Should bobwhite housing go to the ground or be up in the air?

[kiaya611]

I am building a coop and flight pen for my 6 PR of Bobwhite quail and I wanted to know if the coop portion of this build should go to the ground, or if it should be up in the air?  Being at ground level would allow me to enter it for cleaning , etc., but being up off of the ground might be of some advantage as well.  I just would like to know before I build because if it is to be raised, it needs to be smaller as I cannot reach in as far.

Please let me know asap as I was hoping to start building this evening.

Thank you for your help.

[CharlieHorse]

Welcome by the way........

I've never heard of anyone building them "up in the air". They don't need much, as I mentioned in your other post.....they'd rather hang out in the weather. Mine do not go in their enclosure even when there is snow on the ground. They hang out in the tops of my pine trees (old christmas trees) and on a "roosting 2x6" in the top (about 6' up)of the pen with some brush cover more than anywhere.  If you don't provide them with any sort of brushy cover inside the pen.......they may hang out in an enclosure? I've always had pine trees and brush may be why mine have never hung out in any type of enclosure. If you where to build it in the air, it may be difficult to get the birds to find it (entrance, etc.).  If you where to keep their feed in there, I'd say that you could get them to use it, but for future use, any new/young birds are going to have a hard time with it. They like the brush. Their instinct is to have open space overhead or at least scattered openings to the open sky for escape. I'd probably build it to the ground.

Sorry, not much help.

[kiaya611]

Thank you, that help me plenty, in fact, I just got some bushes to plant in the pen for them.  I figured that they would like that.  I was figuring that they (the females) would want the enclosure to lay their eggs and I was going to add a 4'X6'X8'tall coop to the end of the pen.  I could keep their food and water in their and it would stay dry (the feed) and it would allow them to "hide" if they wanted to.  I was going to put the pen and coop at the end of my patio so I could see and hear them, so if I had people over, they might want a place to go to get out of site.  Just a thought.  It seems each type of bird requires different kinds of shelter from chickens to peafowl to guineas to geese to turkeys to quail.  There are similarities that run through them all, but there are variations.  I am just trying to give them what they need as well as give me something nice in my yard.  That is what I am doing with all of the birds that have gotten and am getting.

Thanks again for your help.