Our DIY Quail Hutch
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2018
- Our DIY Quail Hutch
Episode 46
This isn't a "How To" video but you may get some ideas for your future build. Gin and I build a hutch for the twenty five quail that we recently purchased. The quail are three weeks old and we took the heat lamp off three days before putting them in the new hutch. They did great the first night and we haven't had any issues with them being too cold.
Thanks for watching! Jay and Gin
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Music by Jay Held
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Almost Homestead refers to our unconventional approach to homesteading on three separate small properties and working with what we have. It also refers to the fact that this is not our ideal Homestead situation but almost. In the future we hope to purchase another Homestead with more land. For now, we continue to live, learn, and build on our investment. Our goal is to share our journey and inspire others that might be thinking about living a more self sustainable lifestyle. Follow along as we build, repair, reuse, scrounge for materials, plant, forage, explore, eat, drink, and share what we are doing to make this dream a reality.
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Now that lloks like the perfect place to live. - not just for the quails.
It is beautiful here but we miss having some grass for the chickens to be on occasionally. 😁 Thank you for commenting.
They livin' they best life in there. Like Hilton at least in bird terms.
Dude! You have running water coming through your property?!? Cooooooooool! Love the hutch.
Yes, being on a clean river is a bonus. 🙂 We feel very fortunate for that. Thank you for checking out the video and commenting. 👍
Thanks for sharing.
Charming. Love to see the imagination and care you have for homing your quail.
Thank you. 🙂
So nice! Thanks so much, great video!!!!
Almost Homestead
Thank you. Side note: I ended up cutting the wood floor out and putting in hardware cloth due to the amount of poop they produce. Easier to let it all fall to the ground for cleanup. Thank you for watching and commenting!
that is cute...have a good week-end...thank you for sharing...
Jody Sappington Thanks Jody. Hope you have a good weekend as well.
I'm making one now but, I'm on another level. I live in Northern Ontario where the winters can be pretty cold so I'm insolating it. Two levels, 5 half feet long 6 feet high that way I have the room for 2 levels with cabins drop poop trys in between, self-feeders, and water and a see-through dust bin just because I love to watch them take their dust baths. It's so cute and funny to watch. Awesome job guys keep up the great work
Sounds like you have a great plan for happy birds. 🙂👍
Lookin good! Your place is awesome!!! Right by the river can get any better than that!!!
Thank you! It is really beautiful. Most of the time I have the river to myself in the backyard which is pretty incredible. We do have a problem with drug addicts in our community so that can way heavy on us at times. Hopefully it gets better. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Great build, LOOOOOVE that you reuse/recycle everything.
Thank you! We love reusing materials and saving money. It just feels right.
I think you did a excellent job! I think they will be happy in their new coop!
Annie Farmer Thank you. It’s nice to see them in a bigger space. They love sitting in the caged part and being outside.
Looks great, good planning and workmanship
Thank you!
Great video thanks for all the info
Thank you!
Great job.
R B Thank you!
Wow thank you so much for sharing your process. I'm wanting to get quails and I live the set up you have including the feeders, you e given me really good direction to make my own too, thanks!!
Cool! I hope it helps you with your design. I left you a few thoughts on your other comment from the dog crate hutch as well. Thank you for commenting!
Your a heck of a builder. Looks great
Lorie Habel Thank you Lorie. It’s kind of fun slapping things together and seeing what comes out of it.
Awesome, going to build mine just like this
I ended up making both floors out of wire. The poop just built up to fast on the solid floor. Good luck!
Bravo good job 👏
Thank you!
Great job on the quail coop, looks nice
My Slice Of Heaven Outdoors Thank you. It seems to be holding up to the rain that just rolled in.
Excellent
Daybird Aviaries Thank you for stopping by. 😁
Love the house
Thank you Robyn! 😁
Really nice
Thank you! 😁
That coop thingy looks cool. Good job! Hope you caught some fish! :)
Pine City Apiary Thanks for checking it out. No fish. Last few days have been weird. No fish jumping at all.
Nice little hutch. I will be watching more to see if Quials is something I could do.
The Citystead So far so good. They just had their second night in the hutch and all is good. We’ll keep posting vids of our progress. Thanks for watching.
Nice
Very nice! We just started raising quails also right now we’ve got a set similar to this one.
Thank you. I ended up cutting the wood floor out and putting in hardware cloth due to the amount of poop they produce. Easier to let it all fall to the ground for cleanup. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Good Job you done sir
Thank you!
LOVE the cut the door after hinges things. Brilliant idea. BTW... Totally coveting your sliding chop saw! ❤️❤️
Thanks! I forget where I saw that method of cutting out a door but it works great. Love that saw. Haha! I am going to do an update on the coop. There are a few things that aren't working well. For example: the floor should be all screen free of any 2 x 4 frame on the floor. The 2 x 4's on the floor collect a ton of poo and have to be scraped. Thank you for watching and commenting.
This dude. Genius.
Haha! Thank you. I should mention that I did away with the wood floor and made both sides wire due to extreme poop build up on the wood floor. I did give them wood and other platforms to get off the wire floor is they wanted.
Well done. Those are some lucky quail to have such a nice home.
Christina Elliott Thanks Christina. So far they are doing well in there. I thought that they would hang out in section with walls now that it’s getting colder but they stay by the hardware cloth for the most part.
@@AlmostHomestead I noticed that when the first brave chick approached the side with hardware cloth, there was definite hesitancy. Maybe it's unnatural for them to walk on something they can see through especially from a height. I know that's true for human crawlers and toddlers.
Christina Elliott They definitely had to get used to it. They stayed in the side with the solid floor for awhile before they would come out and walk around on the wire. I cut the wood floor out of the other side shortly after the build. Just too much poop piling up.
Great video thank you!! We are getting quail in a couple days and I’m building my coop today ☺️
I did away with the wood floor due to so much poop build up so fast. I had a few different things for them to climb and stand on though in case they wanted to get off of the wire floor. I also ended up reducing the flock and using a large dog cage/crate for their home that had a built in poop tray which was great. I made a video of that build also. Good luck with your build.
Great job Jay
Thank you Charles. I ended up cutting out the wood floor a few months later so the poop could fall through the floor. It was building up way to fast and was pretty stinky. Wanted a cleaner setting for the birds.
@@AlmostHomestead thanks for sharing I'm in the process of building my quail's a coop .
I was wondering about the sand floor.
Personally I thought it was pretty smart they get the best of both worlds . But the amonia poop can play a big part in scrapping that idea .
Again thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Blessings and more Blessings to you and your family
Removing pallate wood is best done by pounding from the underside working from end to end and back again. Use a 2x6 block or a rubber mallet to evenly distribute the blows and stop splintering. Pound the wood slats back down from the top avoiding the nails and this will expose (and loosen) the nail heads to then be able to use a pry bar.
Thanks!
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Thank you
@@AlmostHomestead I'm glad you like it !
everything done together ... this is beautiful my friend!
Thank you so much.
Many thanks, I have been researching "raising coturnix quail" for a while now, and I think this has helped. You ever tried - Eeyila Rudimentary Expediency - (do a google search ) ? It is a smashing exclusive guide for discovering how to raise healthy and fertile quail minus the headache. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my co-worker got excellent success with it.
Salute sir
CHIEF OG GARAGE Thank you for watching and subscribing.
Looks like it will work! Nice job. Finally catching up with you all since we've been without internet for a month. We are now on our new property in our new cabin. Have a lot of work to do! Could really use some of your carpentry skills here! 😉
MotherOfManyHorses Thank you for stopping by. We’ll get over to your channel and see your new place. I haven’t been able to keep up with watching TH-cam channels this summer. So much to do before the weather starts to change. Sometimes my carpentry skills are more slap together skills haha!
Nice build! Way to use and reuse! I have Bobwhite quail hatching in about a week. I don’t have their outdoor cage set up yet.
Thank you Tessa! I need to do an update video. There are a few things that I would change if I built this again. I am going to build another hutch or modify this one. I left 2 x 4 ledges inside the coop that catch poop and doesn't allow the poop to fall through the wire mesh. It builds up quickly and smells bad. There shouldn't be any ledge...just wire floor. Also, I would put a slant to the wire floor also so the eggs roll toward the front of the hutch. Sometimes I have to stick my head and hand way in there to reach an egg at the back of the hutch. I have had a quail fly out over my head twice while digging inside for an egg. Haha! I was able to recover the quail both times but one time I didn't know that a quail had escaped until I saw it jumping around behind me on the ground.
Love this!! Ill definitely be doing this!! I just wish i could fish in my back yard!!! Lol
I ended up making the wood floor a wire floor. They poop so much and it was really stinky and difficult to manage. It is pretty nice to have a river in the backyard
Almost Homestead thats the only change i was going to make once we build ours lol. We live in PA so my plan is going to be to take them to our garage (its a 5 acer property with a garage but no house) and let them roam in between our garden rows for the summer (fenced in of corse) and then once fall hits, cull off whoever we wont be breeding for the next year (probably around 20 birds) and set them up in a small area of our basement to keep them warm and give them a break for the winter
@@BigDreamsSmallSpaces2023 Sounds like a great plan!
very nice
Thank you! I need to do an update and talk about things that I would change on this build. The 2 x 4's on the inside create a shelf where poop collects and it needs to be all wire floor so the poop falls through. Thanks for watching and commenting.
you can also use bamboo to the flooring but if bamboo is not available in your country chicken wire is ok to use...your tools are great it looks easy for you to make a qual house...
I know this is old but you did a great job 👏🏼 I love it I’m sure they do/did too ❤❤
Thank you Jeanette. 🙂
@@AlmostHomestead your welcome 🤗
Great video, I just finished (well almost finished) building a quail hutch myself (it's on my page for anyone who wants a quick laugh lol :). I probably should have watched this video first lol. Just subbed and looking forward to your content!
Generally its in fact cheaper to buy a kit than a build from scratch unless you can get 2nd hand timber. Nice solid job.
Thanks for watching and commenting.👍🙂
Nice hutch! I used to raise quail commercially a few years ago, several different species including Coturnix like you have. Great egg layers and good meat.
Stoney Creek Heritage Farm Thanks Bill. We’re looking forward to the meat and eggs. Did you have a closed in nest area or just open cages. Wondering what you used for bedding if you had an enclosed area. We’re using sand but those little buggers poop so much it’s hard to keep it clean.
I found mine didn't do closed in areas well. So I just had one big open area. I used a shallow plastic pan for dust baths, with frequent changes...sometimes they laid in there, but typically they just laid an egg where ever they happen to be. Ended up building cages that were on a 5 degree slope, so all the eggs would roll to the door for easy collection.
Two huge mistakes I see people make (You haven't addressed it, so not saying you're in this category) To be successful with quail, they need gamebird/turkey crumble starter feed. Greater than 20% protein, 24%-28% is optimum. For breeding age adults, 3-6 hens to one cock bird, rule of thumb is 1 square foot of floor space per adult bird. Coturnix might be small but are vicious, you'll find scalped and dead birds in an over populated area and stressed birds don't make eggs. (for growout pens, you can over populate just keep the feed and water to them, once you start seeing eggs in about 6-8 weeks, better start weeding them out or the blood bath will be on)
Kept them on wire like the one half of your hutch too. Interesting thing with Coturnix, if kept on the ground, they are actually a burrowing quail. They will dig tunnels and lay their eggs in a community nest...but they have been domesticated for so many years, typically are not broody. I only had a 3 hens go broody and successfully raise chicks on all the years I had them.
Stoney Creek Heritage Farm Great info Bill. Really appreciate it. Wasn’t aware of their vicious nature. We do feed them starter crumble from the farm where we bought the quail. I think we need to rethink our housing situation. I’m thinking we’ll do 5-6 hens and a rooster in this existing quail hutch and put another group in our greenhouse. Then put them in a hutch of their own come springtime. Maybe make a predator proof hardware cloth box in the greenhouse for protection at night. The rest will be in the freezer.
Sounds like a perfect plan to me.
Looks good, but the metal you put on the housing area for the Quail will get the inside very hot if it is exposed to Sun. I know because I did this on one of my hutches, I had to take it off.
Thanks Bonnie. We stopped raising quail a few yrars ago. 🙂
👍
Nice design 👌 one question how do you catch the droppings from the wired run?
Sorry for the late response. I just saw your comment. I was letting them drop on the ground and then covering them with straw or wood chips. It was not the best method especially if I let it build up for awhile without taking it to our compost pile. I use a different cage now that has a tray to catch the poop. I have a video showing that cage on our channel also. Thanks for watching! 👍😁
Love your hutch. Now that you've had it for a few months, how's the cleaning going on the sand side? We currently house 3 quails on a ground level coop, but finding we have to clean almost every other day because of all the poop. Trying to find a better design and yours looks great!
hsinglanjin I cut out the floor on the sand side and added a screen floor. The poop just piled up to fast with a solid floor. The screened floors work great but the poop does pile up fast under the coop. I throw straw on top of the poop every once in awhile to keep the smell down. Then I take the pile to the compost pile once it’s getting too big. I do have to scrape the inside of the coop about once a month with a spatula wherever there is wood on the floor and no screen. Thanks for watching!
Many thanks, been searching for "quail cage with egg catcher" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you ever come across - Eeyila Rudimentary Expediency - (do a search on google ) ? It is a great one of a kind product for discovering how to raise healthy and fertile quail without the normal expense. Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my work buddy got great results with it.
@@jorgepestano4997 ngl you sound like a ad you said the same thing in another video
What were your dimensions for the hutch? I heard you say you had 25 quail - my understanding is you need about a square foot per quail ideally, though 1/2 square foot can work. How tall is the inside? Well done - nice build!! Thanks for sharing.
I really don't remember the dimensions. we ended up harvesting all of the quail. Thank you for watching!
Nice hutch, is there trout in that river?
Thank you. Yes trout are plentiful and white fish. We are between two falls so we don't get the salmon coming by
@@AlmostHomestead WOW! Thanks for replying.
Quail Condo I like it lol
Those little quail are egg laying machines. Unfortunately they are poop machines also. 😀
Where have you guys been, just found you!
Hi Debra. Glad you found us.
It’s amazing, BUT ! How old your bird and it’s all male or female?
About half of the quail flock were male. We got the makes down to around 3. We do not have the quail anymore. Just sticking with chickens now.
How's door fitting now? You didn't allow for swelling or shrinking.
The door was a little tight on bottom corner so I shaved a little off. Other then that, I haven't had any other issues.
That looked more like small pebbles not sand. They need a place for dusting and pebbles won 't work!
Yes indeed. I introduced a dust bath shortly after this video and made a wire floor with a wood platform to rest on. I also built a different cage after that.
i like yur shirt
I'm guessing that you are talking about the Bubbles and his kitties shirt? Haha! Bubs!
@@AlmostHomestead every ones shirt i guess. no reason to not. yours maybe.what are you wearing?
Cage maybe too tall for quail . When they jump from fear may break their neck per Myshire farm.
Could be. Maybe the extra platform i put in the cage helped. Never had an issue with a quail getting hurt in the cage. We dont have them anymore.
also...how many will you put in that hutch? they need about a little less than a square foot per bird and 25 quail in that small area is serious;y overcrowding!
Old video. I agree, they need a lot of room so they don't fight. We reduced the number of quail in the hutch shortly after the video .
If Quel is unable to walk or stand as if paralysis dies, then which medicine should be given, pls tell?
I have no idea but the youtube channel Slightly Rednecked might be able to help on one of his live streams.
Thanks for reply
Can quail free range will they go back to their coup ?
I have heard that you can't free range them as they would just take off and disappear. Square One Farms channel has quail in a chicken tractor on the ground. 😁
@@AlmostHomestead Do quail have full flight or are like chickens ?
@@edwin7126 That is a great question. I would have said no as I've heard that they are only capable of a small burst of flight. But I had one take off and fly about 125 feet to the river and then he banked to the left and went in the river. I couldn't believe it. I was able to save him though.
that wire flooring is sooooo bad for your quails you need to at least put newspaper over it
Cruel way to keep quail..they need to be on the ground..it’s not natural to keep them on wire
Geri Grover I think they likely are being used for breeding/butchering. :/. The wire is probably so it’s easier to clean the droppings.
If we get quail again we do want to have a ground based habitat.
Where is the environment for the birds? There is nothing in there. Why??🥺You need stones in there, small plants, small hills ect ect. Come on you can do it. It’s to boring and nothing to do in there for the birds. A place with only mesh and sand....really? Please make it a good place for them🙏🏻❤️
I agree. We got rid of them long ago. Didn't have a good place for them where they could be happy and in a better environment.
@@AlmostHomestead Okay. Glad we can agree on that🤗❤️