Gun Dog Forum

Alright I’m a total fish out of water here. Currently reading Spaniel Training by Todd Agnew. In which he advocates keeping quail and he flight conditions them by “training” them to return to the pen with food and water and he releases 20 or so a day five days a week for his dogs to get plenty bird contacts. Now that seems a little much for what I need but I want to implement this.

2 things concern me.

I have never kept birds in the past. What size pen would need to be constructed to keep 10-12 quail so I could release 5-7 per day?

The second is there are a couple of neighborhood cats 2 of my neighbors keep around and at least one fox that I get a glimpse of occasionally but I haven’t been able to get a clean shot on. My dog generally keeps the cats away from the house and I’d feel bad shooting the cats since they’re “someone else’s” and not just feral. How do I keep these animals out and let the quail back in? I know I’m going to lose some and that’s not the issue, I don’t want to walk out one morning to find all my quail dead or missing.


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They tried to reintroduce pheasants around here with wild stock. They didn't last 4 years! The number one predator - all alone - was feral cats. Most cats - feral or otherwise are efficient killers. I'm going out on a limb but I'm guessing your chances for success are fair-to-poor.
Pigeons would be the better training aid, more hardy, easier/less expensive to maintain with the added bonus that they may even propagate!

You can make or buy a cone that is bigger on the outside for the entrance. Small enough so a cat or a fox can't get in. A weasel can still get them. the cats, foxes, Hawks and other varmints can get them outside. They needs some cover to get back to the J house and some cockbirds inside to call them back,......Cj

Seems to me you build your pen with a small call back holding area. Dont lose all the birds if some thing gets in

search Johnny house plans. You'll get a bunch of hits. I've made 2, first one was horizontal, second one was vertical as you'll see in many plans. After much trial and error I purchased feed and water tubes from an online company that I can't recall the name, wildlife something, pricey but they work really well. Think I purchased entrance funnel from LCS, they have plans for sale as well. Mine is 4x4.

Before you turn some loose, need to keep them in the johnny house for a week, or more, to acclimate them.

If you have good flight conditioned Bob White's, they will work well from Johnny house's. They fly well and get fairly wild. But predators like cats will still take a toll on them. I'd train with pigeons and finish up on game birds. Something about game birds, they come back well but don't usually go right back in. That's where your gonna lose a bunch of them, sitting around waiting to go back in. You might try predator proofing around the house. If you can find some type pasture fence that something like a cat can't get through and surround the re-entry area with it, including over the top, the quail go through but the cats can't. Or use something like chicken wire but put plenty of funnels around it. The bird will go in fairly close the the house and even if then don't go right is, are still trapped inside and cats trapped outside.

Alright after research I like the looks of a quail house from Lone Star Quail Houses. It seems like it’s the easiest to use. Probably build it myself as opposed to paying the price they’re asking 1200 plus 300 shipping. They’re on Facebook and YouTube with a simple search.


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