That's not the full habitat, but it is definitely the best picture I could use for a thumbnail. It gives the idea that the Quails are finally outside of their cage and they have a mini shelter, with a sandbath right next to their little house. Enough to make you open this post if you are into Flock birds, Homesteading, DIY stuff or if you just like animals.
My Quails used to be enclosed in a little cage until last week, but after posting on Hive about them and reading a lot of feedback here and on the interwebz, I understood that even though the person who sold them to me said it was ok for them to live inside a cage, Quails are not happy in such an enclosed environment.
Even before researching about the best habitat for Quails I knew I wanted to build something for them, just because I didn't like the cage and also because I understood that Quails must hate being so crammed, but then after reading all the feedback I knew I just had to build their habitat as soon as possible.
The person who sold them to me is a low class citizen from a small town in the middle of buttfuck Mexico, so it is understandable - yet it is not admissible - that he thinks that keeping 20 Quails inside a cage as little as this one is ok because they seem happy and their egg production is fine:
Hint: After seeing how happy and active my Quails are in their new habitat, I understood that what this person does with his Quails should be punished by death.
Anyway, I decided to get dirty and begin the habitat building. I've never liked hiring people to do what I can do by myself even if I have to learn how to do it and spend a lot more time - but save money - in doing so. I enjoy handcrafting and building things on my own and even though I know I will eventually have to build a better habitat, I decided to do it myself this time.
So I got some free wood scraps from a nearby furniture factory, I bought some chicken wire, a panel to protect the habitat from the sun and the rain, some nails, my building tools - which definitely need an upgrade - and I got to work.
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The dogs love being outside in the garden, but only if someone is out there with them, otherwise they will use their little dog door on the back and come be with me or my girlfriend. They are needy and they can't be by themselves. The only time they are outside enjoying the massive garden we have is when they have to pee, when we leave the house (because if the Boxer stays inside she wrecks havoc, no matter how many times I discipline her, she's just dumb - and I say that because the other three are very well trained), when I mow the lawn, when we have breakfast on the little garden table, or when we have guests and we eat out in the garden.
So for them, spending these five hours outside with me is incredibly therapeutic, and I also get some company which is great.
Anyway, let me show you my process:
The first thing I had to do is even the wood pieces. I got a lot of wood scraps from the local factory but all these pieces had a different length so I had to measure them, come up with two common lengths that allowed me to use every single wood stick, and then I cut them with my saw.
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After all the measuring and cutting which turned out to be a pain in the back because I don't have a proper workshop with a big table and I had to do it directly on the ground, I got around 30 short sticks and 10 long sticks. According to my calculations it would be more than enough to make their habitat.
Originally my aim was to make them a 5 square meter habitat: Two square meters in the main enclosure and an extra 3 square meters as a corridor on the right side of this picture:
But man my calculations were wrong as hell
The wood would only be enough for around two square meters. I then got on my laptop and researched if this space would be enough for eight quails in complete happiness and turns out it is, so I went for it. I was already in the middle of the process and I hate leaving things unfinished. Add that to the fact that I don't have a lot of free time and I didn't know when I would be able to get back to finishing their habitat - it could be a couple of weeks - and well, a two square meter habitat it is.
Now I'm not a carpenter. I've done some woodwork in the past but I don't know the tips and I lack the expertise that experience gives, but I do have a laptop with internet and I can research how to do stuff.
So I began building the walls of the habitat.
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Don't be fooled, it looks easy but I found it to be quite complicated to nail properly using the cement floor and because the wood is low quality it keep splintering and shattering, so I had to use thin nails and hammer them as straightest as I could.
I ended up wasting like 3-4 sticks until I got the hang of it, the good thing is that I was able to reuse those for other purposes within the habitat - that part coming next.
After getting the walls done I had to cover one side with chicken wire. This process is simple, the problem is cutting the chicken wire correctly with my set of tools.
This habitat building process made me realize how limited I am with my small tool box and I accepted that when I have some spare money I will definitely improve my tool set. I will have to spend like 150 bucks and I will be set, perhaps for the habitat upgrade I will already have them, who knows, I rely on the markets to have spare money so that might be a while.
After cutting the chicken wire with my garden scissors I had to nail the wire to the walls. For that I used small nails in U form like those you use to keep cables in place inside your house.
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Right at this point I was already like three hours in on this, I was getting a little bit tired from the sun and the lack of a proper table, having to do all of this with the ground as my only ally, but I was progressing, which gave me the drive to continue.
I then went on to make the longer wall of the habitat. Believe me, if I had had - yeah, I can use past perfect tense - longer wood pieces I would've made a longer front wall to give them more space, but I had limited wood pieces to work with and I had to adapt.
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The habitat is almost complete
As you can see I set the fence walls on the ground thanks to a couple balance sticks that go in the ground. I also measured the habitat perfectly so the Quail's cage fitted perfectly on the concrete wall, that way the Quails can go to sleep at night and I am able to clean the habitat while they sleep locked in their cage. This also allows me to provide them some shelter for the wind and the cold by setting a towel on top of the cage and covering the sides, effectively creating some sort of cozy environment at night. It doesn't get too cold at night here but it can get to 5 degrees celsius so better safe than sorry.
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I also went to the local warehouse where I got some construction sand. I filtered the mid size and bigger rocks, left the grains and the very small rocks and used an old and short bucket I had to get them their sandbath. I had to dig a little bit because the bucket was too high for the short-brained Quails to realize there is sand inside, and it was also a little bit too high for them to jump inside.
In the end it seems like this was the best decision ever, the Quails love the sandbaths! Thanks @felixxx for this tip by the way.
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It looks great doesn't it? Maybe it's not an expert's work but man, I love how it looks:
I know, I should've varnished the wood pieces in order to make the habitat last longer, but since it is not the rainy season and it doesn't start until April, I left it like that. By the time the rainy season arrives I will already have built a proper habitat with more space, better detailing and well, that fits even more Quails!
Dude, you have no idea how big of a mess I made, and after finishing I went straight to shower and left all the mess overnight, only to pick up the trash, store the tools and clean the grass.
I almost forgot!
Since there was a lot of scrap wood after I finished the fence, I thought it would be great to make a couple of little shelters for the Quails to hang out during the day and choose easily from being directly on the sun or under the shade.
I know, they are shit quality but the Quails do not care about a shelter being Gucci or Walmart branded:
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I also added a small insulation board to the shelters so it doesn't feel like a sauna when the sun is directly above the Quails, but if you have any tips I am more than open to hear them out!
Last but not least, I added some cover and insulation boards to the cage so the heat and warmth is store easier during the chilly night times. It's not perfect, but it's honest work.
In the end, it looks amazing!
It's not perfect, I know, but I love how the Quails run around, find shelter, hide inside the tall grass, eat from the ground, forage all the terrain and overall be happy.
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That's it!
I hope you liked this episode on the Quail Tales, if you have any feedback or comments please share them in the comment section, and let me know if you have any Flock Birds, perhaps we can share anecdotes :)