The quail have been living in a cage inside the chicken fence with the chickens (they can't really free range as they would just fly off - although some people try it and it works although I think it would then be hard to find the eggs). This works quite well except they are quite hard on the ground they are on. Their poo is very strong and kills the grass and unlike the chickens they won't go in to a house - which is where the chickens seem to poo most, making it easy to clean them out and stop their enclosure becoming a poo swamp like the quails.
This cage was quite big as we thought they would like room to move around, but they stayed in one corner pretty much all the time, so we decided a smaller cage under cover and off the ground would be more practical. I debated with myself for a long time about whether a cage with a metal mesh floor was OK - we want our animals to be happy and comfortable. In the end I decided to go for it as it is so practical from the keeping them clean point of view - with the thought that we could put something else in as the floor if they seemed uncomfortable. They seem very happy (as far as quail express emotion), they wander about a bit, and spend the rest of the time sitting watching the world go by, which seemed to be their favorite activity in the other cage too. We now have them in the little barn attached to the house as their new house really needs to be under shelter, they seem happy watching comings and goings and only a bit but out by a giant dog face appearing right in front of them.
The cage has a slight slope so eggs roll forward for collection. In their other cage they just seemed to lay eggs anywhere although they did dig holes sometimes and lay in the hole but I felt it was for a feeling of security rather than egg laying as they generally seemed quite happy just dropping eggs wherever they happened to be - unlike chickens who like to lay all in the same place and in a secluded area which is why the chicken houses have nest boxes.
No comments:
Post a Comment