Setting Up Home for Quail
1. Purchase a suitable home for your quail. Due to their small size, quail can live in most sorts of housing including guinea pig hutches, rodent cages, chicken coops, and aviaries. There’s two ways to acquire a house, you either buy one or build one.
It’s important to give quail no less than 1 square foot of floor space. A longer cage allows your quail room to roam but a smaller cage can cause them stress from close confinement.
Make sure that the spacing between the wiring is at most 1/2 an inch, as quails can squeeze their head through anything larger. Owing to their tiny feet, they do not do well with wire floor grids, as they can fall and slip through, causing discomfort and possible injury
2. Make sure the housing is the best it can be for your quail. Quail can be kept in any sort of housing but their home does need a few things to make it safe and suitable for your quail. These things include:
The home must have easy access so that you can grab the birds when necessary, feed and provide water for the quail every day, and clean the cage with no troubles every week.
The quails home should have shelter from the rain, wind, hail, snow and the sun. Keep in mind that although the cage should have shelter from the wind and sun, it still needs plenty of fresh air and a bit of sunlight. If you cannot obtain housing with shelter then you could try covering a water-proof sheet (e.g. tarpaulin) over the housing to keep it safe.
1. Purchase a suitable home for your quail. Due to their small size, quail can live in most sorts of housing including guinea pig hutches, rodent cages, chicken coops, and aviaries. There’s two ways to acquire a house, you either buy one or build one.
It’s important to give quail no less than 1 square foot of floor space. A longer cage allows your quail room to roam but a smaller cage can cause them stress from close confinement.
Make sure that the spacing between the wiring is at most 1/2 an inch, as quails can squeeze their head through anything larger. Owing to their tiny feet, they do not do well with wire floor grids, as they can fall and slip through, causing discomfort and possible injury
2. Make sure the housing is the best it can be for your quail. Quail can be kept in any sort of housing but their home does need a few things to make it safe and suitable for your quail. These things include:
The home must have easy access so that you can grab the birds when necessary, feed and provide water for the quail every day, and clean the cage with no troubles every week.
The quails home should have shelter from the rain, wind, hail, snow and the sun. Keep in mind that although the cage should have shelter from the wind and sun, it still needs plenty of fresh air and a bit of sunlight. If you cannot obtain housing with shelter then you could try covering a water-proof sheet (e.g. tarpaulin) over the housing to keep it safe.
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| How to Care for Quail Birds |
The home should be secure and predator proof. Dogs, wild cats, rats, snakes, raccoons and foxes will eventually kill your quail if the housing isn’t predator-proof or secure enough. It’s also possible for small dogs to dig under the housing and get in, birds can peck at the quail from the wiring and raccoons can reach through the wiring and grab the quail.
3. Be aware that you can house your quail with finches, canaries and budgies. Keep in mind that if you are going to do this then it is best to keep the quails and the small birds in a fairly large aviary. Housing them in a simple bird cage can cause stress on both the quail and the small bird.
You get advantages and disadvantages with this option. The advantages are that you do not need to spend a lot of money on a home for your quail and the quail will clean up the seed that the birds drop on the floor. The disadvantages are that the quail might attack the other birds or get attacked themselves, there is more mess to clean up in the aviary, and when the quail breed and hatch out chicks, the chicks might get attacked by the other birds in the aviary.
4. Place the housing in a suitable environment. Quail need a calm, warm yet cool, quiet and undisturbed place to stay to be happy. They should also be housed away from predators including pets. A suitable place to house quail is under a tree during summer or in a garage/shed during winter.
5. Add bedding to the home. For their habitat bedding you can use pine shavings, fir wood chips, sand, newspaper pellets, grass pellets, Timothy hay or non-skid kitchen draw liners. It is highly recommended that you give the quails some straw/hay to make their nests with. This will encourage them to start laying eggs and they may even want to have some chicks
6. Add padding to the top of the quail's cage (optional). You may think that quails can't fly, but when frightened, they can fly straight up to the roof. So for their cage, make sure to add padding to the top to stop the quails from damaging their head if they do fly up quickly.
7. Add a few other items for your quail. Quail need more than just bedding to keep them happy. Some items they need are:
3. Be aware that you can house your quail with finches, canaries and budgies. Keep in mind that if you are going to do this then it is best to keep the quails and the small birds in a fairly large aviary. Housing them in a simple bird cage can cause stress on both the quail and the small bird.
You get advantages and disadvantages with this option. The advantages are that you do not need to spend a lot of money on a home for your quail and the quail will clean up the seed that the birds drop on the floor. The disadvantages are that the quail might attack the other birds or get attacked themselves, there is more mess to clean up in the aviary, and when the quail breed and hatch out chicks, the chicks might get attacked by the other birds in the aviary.
4. Place the housing in a suitable environment. Quail need a calm, warm yet cool, quiet and undisturbed place to stay to be happy. They should also be housed away from predators including pets. A suitable place to house quail is under a tree during summer or in a garage/shed during winter.
5. Add bedding to the home. For their habitat bedding you can use pine shavings, fir wood chips, sand, newspaper pellets, grass pellets, Timothy hay or non-skid kitchen draw liners. It is highly recommended that you give the quails some straw/hay to make their nests with. This will encourage them to start laying eggs and they may even want to have some chicks
6. Add padding to the top of the quail's cage (optional). You may think that quails can't fly, but when frightened, they can fly straight up to the roof. So for their cage, make sure to add padding to the top to stop the quails from damaging their head if they do fly up quickly.
7. Add a few other items for your quail. Quail need more than just bedding to keep them happy. Some items they need are:
- Water container. This shouldn't be too big or deep as quail need to have easy access to it and not be in danger of drowning.
- Feeder. The quail should be able to get to the feeder easily as well as the water container.
- Hiding spots. You can purchase a couple of large hamster huts and place them in the quail’s cage. Quail love a place to retreat to when they feel frightened or think they are in danger.
- Sand tub. Quail love dust bathing on a daily basis, the sand also prevents annoying parasites such as mites. Because quail make a mess when they dust bathe it is best to keep the sand tub away from the water container.
- Small plants. If your quails live on dirt or grass, growing or potting a couple of plants in the housing will make your quails very happy! Remember, quails are curious and love different types of plants in their habitat, just make sure the plants aren't toxic to them.
