Quail/chicken run build lessons learnt.mp4

This is an update to the previous video "How to build a quail or chicken run." This video details some of the "lessons learnt" since the build, and what improvements or adjustments I've made to the run. A written article about this can be found on my blog at www.selfsufficientme.com
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Please watch: "5 Fruit Tree & Veggie Patch Questions"
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[@Selfsufficientme]

Thank you for your kind comment. I really hope you fall in love with chickens and good luck with your build - remember, the run doesn't have to be or look perfect it just has to work. cheers, Mark

[@donnagaudette6502]

I know this is over 9 years and you have new ones. I am so glad to se this. I am now going to figure out away to build an aviary. I know they are for meat but I believe they need happy live while they are alive.

[@Selfsufficientme]

Yeah, I quite like a change from the common brown - it's nice to add a bit of colour to a quail or chicken flock - thanks for commenting :)

[@Selfsufficientme]

Well done on building your run and getting some quail! I'm always learning something new about these birds. Mine have stopped laying too. Quail will generally only start laying after about 8 weeks and then stop as the days get shorter coming into winter. Unless an artificial light is used, quail won't likely lay until winters end as it starts warming up and the days get longer. Yeah, my males have been less noisy also after moving them to the larger run - hope it remains that way :)

[@Selfsufficientme]

Hi jmercer1820, thanks for your kind comment :) Yes, I need to rake the litter and remove it with a shovel and wheelbarrow about every 4-6 weeks (sometimes longer depending on how many birds I have). I place the litter into my vegetable garden as a fertiliser mulch or into the compost to use later. My size pen takes a small bale of sugar cane mulch but you can use other litter of course like hay/straw, sand, or wood shaving etc.

[@desertaliend_b9840]

Even your older videos are great. 👍

[@TheThor2745]

Look how young you looked Mark, keep up the great videos mate

[@lucascastro685]

I'm really impressed with your quail run and way of living. (Not to say that I envy in a good way) I've been watching your vids all day long. Can't way to build my own run too. Thanks for all the information. From Goiás, Brazil.

[@reynaschlichter6645]

Thank you for your videos - they've very helpful to me. I'm in Oregon, US and will be getting chickens tomorrow - 8 and 1 rooster - never had any before and you've made me braver to build a run for them - I have 1/3rd acre but also have dogs so it's in our best interest to make a run for the chickens. Thanks again.

[@Selfsufficientme]

Yes, initially when I first got quail I considered ways to keep them laying all year (ie) get lighting etc. However, as I learn't more about them I found it was better for the quails health & also breeding (stronger chicks) to let the mums have a rest during their natural cycle which is through winter when daylight shortens. I guess I like my quail to live as happy a life as possible (just like my hens & ducks) because I don't have the commercial pressure to produce I can. Good luck with yours!

[@Selfsufficientme]

G'Day Harry, to answer your questions, my pen can easily hold 100 quail comfortably but I usually keep no more than about 40 at a time - it's a real club Med for quail. Yes, male quail make a call quite loud not as loud as a rooster (listen to some of my vids and you'll hear them. Happy quail hens will lay one egg a day through spring/summer than stop laying through winter. There is no need to clip Jap quail wings as they only fly a short distance then they are pooped-out and easily caught.

[@charliesweb1k]

I love the Coturnix that looked like Autumn Ambers rosed colored. thanks

[@Selfsufficientme]

Thanks. I think if you have a lot of predators an enclosed run is the only way to go. I often see hawks and even owls stalking our quail from outside the pen - there's no way they can get in but they sit and watch. Found a python the other morning curled up against the cage he probably tried all night to get in...Ha! I hope you find acreage living fun (I'm sure you will) - my bucket list is to visit Canada one day. Cheers :)

[@mrbluenun]

Hi, And many thanks for the breeding of quail, very much appreciated.

[@Selfsufficientme]

+mrbluenun Hi and thanks again! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Cheers :)

[@brettwhite5906]

Vintage Self Sufficient Me! Here in 2022!

[@lowboysbluepits1]

i just found u here on youtube and im loving all the videos . ive learned sooooo much. i will be making a quail pen like the one u made. i love u ❣ thank u so much for all u r teaching us . from USA Alabama !

[@Selfsufficientme]

Hi, I'm glad you are considering a quail pen rather than a cage because this is the most humane way to keep them in my opinion giving them an area of space to roam etc. Thank you :)

[@gator70422]

Excellent job !!

[@Selfsufficientme]

Thanks for that :)

Time flies so fast

[@domesticarboretum7009]

Your beard was the best decision you ever made.

[@martiwoodchip4518]

You are truly one of the nicer quail keepers that I have seen on this channel, please do not tell me that you also kill and eat your quail, please no no.

[@Selfsufficientme]

Thank you :)

[@sindrome303]

LMAO have you seen his peri peri quail on the webber Q. your an idiot Marti. Quails are great food, and that's the whole point of raising them. better you crawl back to your safe place. Find a green paddock and berry your head in the grass.

[@KellenChase]

Been watching a lot of your recent stuff over the past few years. Looking to starting quail for me and my family, and was really pleasantly surprised to come across yours as the top hit on google for “how to build a quail run”. Amazing to see the transition between these earlier videos and current as well. Id like to ask, I am on very limited space, how does this work for cleaning and/or collecting for compost?

[@jmercer1820]

Thanks for the excellent videos featuring your quail pen. Just wondering would you ever need to remove the litter in the quail pen, and replace it ?

[@babel1980adam]

would you be quiet?! and she shut up... hahahahah brilliant!

[@hauntee]

Have you tried to add supplemental lighting to get them to lay year round or do you prefer them to take the break? I figure it might not be the easiest to run lights to your pen setting though. Just wondered if you tried and how it worked out for you if so. Your pen has inspired me to mine like yours...I appreciate your helpful videos you made on this! Excited to create my home for my soon to be quails :)

[@72armydad]

question for you How much land do you use for the garden and the animals all together. I am looking at min 5 acres.

[@9988ruler]

Hi i just wondered firstly how many quails do you keep in your coop? Secondly like chickens do male quails crow? Next how many eggs do they lay? Finaly have you cliped your quaios wings and do you need to if there in a confined space like your coop?

[@justthegoodbits1]

What wire mess do you use for quail and / chicken?

[@ElkinsEric]

In the US it’s called Hardware Cloth. They make both 1/4” and 1/2”.

[@mrbluenun]

Hi, I just wondered whether any quails will lay and sit on their eggs?

[@Selfsufficientme]

+mrbluenun Yes but it is rare - check out this video it has some info on this very topic kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJKyon59jsmjo5Y

[@joansmith3492]

I know you recommend quail on the ground. But I have a bird dog I need to protect them from. So, I want to build a wicking bed off the ground. I want to make it 3 ft (1 meter?) by 10 ft (3 meters). I want it to be about 2 feet off the ground and the total height of the cage 6 ft (2 meters?). I want to try to grow bamboo and stuff in there for them. I'm thinking they will still be on dirt and won't have to look at the dog. Of course I will use hardware cloth and stuff for predator protection. I want to keep 6-10 birds. Is this nuts?

[@Selfsufficientme]

No I don't think it's nuts at all, in fact, I think your idea is outside of the box thinking and I really quite like the concept of a large raised garden bed/cage to house quail - even on a small scale that would be pretty cool. Just make sure the cage is fully enclosed ie it has a roof because quail can fly directly upwards several metres plus other animals will want to get in but as for being raised I think it's brilliant! Cheers :)

[@ElkinsEric]

Well did you make your raised box? How’d it do; what are your likes and dislikes? Thanks

[@AlexanderTheGrateful]

hmmm never new quales made chicken noises

[@royjenkins5266]

@5:19 hahhaha

[@Selfsufficientme]

That chicken... ;)

[@martiwoodchip4518]

UUP I heard yo say one for dinner, off to the next clip sorry I do not show interest in people who can kill such tiny little birds for what?....2 or 3 little bites of meat?. SAD SAD SAD.

[@Selfsufficientme]

I respect your choice to not eat animals. Cheers :)

[@vink6163]

Yes it's so sad when someone goes to the effort of looking after their animals properly, giving them a good life. It would be better to not bother with any fences and have the birds struggle to find enough food and then get mauled by wild dogs, that's a much happier outcome!

[@martiwoodchip4518]

Do the letters "F.O" mean anything to you? good now then FUCK OFF!

[@ElkinsEric]

Then go eat you oatmeal and be happy. Leave other people alone; don’t try to force YOUR beliefs onto someone else..