The Quail Necessities - Home Tweet Home

We have two different buildings (coops) in place for our birds to meet their species specific needs.

Our quail & resident pheasants live in our main "Quail-Quarters" building and our silkies live in the "Silkie Cottage" next door. They can see each other when out in their aviaries or the chickens are out free ranging. 

Both buildings are built structurally like small homes with properly framed and insulated walls. They have operational windows and exterior grade doors. Weather suitable siding and roofing materials were used for longevity. The building and aviary portions have mesh protected floors to protect against any predators that may try to dig under or into the space. The aviaries have solid roof coverage and natural elements to provide shade and security for the birds. 

They aren't your standard "chicken coops" thats for sure... I mean they even have wallpaper in them (themed to suit of course!)

As we raise and breed multiple type of quails and colourations, we have separated enclosure areas for our breeding pairs.

Beyond the breeding huts we have a large open space for general living quarters where specific birds have a bit more freedom in a larger covey.

This space is typically for our coturnix quails as they tend to be more ground dwelling and tend not to fly up and disrupt the breeder huts.

We have utilized soft mesh on all walls and ceiling surfaces to provide safe surfaces and allow sufficient air flow ventilation.

We have operational windows, fans, A/C and a heater in this enclosure to ensure we can keep our quail comfortable in any season. As they are kept in smaller pairs and coveys they will not put off the same level of natural heat as a flock of chicken living together, which is why we have the heater available for winter months.

Our breeding pair huts are more private in the sense of them housing a single roo (male) and 1 -2 hens (females) Their space is set up with elements like plants, rocks, birch and other wood branches so mimic areas in nature that they would be comfortable in.

They are provided nesting materials and have access to food and water in their space. This means they aren't competing for resources or hides reducing any territorial stressors.

Having a safe and comfortable space is vital to consistent egg laying and happy quail pairs. While it is not mandatory to separate in this manner, we have opted to so we can follow breeding/ genetic purposes. We are able to ensure our colours are bred true and we avoid inbreeding with related birds

Our aviary is completely meshed in (think fort knox!) to ensure the birds are safe from predators when in this space.

We laid mesh under the aviary and then backfilled with soil. Planted grass and forage seed mixes to provide comfortable and enriching flooring for the space. The ground mesh has be integrated to the building and walls of the aviary structure to create an envelope. The ceiling is meshed at approx 10' in height with soft flexible mesh to prevent them from flying up and hitting the metal soffit on the bottom side on the covered metal roof. 

We opted to use a covered roof to add some shade and weather protection for the birds.

Their "port hole" doors are raised well up off the ground making it much harder for anything to access the entry point if ever they broke the wire mesh barrier, thus another safety factor of out set up.

They have perches, enrichment items along with food/water in their aviaries and of course maintain access to the indoors.

We have two different brooder setups as we raise both quail and chicken. 

Quail pop up and want to try to fly at a young age. So we use a glass terrarium style enclosure. We use a 40G and 20G size depending on the clutch count. These enclosures allow us to keep an eye on the small fragile chicks with little effort. The mesh tops ensure that if/when they start to try and pop up they don't harm themselves on a solid lid.

For our chickens we raise them in open top livestock bins that we can place dividers in to control the space as we need to. As silkies are calmer they do not tend to pop up and try to fly out of these brooders.

Both options are heated and adjusted weekly based on the chicks specific needs

We have a few raised gardens placed near the coops. We have selected plants and herbs for them to discourage bugs and other pests from settling in.

We also utilize these herbs and plants to produce our blends which we offer to our flocks and yours! We can ensure our products are pesticide free and picked at prime times for maximum benefit. We then dry/ powder the items in preparation to be added into specific mixes.

Beyond the usable plants in the gardens we have added landscape features and "pretty" plants to ensure the space is visually appealing and compliments our property aesthetic (neighbouring farmers approve!)