The Quail Motel for Micro Farming

Quail cages. Lift out of the tray to clean and replace wire cage back into the tray. Doors flap inward. Trying different feed and water options.

Coturnix are great layers and handle confinement very well.  Unlike Bobwhite and California quail, corts as they are know, have been domesticated far longer so they are more docile.

This was built as an experiment into small lot production.  This would easily fit on a balcony or in a corner of the garage (where I had it).  In an emergency it could be kept in the mudroom of the house in case of abnormally cold temps.

The drawers come out and the cages lift off for quick and easy cleaning.  The materials are easy to find and build with.  This was in use for about a year before I sold it to make room in the garage for other projects.

The cages all have individual waterers and feeders to make it easy and fast to care for them.  Cleaning the cages is fast if you use the pelleted wood for pellet burning stoves.  The pellets absorb moisture fast and thoroughly so that smells don’t permeate so badly.  Corts are not as smelly as chickens but dust can be an issue with some cheap pellets.

Overall it went well.  The birds provided about an egg a day and fertility was always high, so we had a great hatch rate.  Feed to meat and egg ration is good and the savings on space by stacking makes good use of small room.  The birds like to be handled if you handle them from chicks, and that makes it more fun when you can play with the birds everyday out in an open area.