quail flight pens

[dog dr]

this is probably a dumb question, but here goes. how do the quail benefit from being in the "flight" pen? all the pics i have seen the birds are fed and waterd on the floor, and there are no elevated places for them to sun themselves like in a johnny house. i guess you could go in daily and make them fly, but i have also read that they suggest feeding at night so as not to disturb the birds, keep them "wild", etc. Looks to me like they would just walk around the pen floor all day, and not fly enough to do any good. what am i missing??

[DonF]

Just throw a declawed cat in with them! I had ledges in mine and solid boards up about 5'. Feed and water were put in from outside.

[Buckeye_V]

I wondered this myself, so I put in "roosts" around the top of my flight pen. The birds are usually fighting for room there. The get fed and watered on the floor and fly to their roosts.

My plan some day is to add a watering and platform and suspend it from the roof. Some day :roll:

[mountaindogs]

There are flight pens and then very good flight pens. Some pens do have roosting areas sunning areas, misters to encourage oil coat on feathers. Some even have net dividers on bottom going half way up and move food and water from side to side making birds fly over. Also, some raisers swear that most pens are nit high enough and encourage low fliers so they build them higher.
I can say a quail kept in a very small pen for a few weeks tends to lose the ability to fly long or a second time, and can be chased down by dogs who chase at flush.

[dog dr]

I wondered this myself, so I put in "roosts" around the top of my flight pen. The birds are usually fighting for room there. The get fed and watered on the floor and fly to their roosts.

My plan some day is to add a watering and platform and suspend it from the roof. Some day :roll:

i would love to see some pics of your flight pen if you have any. i am seriously considering building one big enough to house 300-400 birds. how big is yours??

and what is everybodys opinion on wire floor vs dirt floor with cover (some milo, etc.)?

[Buckeye_V]

Not very big, considering. Big enough to temporarily house 100 birds or about 30 long term. Right now all I have in there are 5 homers. Think of a garden shed with mesh on the walls and floor. 10 x10 with a 7 foot tall roof in the center. trussed. It sits up about 3 feet off the ground and has an integrated recall area for the homers. I put livetraps underneath for quail and chukar that recall. I get about 25% back with quail and about 50% back with chukar.

Greg J. helped me install the mesh, which is as heavy duty as it comes. Small openings so varmints cannot get in. Nesting boxes for the homers, although the squabs all die. In the winter I put the cruddy hay in the bottom for warmth and nesting material.

Works for me.

[northern cajun]

I just closed in an a horse stall. Works great.

[High Brass]

Hey dog dr.
Search Quail Ranch of Oklahoma, and click on home they have instructions to build a very nice flight pen built on wire to prevent the build up of disease over time. They also show a very nice freeze proof watering system.
Good Luck
Bob

[dog dr]

Hey dog dr.
Search Quail Ranch of Oklahoma, and click on home they have instructions to build a very nice flight pen built on wire to prevent the build up of disease over time. They also show a very nice freeze proof watering system.
Good Luck
Bob

Ive seen that, it looks like a great set up. right now i am contmplating something very similar. trying to maybe make it not quite as permanent or expensive!

how old are those pups now, Bob? any winners in the bunch?

[High Brass]

Check E-Bay for netting there is usually a good selection at resonable prices.

The pups are doing great, they will be six months old the 18th of February. My daughter and I each kept one of the girls. They are doing great: broke to the gun, begining to point a good population of wild birds we found at a near by state park, busting big time brush, and swimming like fish. We will continue this till April 1st when they can't run wild birds in Illinois and switch to pigeons for a while. The pup that went to Indianapolis hunted in Iowa earlier and the owners were very happy with how she handled.

Bob

[Vman]

I have seen several flight pens over the years but the best one I thought was Checkmate kennels years ago. He had a pole barn with no steal on it. Only netting. He had a suspended wire floor with a couple of walking planks to gather birds. The birds were clean and could fly. The height of the pole barn was maybe 30 ft to the peak and maybe 60ft. long. The only thing I would have done differently is tarp the roof at one end and bring it down the sides, so the birds had shelter in rain and winter. I think he fed them from the outside. He had good quail and he also had some good dogs because of it.
I you look around you can find used trusses or old sheds that need to be torn down.

[Buckeye_V]

I know a guy who used PVC pipes to make hoops and then secured them to a 2x 8 treated frame and then hung the netting on top of thaat. I bet you could then hang a tarp on top of the netting for some potection. I just build "covey" boxes about 10" high with 3 sides and a top. The birds will huddle in there for warmth and protection but can fly anywhere they need to.

[Vman]

You can also use a FarmTech Hoop building. I know a guy in Iowa that raises his chuckars in one. Works great. Just put the feeders up on a 2x6 box with wire on top for the feeders too sit on. Any spilled feed can mold and then you have problems. This will keep the birds from getting into the spoiled feed.