Interactive lesson

A quail aviary, step by step

Interactive lesson: choose the housing, fit a safe ceiling, build an aviary with no gaps, fit it out inside and protect the birds from rats, heat and draughts.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Aviary or cage

A quail doesn't need a hen house or a run, but a dry, light, safe space.

Floor aviary — 0.1–0.15 m² per bird. The birds walk, dust-bathe and hide, and the litter and droppings go to the compost. For a backyard it's the first choice.
Tiered cage — At least 0.025 m², better 0.033 m² per bird. It makes sense when you have little room but want more clean eggs.
Movable pen — 0.15–0.2 m² per bird, on grass from May to September. A summer extra, not the only home.
What it must have — Mesh no larger than 13 mm (½ in), a roof and at least one solid wall, a safe ceiling, a dry floor, daylight, hides and a door that locks.

Why: About fifteen birds fit on two square metres. But in a small space every mistake shows quickly: a two-centimetre gap lets a rat in, and wet litter brings disease within a week.

If you're just starting, build an aviary for 15 birds and leave room to extend it.
One larger aviary with two compartments (layers and young birds, or males) is more useful than two small ones.

2. Height and ceiling

A frightened quail doesn't run sideways; it shoots straight up.

The upward jump — The bird jumps hard and without warning. The ceiling has to take it, and the bird has to survive it.
Low: up to 25 cm — The bird can't build up speed. So a cage tier is 20–25 cm (8–10 in) high, no more.
30–150 cm: soft netting — The most dangerous height. Nylon bird or fruit-cage netting with a 1–2 cm mesh, stretched 5–10 cm under the hard ceiling, gives when a bird hits it.
High: from 1.8 m — The bird slows before the ceiling, and you walk in upright. Go in slowly, always the same way, and talk to them.

Why: In a cage 40–80 cm high it builds up speed and hits its head on a hard ceiling: skin torn off the crown, concussion and death. So the ceiling is low, high or has soft netting.

Quail are most often frightened by someone coming in suddenly, a dog, a cat behind the mesh, the shadow of a bird of prey and a flash of light.
Don't use thin thread for the soft netting: a foot can get tangled in it.