Ideas for outdoor quail housing?

[lhamid]

I have dark range coturnix in wire cages that I built.  2-3 hens to one male per cage, in 10 cages.  They are currently in the unfinished room off our garage but they are messy (they sure like to fling their food!). I want to move them outside in the Spring permanently. I'd appreciate suggestions on what sort of structure they need. I was thinking of buying or building a wooden shed and enclosing it with a wire fence to keep varmits out, and setting the cages in there. Can I just set the cages on the ground? Also I would like ideas for water and feed. Currently using the aluminum waterers that fit on a 2 litre soda bottle, and the feeders that you screw onto a quart canning jar.  I'd like to be able to go on vacation this summer and have someone check on my birds every couple of days, but not have to rely on anyone to refill food & water every other day.  (I am afraid if they miss a day and the birds go without water in the summer I'll come home to dead birds.)  Thanks in advance fr ideas/suggestions!

[faro]

Hi Linda,
 
I have rabbit type hutches for quail and also ground pens, with deep sand. I use rabbit feeders, and hanging feeders, like yours, placed high enough that they have to reach up into them(about back level) This keeps them from wasting too much. The bottle waterers are great, I use them too, in my hutches.

If you use your cages, I would hang them inside the shed, not put them on the ground.

[Redhorse]

Take a look at this feeder/water system. It's what I have in my Johnny House and with 25-30 birds I only have to refill every two weeks or so. Not real sure how you can adapt it to your multiple cages. I have built something similar but on a smaller scale to use in my brooder.

Hope this helps. :)

http://www.qualitywildlife.com/app4.asp

[lhamid]

Those feeder look cool but are kind of pricey at $75/set and I'd need 10. I am not prepared to spend $750 on feeders/waterers.  Red Horse, how did you build the feeders you are using?

I need to figure out a way to hang the feeders so they can't bill out so much feed. Right now I have them sitting on the base to a 1 gal. lug waterer so a lot of the feed ends up on the base. Then I remove the feeder from time to time and let them eat what's on the base. They are messy little birds.

[drwink]

You might want to check out a thread I posted in our upland forum on some pens I built. You can get some ideas from that that might help.
The longer one in the last photo is going to have a flight pen added to this year, those greenhouse style frames from Farmtek.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?+=82344&highlight=quail+pens

Hope this works & helps

Wally

[drwink]

one, I had a typo

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82344&highlight=quail+pens

Good that one works

Wally

[Redhorse]

I bought the first set so I would have a model to make my own from (I agree they are X-PENSIVE). They do work awesome though! Going from a 6" PVC pipe down to a 4" for your cap will work to control the feed coming out, glue a 2" PVC cap  upside down in the bottom of the 4" PVC cap to interrupt the flow. Drill three 1" holes around the 4" cap and wrap a piece of sheet metal aroung the bottom edge of the holes to give the feed a leveled off spot to stop. I folded the metal and put the rounded edge up so the birds wouldn't come in contact with anything sharp while feeding.

 :shock: Hope that wasn't too confusing! :?

I posted a pic of the small waterer I made for my brooder using the same materials. It's in the post on winter watering.

[Finchlake]

I have the same problem. I have my quail indoors in six divided breeder cages (12"x16"x24"). I have (one male and two females) x two, in each cage. I'm ready to get them outside.  :? When the nighttime tempature stays above 60 degrees they're going outside.
 :P

What I have in mind is building a carragated covered structure that will hold the cages in two rows wide x three cages long. It would be about 5' x 8' and the cages would hang underneath the carragated metal to keep rain off of the birds. The reason I'm thinking hanging the cages is so the there wouldn't be anything underneath the cages for them to poop on. Also, by hanging the cages, I can move them back indoors next winter, in the same cages. My space indoors is set up with the same hooks to hang the cages.

As for water I want to put nipple waters in the cages. Now I use the cups that came with the cages. It's a pain to fill up 12 water cups every morning. And they throw food in the cups. With a nipple water system I could put a 5 or 10 gallon contained full of water and vitiams above the cages and fill it once a week or so. Also the nipples wouldn't collect food and dirt like the cups do.

A 8 foot floresent light down the center, above the cages and under the roof, with a timer to keep light at 17 hours would also be needed.

That's my plan for this summer, I'll let you know if it works.

Finchlake

[lhamid]

Finchlake, I like your plan! Corrugated plastic is pretty cheap and easy yo work with.  I am in California so I'd leave my birds out in winter too, provided they have light. As you probbaly know, light is a big deal with quail. What are the nipple waterers you're talking about?  I'd like something  like that fed by a main reservoir.  I am using the 2 liter soda bottles but I still have to refill them every couple of days (and this is winter, I am sure they drink even more in summer). What are you using for feeders?

[lhamid]

drwink, could you come to my house and help me build a pen like yours?  ;o)

[Finchlake]

Here's a link to the automatic waters at Stromberg's. There are several different types. Also Stromberg's may not be the best price, but they have a good discription of the systems.

http://www.strombergschickens.com/products/fount_automatic.htm

[lhamid]

Thanks Finchlake,

The 5 drinker system that screws onto garden hose looks like the way to go for me. :lol:

[drwink]

Sure
I'd be glad to come over & build some cages for you once your weather straightens out out there & you buy the plane ticket :lol:

[pocketsierra]

Red Horse, your explanation of the feeder is pretty good, but I got a little lost when you got to the sheet metal. Is it lining the holes similar to a hole punch reinforcements the way we see in the commercial brand?  

I couldn't get to the place where you had the waterer pictures because I'm not a member of that msn group. If you have any pictures of the feeder you built I'm interested. Sounds like something I would want to build.

Nathan

[Redhorse]

The sheetmetal is basically a lip to stop the feed from just pouring out of the holes. I put it around the outside and attached it so the top edge was about 1/4 of the way up from the bottom of each hole. If you go into the quality wildlife link and look at their feeder, you can see an individual metal lip that is mounted around each hole.

 :? Didn't realize you would have to be a member to view that photo. Sorry about that. It sure is easier to post pics on the other sites I frequent. I've seen other posts on this site where the pic shows right up on the screen...I wish someone would explain to me how to accomplish this miracle of modern science! Many people have complained on here about the difficulties of posting a photo. It seems like the administrator would address the issue, and find a way to make it easier on us. Or put an instructional sticky post somewhere that has step by step easy to follow directions. :shock: