnix is NEVER raise or put them on the ground if you want to get the maxium production from them...Never !

[smallfarmTN.]

Rule # 1 on raising Corturnix is NEVER raise or put them on the ground if you want to get the maxium production from them...Never !

Slider,thanks, I just learned something, but, what is the reason for that?

[Jessibell]

yes raising them in the ground is going to expose them to filth and parasites, make egg collection REALLY hard (easter egg hunt every day) and it's a lot more difficult to manage them. Meat and egg birds should be on wire floors in fairly compact pens (.5 to 1 sq foot space per bird) with a couple boxes with hay to nest in if you like. I found that without the auto egg collecting cages the birds laying in the ahay boxes made collection a little easier than having them lay all over in random places in the cage. (a few of mine still did that anyway) It also makes it way easier for you to feed, water, inspect the bird's health, etc etc.

[smallfarmTN.]

Thanks for the help Jessibell.

[slider]

 

[TGarcia]

  Thanks so much for the info.  Guess it is going to be wire flooring then.  Definitely don't want any parasites, or any other health issues that could arise from being on the ground.  Plus I think they will be safer in the long run being up off the ground.   

[TENNESSERED]

Hello Tgarcia,
    Yes, most commercial raisers do use  wire cages with wire floors.  Personally, that's what I used to do as well as a hobbiest.  But over the past few years I've changed my thinking on how to raise these birds.  I lived in Asia for a number of years (R.O.C.) where they raise these birds by the millions.  I thought it was cruel how they crammed a bunch of these small birds into a a pen so small they could hardly turn around without bumping into their cellmates.  When I retired back to the U.S. and started raising birds once again I switched over to keeping them on the ground. I've had excellent health among my birds.  The ones in the picture are almost 4 years old and still laying strong.  This small flock is  in a pen that is built in the end of one of my pheasant houses.  They are not directly on the ground as I have had to build pads out of a "chirt" which is the subsoil around her and is a mixture of clay, rock and dirt. It packs down well and is pretty much waterproof.  On top of this I put several inches of creek gravel.  The pheasant house is covered with a solid metal roof so I don't have to worry about the birds walking around in mud and muck!  I do keep a dust box which you can see in the picture.  I use dry clean top soil which I gather from the lower end of my acreage  away from my wife's chickens.  The birds love it.  Since I moved the jumbo browns, reds, and Texas A&M to these kind of pens I have noticed that they socialize much better without the aggression that I always encountered in the above ground wire pens.  Their feathers are always in great condition because they always have access to the dust box which they need year around.    It is a little more work.  Twice a year I take a bow rake and turn the gravel over.  Every couple of months I add fresh dry dirt to the dust box.  And yes, I do have to get down on my knees to collect the eggs,  But my birds are much happier and content, live longer lives and can have a more natural life.  I've never had to de-worm the birds so parasites are not anymore of a problem than in a wire cage if you do it correctly.  By the way I just gave a bunch of eggs to a friend to hatch and he had better than a 90% hatch rate out of hens that are nearly 4 years old!

Good luck no matter how you decide to raise them!