quails and doves in cage?

[birdlover]

Hi,
   My quails will be having much more room than 1 sq. ft. per quail.  Just one thing i have to be aware of is that my doves have lice and I'm going to be applying a spray to help kill the lice from the doves, I'm just afraid that the lice might transfer to the quails then having more problems later on, i bet its best to treat the problem early before it gets worse. I will be removing a perch or two and putting them a little higher so that the quails won't bump their heads on it, if they do get that close.  I do hope to see some of my coturnix quails using the perches even though its intended for the doves, but if the quails don't use it , its won't be a problem with me. I'll just have to wait and see how they'll do, but all the suggestions and information provided is well appreciated.            Thanks

[WHITNEYPLU]

For maxium egg production I have came up with cages 6'x18"x18". Then it is divided into 6 seperate stalls making it 1'x18"x18". These house  a trio of Cortunix quail on a slanted wire floor so the eggs roll out and do not get cracked. I get 2 eggs out of each section on a daily bases for about 300 days out of the year. For the Bobwhites I keep 30 birds per cage that is 8'L x 3'Wx 18'T all made from 1x2 wire on the sides top and ends and 1/2x1/2wire on the bottom.  I have alot of these cages and they are only for my production birds. My flight pens are much bigger as are the grow out pens with comfort in mind. Use either auto drinkers are pop bottle waters on these sections and feed throughs mounted on the outside with plastic screwed on the opposite side of the cage to keep the feed in the throughs and not on the ground.  The birds can then stick their heads thru the 1x2 wire to feed  and not be able to waste the feed.
Dusty

[birdlover]

hi,
thanks for the very useful information Whitneyplu, do you provide any perches for your coturnix quail ?    And in the measurements you stated could the quail fly within the cage , even if its just for a second?

Thanks!!

[WHITNEYPLU]

No they dont fly in the production cages  and nor do they have perches in them. In the grow out pens and the flight cages they do have perches and ground cover. They do use them sometimes but use the ground cover the most.
Dusty

[birdlover]

hi,
would you suggest me putting some cover crops (wheat, oats, rye, barley etc..)  in my approx. (length x width x height)  4.5ft X 2ft X 2ft  cage?  And in the flight cages, do the coturnix roost at night on perches or mostly on the ground?   Thanks!!!

[WHITNEYPLU]

In the little cage is it all wire and off the ground? If so then the answer is no. Perches are not nessicary.

[birdlover]

Hi,
compared to the space my other quails had, this new cage is much bigger and will give my quails more room, for sure.  I will be putting a nestbox or two for the quails, but i wont make the nestbox too big, only as big as the quail itself, that will be entering and exiting the nestbox laying her eggs inside the nestbox.  Thanks!!

[jk]

only as big as the quail itself, that will be entering and exiting the nestbox laying her eggs inside the nestbox

Quails do that? I thought they stood outside the nets boxes and "shot" their eggs in"  Sorry, I had to. You were being a bit overdescriptive...

As for the cover crops, don't expect any vegetation to be living in that pen within a week after the birds get in it... vegetation = BIGGER pen.

Let me get this straight, are you thinking about putting the quail with the doves? Not a good idea... I guarantee you'll have problems.

[WHITNEYPLU]

Quail go into Quail pens. Doves go into DOve pens. Birdlover? you only have a 10'x20' back yard I read? And that has a pond and other things in it as well? If so, why not cover the whole back yard and make a big pen then subdivide it? Or like most in  the city raise inside birds like parakets, finches,parrots and so on. There is a lot of money in parakets. Snowbirds buy them when traveling south for winter and when time to go back home they let their new pet go loose, only to repeat the next year.

[Reeves]

Dusty - birdlover is just jerking everyones chain. She/it has no plan, no room & no idea what she/it is doing. People give advice & she/it completely ignores all of it. She/it has read (?) past posts & STILL doesn't seem to have the ability to learn or retain any knowledge from this site.

Just tought I'd give you a heads up......

[WHITNEYPLU]

Lol okay thank you. So "it" has been a torn in many sides huh

[WHITNEYPLU]

Birdlover take Reeves information to heart and retain it in your brain. He has tons of knowledge to share seems he has a photographic memory. I tell my kids all the time that its better to listen and be thought of as a fool and to open your mouth and remove all doubts. You ask the same things all the time and when they give you advice you dismiss it and ask it again.

[jk]

By the way you misspelled a word "tought" should be thought, spell check is wonderful.

There's a BIG difference between an obvious accidentaly skipped  button and an obviously misspelled word... someone is a smart a*s...