I needed a new hutch to use as a grow out pen and had several requests to put together a video. This is very similar to previous hutches I have built but there are a few differences
Wonderful info. Thank-you Mr.Chris! One thing you neglected to mention: the coup may have one, two, or three doors, but never four! If there are 4 doors, it's no longer a coup, but a sedan....
Then I just built a Quail sedan since I put in 4 doors. The closed in section has 3 doors and 1 in the open air area. I can easily reach every corner of the closed off area without having to crawl into the hutch.
For anyone that needs the part list, here is what I bought WITHOUT the roof for the time being. Because I am housing them under a porch for now. 6) 2x4 (6ft) 9) 1x4 (6ft) 3) 1x3 (8ft) 1) roll hardware cloth (25ft) 1/2 mesh 2) flat corner braces (4pack) 2"x3/8" 4) 2inch barrel bolts 2) 2.5inch narrow hinges (2 pack) 1) 4x8 sheet of plywood Play sand. There you guys go! For the roof you'll have to figure it out. :)
i know im asking randomly but does anybody know of a tool to get back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly lost the password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me.
On the solid bottom I would hinge it so it's easy to drop for cleaning. I know quail aren't choicy on where the poo. If it had a drop bottom it would make cleaning a breeze.
that is a good idea. My only concern would be getting the board to fit tight enough around the edges to keep the sand in. But that could probably be solved with some strategically placed barrel locks.
Awesome. I am so glad to hear that you found this video helpful. If you are in the facebook group make sure to post a pic (you may have already, there have been a few posted in the last few days).
Thanks for sharing your reasoning as you go. It helped a lot when I built my hutch this spring. I salvaged most of my wood from pallets, had some leftover shingles and paint from my houses previous owner, bought some cabinet doors and hardware cloth from the Habitat for Humanity store, and a couple of barrel bolts from the dollar store. Got a good little hutch for my girls under $20!
Great timing. I need to build a couple. I found two galvanized tower cages for free on my way home. They need some work but can't beat 15 roll out cages in 2 towers for free. :)
Great concept. I built one very similar. Decided to skip the wood on the bottom of the nest side and instead just laid down three sheets of 4mil plastic and covered that with sand. That way when I want to clean it out I just pull out the plastic and the sand falls through. Replace plastic and refill the sand. Done. Thanks so much for the design ideas, though. Great video, if that makes sense. ;)
Looking closer to $300 to build this. Sadly this is the dilemma of buying wood today with the cost of lumber. If anyone is wondering how much money they need to fork over. I have even used a few pieces of lumber I had on hand and I also have left over hardware cloth (so thats not even included). If anyone wants to build this look to your neighbors or family for left over lumber or even dressers or TV hutches that you can scrap wood and build. Im thankful that Chris left some measurements out, because it gave me the freedom to add a larger sandbox or a bigger door. If anyone wants to cut the width of this as you need pretty long arms to reach way back, remember you will have to cut the hardware cloth too. I'm not willing to waste my time cutting that stuff or cutting myself. Chris your doing awesome! I bet your glad you built your stuff prior to covid!
Well, I finally went out and got my supplies to build my quail hutch. A couple things I'm going to do differently are build the top a bit taller so I can put their water bucket on top of it and extend the sandbox all the way to the divider board. Other than that everything else will be the same. Thanks for the design and explanation on all the steps. May you and your family be abundantly blessed. Cheers!
Wonderful video Chris. I especially like the ventilation space between the roof and top of cage space itself. Out here in the West you need that space to cool the air. I put a piece of 2” foam under the metal. Would be so nice for the birds to be outside for cleaning convenience. Thanks, superb video and info, you just keep raising the bar on quality info and we appreciate you very much.
That's a beautiful coup and WELL built. You can tell it was well thought out. I am building my first co-op today and I really like the sand box on the enclosed side. I will try to incorporate that in my new coup. Thank you so much. You examined everything very well.
1:10 just wanted to add this in for anyone that doesn’t have carpentry experience or doesn’t already know. The actual thickness of a 1x4 is 3/4 inch not 1 inch. And I’d always measure and cut your pieces even if they are sold as 8 ft pieces, they are likely not cut to exact size. If the pieces of your frame aren’t measured to the same size your frame won’t be squared, and will likely lead to issues. If you mention that in the video already I apologize because I haven’t watched the whole video yet. New sub here btw, watching from Nova Scotia 👋
Chris, I want to thank you for your great videos. We just started our first incubation of 5 1/2 dozen eggs. I started building you hutch design in this video. So far, so good. Thanks again.
Hi Chris, from central Illinois. We love your videos! We have chickens and rabbits, and are now starting with quail. We are using your instructions to build our quail hutch and just wanted to say thank you!
lol, my spoon made me FAT!!! Chris, I love your videos and your T-shirts even more! I have watched your quail and rabbit videos so many times I am ready to make the leap and start my own little quail hutch. Thanks!
I absolutely love this build because you're so much like me, you overbuild! LoL. Excellent and very functional! We're living in Florida too so, at first I was thinking of turning one of our farm sheds into a quail house but now I'm thinking I'll use the 12x20 foot shed for the incubation and brooders and then, put my grow out cages under the back of the sheds carport. Great job!
Chris thank you very much for this video, we live in the city limits in MS. And we made hutch would include pic but dont know how lol. Its not the perfect carpenters work but beautiful non the less. My husband made hearts on one of the doors. Bless you for what you do
Got my first cage from this video built this weekend. A second identical one is almost complete. I plan on building another about half this size for my breeding stock. Incubator has been run for a couple of days and it holds perfect temperature without eggs. Checked with three thermometers simultaneously. Ordering eggs, Jumbo Brown Meat Makers, from KC Quail Farm today. Can't wait to get it rolling.
Chris, IMO it's the best Quail Hutch design, ideal for my backyard. Thanx for sharing this. Instead of the plastic foil, I will use Plexiglas on top of the closed part.
Omg I love my new coop! Thank you so much for this fantastic video! Just want to comment that even a girl can make this awesome coop! The only things I added because I play with my birds and we have wild cats is I cut my doors that are solid in half so I could open just half the door or both doors cuz I don’t want some to fly away when I’m petting one. I also added support boards to the inside bottom then added a second layer of the plastic poultry fence so that i have about 2 inches of space between my hardwire floors so the cats can not claw my birds feet when they are walking on the floor but the poop can still drop. If I end up having to clean the sand box I might add removable pin door hinges or maybe a couple latches so I can drop the floor easier but I’ll deal with that if needed. Now I’m off to make the water system :). Thanks again this is perfect for my quail!
Hi there, Quick question. The open section where the hardware clothe goes; did you installed it inside or outside of the hutch. In the video did not explain it and by watching it at first looks in the outside and a few minutes later looks in the inside. Thank you for the help.
Good job!! I had a thought as I watched this that I would paint just a few small pots or rocks to break up all that white for them on the inside back and side wall...just a few small green. blue, red pots ...blades of grass...
Chris I use those roofing screws to hold down my Hardware cloth. Staples work but I feel the sheet metal screws are more predator proof. Yeah it costs more than staples... but in some areas I spend a bit more like with security. I just shared that incase something comes up and you feel staples might not work out, you can always give the roofing screws a shot.
going to get some jumbo's tomorrow....have cages I had gotten for rabbit grow out that I will be using for the quail. Thanks for all the tips, One point I wish you would get your topics organized some how so we could find information on each subject easier....i.e.....cages....quail, .....rabbits....etc...You have a ton of great information if I can find it....LOL My buying of quail has been and can be attributed to many of your videos. Thank You.
Awesome. I need to build one more but I don't know when I will have the time to do it. I need to find some time to get down to your area and catch some of those smallmouth and that seems to be a much better use of my limited time. :)
minor improvement for the "sandbox" side of the hutch. Go back and mount that bottom board with hinges and barrel closures ... put the barrel closures on the left side, with the hinges in the middle mounted to the board that goes across the middle of the enclosed side. This way, when you want to clean the sandbox side, you can lay a tarp underneath for catchment, then drop the bottom by undoing the barrel clasps ... it will fall open towards the middle dropping the sand and manure onto the tarp. Hit the bottom of that cage with the soft side of a hand broom (the bristles, to do some cleaning), and do the same to the topside of the play sand area board. When finished with the cleaning, take away the tarp, lift the bottom board back into position and close the clasps, and then open the side to fill the sandbox with more play sand. As a side benefit, you can also use the trapped sand in the tarp again .... all you have to do is wash it (put the water into the garden or the compost heap area) after screening it through some window screen material ... rinse a few times, and then put it back on the tarp, spread it out to dry.... once dried, you can put it in a bucket and use it again the next time you want to replace the sand. (no need for a lid on the bucket, let it air out...) Otherwise, you could just add it to the compost heap as is .... and end up permanently adding new soil to the garden later. Love the videos and your no-nonsense southern style ... keep it up! :)
I recently hatched some really interesting quails that have similar colours to Italians, but with striped bellies and reddish brown, cream and black spotted backs that look like no Japanese Quail I can find anywhere on the internet! And some heavily barred rosettas with white dots at the tip of their feathers. I want to selectively breed them so I definitely have to make a couple of these!
I pretty much copied this plan but made mine 24" deep. Also made each level into 2 hutches, 24 x 48. Sandbox is 15" wide (x 24 deep). I didn't put hardware cloth under it, but I sprayed the inside with Flexseal. Let it dry thoroughly before adding sand (or birds) My doors do stick some and a small block plane has been handy to "readjust". I didn't add a 1x4 behind them to close against. Shoulda, woulda, coulda
When I built mine I put 3 doors on the front. Two doors were put on the sandbox side with a 2x4 in between. Next time I will put 4 doors on the front to keep them from getting out
Thanx Chris. You gave me a great 👍 presentation on quail cage building. I live in northeast, where in Jan and Feb, it can get very cold. My friend has ducks and chickens and he tells me that he puts Vaseline on beaks and foot to prevent freezing. My question, how do I remedy for very cold days should? should I go for thicker wood or use some sort of insulation? I'm thinking, maybe it's best to just move them in garage during very cold months. Just to be on safe side.
I see 2 improvements I will do to the one I build when I'm ready. 1: put the plywood floor in sandbox on hinges that way when you do need to change the sand it would be easier. 2: put some plexiglass in the inclosed room door for more light.
Have you considered making the plywood bottom hinged to make it easy to do a clean out of sand a couple of times per year? Just drop the plywood and let the sand out the bottom? Just curious if this would work
TIP. Next hutch you make....place 2 hinges on the back of the board and a lock at the front. Unlock it and the messy sand can "fall down the board". I live in Tucson Az and build mine close to this but a little more beefed up due to all the wildlife wanting my quail dinner.
All the birds in this cage mix together? Maybe you could add a dividor lengthwise and doors on both sides. Then you could reach to the back of both sides too (which would be they middle of the structure).
Don’t use cedar anywhere that will have direct contact with the birds. I know the cedar wood chips are toxic for them, I wouldn’t want to risk it with the fence posts
Nicely designed and built. In our area, I'm afraid out 20 pound raccoons would be inside the hutch the first night. They would either operate the latches or just tear apart the door with the screened front. Those angle braces holding that door trim together are just not strong enough to withstand a raccoon. I''m guessing your dog helps keep predators away however.
My dog is inside at night so he doesn't really help with the predators. I don't have a huge problem with them though. I have had racoons come up to the hutch before but so far none have found a way to get in.
My chicken coops has some similar design elements and does great against GIANT raccoons. Years of no problems. Adding some electrical staples every few inches to the hardware cloth fastening makes it even more secure, though you might want a thicker grade of lumber such as 2x 4 for that.
This is what I am building for my third cage. Mine is 10 ft long though. I want to do the doors like yours, and if I do the sandbox like yours I will hinge the bottom wood so that all I would have to do is unfasten it to change out the sand. Fantastic pen! I just hatched 63 babies so that is the motivator for my newest pen.
Hello Chris, I am so glad I found this video of yours! I was researching different quail hutch models and how to build one. I was wondering if you could share the total material need it to build a hutch like the one in your video. I tried to take note and look into the description. Much appreciated.
Thank you for the kind comments. Unfortunately, I didn't put together a complete material list. I know I should have and probably go back through this video and make notes so i can provide it. Sorry about that.
Hello Chris, I’m sorry to keep bugging you with questions about the quail hutch. In regards to the doors, what type of wood did you use? 2x4? or do you d you use the same wood farid strips for the bases of the hutch? Thank you.
Great video definitely simplified the process for me. Thank You!! Was wondering about the size of the hardware cloth on the bottom? Also wondering do I need to do anything for the poo to fall down?
Ur using self tapping metal screws made for metal to metal fastening, high wind can pull them out of wood rather easily, to prevent that , there’s a sheet metal screw for fastening sheet metal to wood with rubber washers, it has a sharp point & a little longer length to hold better in wood, the shorter self tapping screws are made for fastening at the peak of the corrugation, metal to metal overlap, the longer pointed screws are made to fasten in the bottom swell of the corrugation, just a heads up, Mate! Good build! Thanks
Somehow I missed the reason behind raising the roof up above the actual top of the hutch. Will you please share me a short answer about that? I'm buying the materials to build one today....thank you for posting your videos...they have made it possible for me to think I can do this!
Hello, thanks for the great video! I don't believe I heard you say what the thickness of the plywood is. Could you tell me what the thickness is that you suggest?
I sure am appreciating you sharing all of your experience and knowledge regarding raising quail Chris, thank you! I’m not a believer, but Christians would do well to be as kind and genuine as you. I’m preparing for my quail raising journey so I’m getting ideas on hutches/cages. I noticed that you newest hutch has the legs on the outside of the top and bottom frames, opposed to your other hutch with legs on the inside. I want my sand box enclosure walls as well all my mesh walls to be on the inside of the framing so the quail can’t poop on the framing. So I’m thinking having the “legs” on the outside of the frames makes the wall, floor, and ceiling installation much easier because I won’t have to cut around the legs. Are inside legs superior in any way? Also, do you still recommend Kansas City Quail farm for sourcing eggs? And lastly, I caught your last live show late. Do you have a regular schedule with the live shows? Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you so much for the kind comments. You pretty much summed it up. I put the legs on the outside to make it easier to install the roof and flooring. That is pretty much the only reason. I don't see any real benefit to having them on the inside of the frame really. I do still recommend Kansas City Quail farm for ordering eggs. Great people and very good bloodlines. And the live broadcast is Thursday at 7:00 central time. Unless something comes up that I can't make it of course. :)
Thanks for all the great videos and information Chris! Wondering what your male/female ratio of birds is? Not sure if I'm just having bad luck, but mine keep fighting with one another...down to 1 roo, but even the girls get nasty if I try to introduce anyone new. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate your opinion. Blessings!
Yep, he has great videos, I keep catching myself going back to watch them because eventually I am doing a project similar to what he has done... I am thinking of a similar hutch for Cornish Game Hens.
Amazing video! I have rabbits and chickens (for eggs) and now I'm researching raising quails for meat as well. Your hutch design is definitely one of the best I've come across! I understand that I'll need two of these hutches (for breeding, and another for growouts) but we only have space for 1. I'm thinking to build one that's just like yours, but adding another level so the 2 cages are stacked vertically. I'm thinking while the droppings from the lower cage go straight to the ground, those from the upper cage can go down to a pan/board at an angle so I can push them towards the back and to the ground. Do you think this design will work? Any complexity that you can think of? Thanks in advance.
I think that would work just fine. But you don't have to have a separate cage for your grow outs. I tend to throw mine in the same cage as the breeders and just make sure I have enough left over to continue breeding when processing day comes. Sometimes the younger birds become new breeders for me.
![[ไฮไลต์] แบดมินตันชาย วิว กุลวุฒิ(ไทย) vs Kenta Nishimoto(ญี่ปุ่น) รอบ 16 คน | โอลิมปิก 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kaQRLljJkSI/mqdefault.jpg)
Wonderful info. Thank-you Mr.Chris! One thing you neglected to mention: the coup may have one, two, or three doors, but never four! If there are 4 doors, it's no longer a coup, but a sedan....
lol. I never thought of it that way. Great tip I should definitely have mentioned that.
Then I just built a Quail sedan since I put in 4 doors. The closed in section has 3 doors and 1 in the open air area. I can easily reach every corner of the closed off area without having to crawl into the hutch.
🙄🤔🤷♂️😆🤣😅👍
Hahaha good one😊
For anyone that needs the part list, here is what I bought WITHOUT the roof for the time being. Because I am housing them under a porch for now.
6) 2x4 (6ft)
9) 1x4 (6ft)
3) 1x3 (8ft)
1) roll hardware cloth (25ft) 1/2 mesh
2) flat corner braces (4pack) 2"x3/8"
4) 2inch barrel bolts
2) 2.5inch narrow hinges (2 pack)
1) 4x8 sheet of plywood
Play sand.
There you guys go!
For the roof you'll have to figure it out. :)
Thanks so much for helping out. I have been lazy and never got around the parts list. I should have done that when i built it originally.
@@Slightlyrednecked How long of staples do you use to keep the wire from pulling out?
Truddy Tucker if you add some electrical
Staples it can be much more predator proof, but you might need thicker lumber.
i know im asking randomly but does anybody know of a tool to get back into an Instagram account??
I stupidly lost the password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me.
@Santana Malcolm Instablaster :)
On the solid bottom I would hinge it so it's easy to drop for cleaning. I know quail aren't choicy on where the poo. If it had a drop bottom it would make cleaning a breeze.
Renee Brown great idea
that is a good idea. My only concern would be getting the board to fit tight enough around the edges to keep the sand in. But that could probably be solved with some strategically placed barrel locks.
Slightly Rednecked put a 1x4 frame on the sheet of plywood like You did for the door
Thinking about it it is a door a trap door
I am a 62yr. old Grandmother and I built my Quail hutch from yours. I want to thank you very much, they love it. I am in Ontario, Canada.
Awesome. I am so glad to hear that you found this video helpful. If you are in the facebook group make sure to post a pic (you may have already, there have been a few posted in the last few days).
Would be nice if you listed all the parts, dimensions like a recipe:)
Fantastic video Chris! I appreciate your time showing us the hutch build. The quail dust bathin' put a smile on my face. Blessings! :)
Thanks so much for the kind comments. I am glad you liked it.
Thanks for sharing your reasoning as you go. It helped a lot when I built my hutch this spring. I salvaged most of my wood from pallets, had some leftover shingles and paint from my houses previous owner, bought some cabinet doors and hardware cloth from the Habitat for Humanity store, and a couple of barrel bolts from the dollar store. Got a good little hutch for my girls under $20!
You can't beat that price for sure. Thanks for watching and I am glad you found my videos helpful.
Great build on the hutch! I'm super happy today as i had 14 of 14 eggs hatch and are doing well. I'm watching so keep them coming...
Awesome. Congrats on your hatch.
Great video Chris it was really nice to see how the cage was built
Thanks so much. I am so glad you liked it.
Great timing. I need to build a couple. I found two galvanized tower cages for free on my way home. They need some work but can't beat 15 roll out cages in 2 towers for free. :)
wow. that is an awesome find for sure.
Great concept. I built one very similar. Decided to skip the wood on the bottom of the nest side and instead just laid down three sheets of 4mil plastic and covered that with sand. That way when I want to clean it out I just pull out the plastic and the sand falls through. Replace plastic and refill the sand. Done. Thanks so much for the design ideas, though. Great video, if that makes sense. ;)
Sounds like a great idea.
This is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your quail hutch building.
Looking closer to $300 to build this. Sadly this is the dilemma of buying wood today with the cost of lumber. If anyone is wondering how much money they need to fork over. I have even used a few pieces of lumber I had on hand and I also have left over hardware cloth (so thats not even included). If anyone wants to build this look to your neighbors or family for left over lumber or even dressers or TV hutches that you can scrap wood and build. Im thankful that Chris left some measurements out, because it gave me the freedom to add a larger sandbox or a bigger door. If anyone wants to cut the width of this as you need pretty long arms to reach way back, remember you will have to cut the hardware cloth too. I'm not willing to waste my time cutting that stuff or cutting myself. Chris your doing awesome! I bet your glad you built your stuff prior to covid!
Nice thanks! I've been thinking I need to build something like this. Now I don't have to re-invent the wheel.
Thanks for watching. I am so glad you liked it.
Thank you for this video. The details that you mention are very much appreciated even the length of screws and when to predrill.
Well, I finally went out and got my supplies to build my quail hutch. A couple things I'm going to do differently are build the top a bit taller so I can put their water bucket on top of it and extend the sandbox all the way to the divider board. Other than that everything else will be the same. Thanks for the design and explanation on all the steps. May you and your family be abundantly blessed. Cheers!
You did an amazing work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
Wonderful video Chris. I especially like the ventilation space between the roof and top of cage space itself. Out here in the West you need that space to cool the air. I put a piece of 2” foam under the metal. Would be so nice for the birds to be outside for cleaning convenience. Thanks, superb video and info, you just keep raising the bar on quality info and we appreciate you very much.
Thank you so much for the kind comments. I am so glad you find my videos helpful.
Great design. Learnt so much. Went with an aviary style in the end but took so many ideas. Thanks
That's a beautiful coup and WELL built. You can tell it was well thought out. I am building my first co-op today and I really like the sand box on the enclosed side. I will try to incorporate that in my new coup. Thank you so much. You examined everything very well.
Very nice cage! I have watched this video 3 times and now I am ready to build my cage!
Dude, I thought I was the only one watching his older videos right now! I just stumbled on the idea of raising quails and this man has been a godsend.
Thank you so much for the kind comments. I am so glad you are finding the videos helpful.
Thankyou very much I’ll be making that for sure, I like your instructions and I can see clearly what your doing , oh and God bless you too 😊
I've been watching your channel for awhile. Thanks so much for the tips and assistance. Hope all is well.
Thank you so much for watching. I am so glad you are finding my videos helpful.
1:10 just wanted to add this in for anyone that doesn’t have carpentry experience or doesn’t already know. The actual thickness of a 1x4 is 3/4 inch not 1 inch. And I’d always measure and cut your pieces even if they are sold as 8 ft pieces, they are likely not cut to exact size. If the pieces of your frame aren’t measured to the same size your frame won’t be squared, and will likely lead to issues. If you mention that in the video already I apologize because I haven’t watched the whole video yet. New sub here btw, watching from Nova Scotia 👋
Awesome video!!! Will pick up some supplies tomorrow and give this tutorial a try. Thank you.
again Chris another amazing video, getting ready to build another and give this another watch and take notes before i get started
Epic sand box! and brackets on the doors. Freaking brilliant
Hello Chris from Ontario Canada. Thanks for all the informative videos. They have been very helpful.
Thank you so much for watching them. I am glad you are finding them helpful.
What an amazing Chanel!
You have great info about quails!
You interested me into getting quails! Thank you Chris keep the videos coming!
Thank you so much for the kind comments.
Redneckdentist here, I am going to build one in the next week. Just put some eggs in the incubator. Nice job explaining things too. Thanks!
Great job. I am going to build a couple of these and film it for my channel but of course give you all the credit for the design. Love your channel.
Great video. Gives me confidence that I can do this!
Chris,
I want to thank you for your great videos. We just started our first incubation of 5 1/2 dozen eggs.
I started building you hutch design in this video. So far, so good.
Thanks again.
Awesome. Good luck with your hatch and thank you for watching my videos.
Thanks for sharing. Your explanations for every step was easy for me to understand. I think I will give this hutch a try.
Thank you for watching. I am glad you found this video helpful.
Nice hutch!!! Thanks for the info.
Hi Chris, from central Illinois. We love your videos! We have chickens and rabbits, and are now starting with quail. We are using your instructions to build our quail hutch and just wanted to say thank you!
Thank you so much for watching. I am glad you found this video helpful. Good luck with your new birds.
Dude you are simply my hero! Your Videos simply Rock! Much appreciated!
Thank you so much. I am so glad you find them helpful.
lol, my spoon made me FAT!!! Chris, I love your videos and your T-shirts even more! I have watched your quail and rabbit videos so many times I am ready to make the leap and start my own little quail hutch. Thanks!
Thanks so much for watching my videos. I am glad you like them (and my shirts). :)
I absolutely love this build because you're so much like me, you overbuild! LoL. Excellent and very functional! We're living in Florida too so, at first I was thinking of turning one of our farm sheds into a quail house but now I'm thinking I'll use the 12x20 foot shed for the incubation and brooders and then, put my grow out cages under the back of the sheds carport. Great job!
Thank you for the kind comments. Sounds like you have a good plan. I am sure it will go well.
Nice job. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Thank you. I am glad you liked it.
Hi Chris, great video. Love the shirt.
I love this channel your such a down to earth guy man its nice to see you actually care
Chris thank you very much for this video, we live in the city limits in MS. And we made hutch would include pic but dont know how lol. Its not the perfect carpenters work but beautiful non the less. My husband made hearts on one of the doors. Bless you for what you do
Nice. I am so glad that you are finding my videos helpful. And glad to hear that things are going well for you.
Love this tutorial. I'll paint before assembly 😁
Great video Chris !! I’m gonna have to build me one like that .
I like your shirt at the end too 😆👍👍
Got my first cage from this video built this weekend. A second identical one is almost complete. I plan on building another about half this size for my breeding stock. Incubator has been run for a couple of days and it holds perfect temperature without eggs. Checked with three thermometers simultaneously. Ordering eggs, Jumbo Brown Meat Makers, from KC Quail Farm today. Can't wait to get it rolling.
Awesome. Sounds like you are well on your way. Good luck with your first hatch, I am sure it will go very well.
Chris, IMO it's the best Quail Hutch design, ideal for my backyard. Thanx for sharing this. Instead of the plastic foil, I will use Plexiglas on top of the closed part.
Thanks for watching. I am glad you found it helpful. I bet plexiglass would work great. good idea.
Omg I love my new coop! Thank you so much for this fantastic video! Just want to comment that even a girl can make this awesome coop! The only things I added because I play with my birds and we have wild cats is I cut my doors that are solid in half so I could open just half the door or both doors cuz I don’t want some to fly away when I’m petting one. I also added support boards to the inside bottom then added a second layer of the plastic poultry fence so that i have about 2 inches of space between my hardwire floors so the cats can not claw my birds feet when they are walking on the floor but the poop can still drop. If I end up having to clean the sand box I might add removable pin door hinges or maybe a couple latches so I can drop the floor easier but I’ll deal with that if needed. Now I’m off to make the water system :). Thanks again this is perfect for my quail!
Hi there,
Quick question. The open section where the hardware clothe goes; did you installed it inside or outside of the hutch. In the video did not explain it and by watching it at first looks in the outside and a few minutes later looks in the inside.
Thank you for the help.
This is perfect I bet even I can do this to START and my hubby will finish 😂 THANK YOU
Nice hutches. I'll be using this for sure when I start quail.
Thanks. I am glad you like them. They have worked well for me.
Binge watching, eggs in incubator. Gathering ideas and knowledge from quail experts, thanks!
Thank you so much for watching. I hope you are getting the info you need.
Love this video! It gives me some ideas. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much. I am glad that you liked it.
New subscriber - really enjoyed the build. Thank you.
Good job!! I had a thought as I watched this that I would paint just a few small pots or rocks to break up all that white for them on the inside back and side wall...just a few small green. blue, red pots ...blades of grass...
NICE JOB!!!!👍
Thank you.
Chris I use those roofing screws to hold down my Hardware cloth. Staples work but I feel the sheet metal screws are more predator proof. Yeah it costs more than staples... but in some areas I spend a bit more like with security. I just shared that incase something comes up and you feel staples might not work out, you can always give the roofing screws a shot.
Great video! I've never seen a solid bottom with the sand. Looks like a great idea!
so far it seems to be working out pretty well. We will see how dirty it gets in the long run but I am optimistic.
that you for sharing your ideas..what a great job..
Thank you for watching. I am glad that you found this video helpful.
Thank you! We are building this right now!💪
Thank you for watching. I am glad that you found it helpful.
going to get some jumbo's tomorrow....have cages I had gotten for rabbit grow out that I will be using for the quail. Thanks for all the tips, One point I wish you would get your topics organized some how so we could find information on each subject easier....i.e.....cages....quail, .....rabbits....etc...You have a ton of great information if I can find it....LOL My buying of quail has been and can be attributed to many of your videos. Thank You.
I know, I need to do a better job of organizing my videos. Maybe I will have to spend a weekend working on that.
Chris, thanks, good enough, quick way to build, Get you a driver for the screws. You will love it.
Yup, nut drivers are great. I should pick one up for sure.
Great design. I drilled a screw in just a bit under the line on all four corners to rest the top frame while I drilled it in
That would be an easier way to do it for sure.
Like the last t-shirt, nice build.
Thanks so much. It is one of my favorite shirts too. :)
Thanks. We are planning on getting Quail, asap. We live in Ohio. Love your shirt, got a giggle out of that.
It is one of my favorite shirts. :) Thanks for watching and I am glad you liked the video.
Your neighbor from Powell. Just finished my fourth grow out Hutch today. Based a lot of my design on your technique.
Awesome. I need to build one more but I don't know when I will have the time to do it. I need to find some time to get down to your area and catch some of those smallmouth and that seems to be a much better use of my limited time. :)
Nice. I have a shorter hutch, but very similar. Nice job
I would like one of those T-shirts!
Great video and you are very clever and informative 😃🇦🇺🦘
Thanks, I am glad you finding my videos helpful.
Thanks for the info
minor improvement for the "sandbox" side of the hutch.
Go back and mount that bottom board with hinges and barrel closures ... put the barrel closures on the left side, with the hinges in the middle mounted to the board that goes across the middle of the enclosed side.
This way, when you want to clean the sandbox side, you can lay a tarp underneath for catchment, then drop the bottom by undoing the barrel clasps ... it will fall open towards the middle dropping the sand and manure onto the tarp. Hit the bottom of that cage with the soft side of a hand broom (the bristles, to do some cleaning), and do the same to the topside of the play sand area board.
When finished with the cleaning, take away the tarp, lift the bottom board back into position and close the clasps, and then open the side to fill the sandbox with more play sand.
As a side benefit, you can also use the trapped sand in the tarp again .... all you have to do is wash it (put the water into the garden or the compost heap area) after screening it through some window screen material ... rinse a few times, and then put it back on the tarp, spread it out to dry.... once dried, you can put it in a bucket and use it again the next time you want to replace the sand. (no need for a lid on the bucket, let it air out...)
Otherwise, you could just add it to the compost heap as is .... and end up permanently adding new soil to the garden later.
Love the videos and your no-nonsense southern style ... keep it up! :)
That sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the suggestion.
I recently hatched some really interesting quails that have similar colours to Italians, but with striped bellies and reddish brown, cream and black spotted backs that look like no Japanese Quail I can find anywhere on the internet! And some heavily barred rosettas with white dots at the tip of their feathers.
I want to selectively breed them so I definitely have to make a couple of these!
nice. You may end up with a unique bird if you can get that isolated and reliably reproducing.
I'm hoping so!
Nice build Chris. I just had a good hatch 16 out of 22. I have also got a quail sitting eggs managed to separate her she has been sitting a week now.
Thanks. Congrats on the hatch and the broody bird. Interesting to see if she hatches out any chics.
nice job
I pretty much copied this plan but made mine 24" deep. Also made each level into 2 hutches, 24 x 48. Sandbox is 15" wide (x 24 deep). I didn't put hardware cloth under it, but I sprayed the inside with Flexseal. Let it dry thoroughly before adding sand (or birds)
My doors do stick some and a small block plane has been handy to "readjust". I didn't add a 1x4 behind them to close against. Shoulda, woulda, coulda
When I built mine I put 3 doors on the front. Two doors were put on the sandbox side with a 2x4 in between. Next time I will put 4 doors on the front to keep them from getting out
Thanx Chris. You gave me a great 👍 presentation on quail cage building. I live in northeast, where in Jan and Feb, it can get very cold. My friend has ducks and chickens and he tells me that he puts Vaseline on beaks and foot to prevent freezing.
My question, how do I remedy for very cold days should? should I go for thicker wood or use some sort of insulation?
I'm thinking, maybe it's best to just move them in garage during very cold months. Just to be on safe side.
I see 2 improvements I will do to the one I build when I'm ready. 1: put the plywood floor in sandbox on hinges that way when you do need to change the sand it would be easier. 2: put some plexiglass in the inclosed room door for more light.
Have you considered making the plywood bottom hinged to make it easy to do a clean out of sand a couple of times per year? Just drop the plywood and let the sand out the bottom? Just curious if this would work
TIP. Next hutch you make....place 2 hinges on the back of the board and a lock at the front. Unlock it and the messy sand can "fall down the board". I live in Tucson Az and build mine close to this but a little more beefed up due to all the wildlife wanting my quail dinner.
That is a great suggestion. Thank you.
I can’t believe you replied to more than a year old video. Keep up with the great videos.
I would use used cedar fence pickets instead of ply wood. I think they would last longer and cheaper. Thanks for the ideas and inspiration!
I wouldn't use wood for the sandbox, but wire with removable plastic trays. Fill the edges outside the trays with cedar pickets to keep wind out.
All the birds in this cage mix together? Maybe you could add a dividor lengthwise and doors on both sides. Then you could reach to the back of both sides too (which would be they middle of the structure).
Don’t use cedar anywhere that will have direct contact with the birds. I know the cedar wood chips are toxic for them, I wouldn’t want to risk it with the fence posts
I appreciate the video, was eyeballing your hutch from another vid and was planning to try to replicate it. Now it'll be a little easier. Lol
awesome project
Thanks. I am glad you liked it.
Thanks!!!!
Nicely designed and built. In our area, I'm afraid out 20 pound raccoons would be inside the hutch the first night. They would either operate the latches or just tear apart the door with the screened front. Those angle braces holding that door trim together are just not strong enough to withstand a raccoon. I''m guessing your dog helps keep predators away however.
My dog is inside at night so he doesn't really help with the predators. I don't have a huge problem with them though. I have had racoons come up to the hutch before but so far none have found a way to get in.
My chicken coops has some similar design elements and does great against GIANT raccoons. Years of no problems. Adding some electrical staples every few inches to the hardware cloth fastening makes it even more secure, though you might want a thicker grade of lumber such as 2x 4 for that.
Nice job
Thank you. I am glad you liked it.
This is what I am building for my third cage. Mine is 10 ft long though. I want to do the doors like yours, and if I do the sandbox like yours I will hinge the bottom wood so that all I would have to do is unfasten it to change out the sand. Fantastic pen! I just hatched 63 babies so that is the motivator for my newest pen.
Sounds like a good plan. I didn't think of hinging the bottom but that is a great idea.
I would add... putting a small ceramic tile or a concrete pavers under each leg to stop them from rotting if it's sitting on dirt
I just used some rocks...but you are correct, I should have mentioned that.
I am going to paint it. But like the idea on pavers. When it comes to raccoon they can be pretty heavy animals and they can not flip it right.
Hello Chris,
I am so glad I found this video of yours! I was researching different quail hutch models and how to build one. I was wondering if you could share the total material need it to build a hutch like the one in your video. I tried to take note and look into the description.
Much appreciated.
Thank you for the kind comments. Unfortunately, I didn't put together a complete material list. I know I should have and probably go back through this video and make notes so i can provide it. Sorry about that.
Hello Chris,
I’m sorry to keep bugging you with questions about the quail hutch. In regards to the doors, what type of wood did you use? 2x4? or do you d you use the same wood farid strips for the bases of the hutch?
Thank you.
Great video definitely simplified the process for me. Thank You!! Was wondering about the size of the hardware cloth on the bottom? Also wondering do I need to do anything for the poo to fall down?
Ur using self tapping metal screws made for metal to metal fastening, high wind can pull them out of wood rather easily, to prevent that , there’s a sheet metal screw for fastening sheet metal to wood with rubber washers, it has a sharp point & a little longer length to hold better in wood, the shorter self tapping screws are made for fastening at the peak of the corrugation, metal to metal overlap, the longer pointed screws are made to fasten in the bottom swell of the corrugation, just a heads up, Mate! Good build! Thanks
Thanks for the suggestion. I have had lots of wind with no problems but good to know.
Somehow I missed the reason behind raising the roof up above the actual top of the hutch. Will you please share me a short answer about that? I'm buying the materials to build one today....thank you for posting your videos...they have made it possible for me to think I can do this!
That is just personal preference. I like a high roof so i can set things on the ceiling (like feeders or the egg collection bucket).
Some people need a little imagination, to how to build coops. I like yer ingenuity.
Hello, thanks for the great video! I don't believe I heard you say what the thickness of the plywood is. Could you tell me what the thickness is that you suggest?
Like to video. I started building the hutch
Planning on doing almost exactly this! Do you have a material list?
I sure am appreciating you sharing all of your experience and knowledge regarding raising quail Chris, thank you! I’m not a believer, but Christians would do well to be as kind and genuine as you.
I’m preparing for my quail raising journey so I’m getting ideas on hutches/cages. I noticed that you newest hutch has the legs on the outside of the top and bottom frames, opposed to your other hutch with legs on the inside. I want my sand box enclosure walls as well all my mesh walls to be on the inside of the framing so the quail can’t poop on the framing. So I’m thinking having the “legs” on the outside of the frames makes the wall, floor, and ceiling installation much easier because I won’t have to cut around the legs. Are inside legs superior in any way? Also, do you still recommend Kansas City Quail farm for sourcing eggs? And lastly, I caught your last live show late. Do you have a regular schedule with the live shows?
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you so much for the kind comments. You pretty much summed it up. I put the legs on the outside to make it easier to install the roof and flooring. That is pretty much the only reason. I don't see any real benefit to having them on the inside of the frame really.
I do still recommend Kansas City Quail farm for ordering eggs. Great people and very good bloodlines.
And the live broadcast is Thursday at 7:00 central time. Unless something comes up that I can't make it of course. :)
Love this idea! Planning on doing almost exactly this! Do you have a material list? Thanks!
I am sorry but I didn't actually write out a list of all the materials. I hope you can make your own just based on what i used in the video.
Thanks for all the great videos and information Chris! Wondering what your male/female ratio of birds is? Not sure if I'm just having bad luck, but mine keep fighting with one another...down to 1 roo, but even the girls get nasty if I try to introduce anyone new. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate your opinion. Blessings!
Yep, he has great videos, I keep catching myself going back to watch them because eventually I am doing a project similar to what he has done... I am thinking of a similar hutch for Cornish Game Hens.
Amazing video! I have rabbits and chickens (for eggs) and now I'm researching raising quails for meat as well. Your hutch design is definitely one of the best I've come across! I understand that I'll need two of these hutches (for breeding, and another for growouts) but we only have space for 1. I'm thinking to build one that's just like yours, but adding another level so the 2 cages are stacked vertically. I'm thinking while the droppings from the lower cage go straight to the ground, those from the upper cage can go down to a pan/board at an angle so I can push them towards the back and to the ground. Do you think this design will work? Any complexity that you can think of? Thanks in advance.
I think that would work just fine. But you don't have to have a separate cage for your grow outs. I tend to throw mine in the same cage as the breeders and just make sure I have enough left over to continue breeding when processing day comes. Sometimes the younger birds become new breeders for me.
Nice