How to make a quail cage with your own hands: the choice of materials and recommendations for creating a design

Growing quails is considered a profitable occupation. So, a bird can be bred for eggs or meat, as well as for sale. Due to their compact size, quails can be kept in aviaries, small sheds or on the veranda. Moreover, some people breed birds on balconies. To get healthy young animals and a large number of eggs and meat, you need to responsibly approach the creation of cages with your own hands.

Cage requirements

First of all, such a design must be reliable. We are talking about the absence of gaps and the use of good material, thanks to which it will be possible to avoid injury to quails and simplify cleaning of the room.

Cages are installed in a room with heating and without drafts. You will also need high-quality ventilation, which allows you to maintain the health of the birds and avoid the appearance of an unpleasant odor in the room. When breeding quails on the balcony, direct sunlight should be avoided.

All cages should rise 30 cm from the floor. As a rule, they are installed near the wall, but if this is not possible, they are placed on small racks. If too much stock is raised, you can put cells in tiersthus saving space.

For one adult, an area of ​​u100bu170b1-60 cm² is required. Accordingly, 75–XNUMX adult quails will fit per XNUMX m².

Each cell should have:

• feeder;
• drinker;
• egg collector;
• litter tray.

Cells shouldn’t be big. Their front wall is a door, which is fixed to the structure with wire or hinges. You also need to make sure that there are sides on the sides.

Cells are typically 100 cm long, 40 cm wide and 20 cm high.

Cell types

Choosing the right design is not easy, because there are many varieties. They are divided into several groups depending on a number of factors:

• Quail age. So, cages are intended for chicks and adults. The design for young animals should have artificial heating. The area is divided into 2 parts. In one of them there is a heater, and in the other there is a feeder along with a drinker.
• Purpose of the bird. When breeding quails for meat, it is necessary to separate males and females that do not rush. An egg collector is not needed in such a cage. The design itself is considered the most simple. In the laying cage, females and males should be placed in a ratio of 6:1. The floor should be tilted so that the egg rolls into the tray on its own. You can also install a special egg collector.
• Placement methods. Cells are single and multi-tiered. For the manufacture of the first variety, plastic, plywood, metal mesh or wood are used. Multi-tiered cages are designed for industrial keeping of quails. All structures are installed in tiers and provide for a frame made of wood or metal.

Making a quail cage with your own hands

To make a cage for breeding quails with your own hands, you need to decide on the material, as well as preliminarily develop a drawing taking into account the size of the room where the birds will be kept.

Mesh construction

Beginning quail breeders should keep 15-20 adults in a cage from a grid. In this case, you will need a frame to which the walls and bottom, as well as the ceiling, are attached. Cell sizes may vary. The main thing is to the birds were not crowded.

Assembly:

1. First you need to prepare the bars for the frame: 4 pieces for 300 and 500 mm and 3 pieces for 700 mm. Self-tapping screws are used for their fastening. Instead of bars, you can take metal corners of the same size, which are welded or connected with bolts.
2. Then it is necessary to cut the mesh and fix it from the outside with a construction stapler. If there is a metal frame, wire is used to fix the mesh.
3. The floor should be placed at an angle of 10º. This takes into account the presence of egg collectors 8 cm long. Their side part is closed with small sides, so that the eggs do not break. A gap of 3 cm is left between such a tray and the wall.
4. For the door in the front wall, you need to make a rectangular hole, and then cut out a piece of the grid and fix it with canopies.
5. A litter tray should be prepared. This is a plastic or metal tray that should be pre-treated with antiseptic solutions. If desired, it is possible to create a pallet from plywood. In this case, it will be more difficult to clean the structure.

From the grid you can make a frameless product with your own hands:

• The material is gently folded to create a box without side walls, and then it is connected with wire.
• The egg collector is a continuation of the floor with a slope of 8º. Under it is placed a fine mesh sheet.
• The door is made in the same way as when creating a frame cage.

plywood construction

Plywood cage is optimal for growing quails in an apartment. The material used is not only plywood, but also chipboard. In addition, a sheet of metal mesh is required. Pre-plywood should be treated with an antiseptic.

• First you need to carve out the ceiling, side and end walls. The dimensions of these parts are 700×350 mm, 350×200 and 700×200 mm, respectively.
• Openings for ventilation and lighting are prepared in the side walls. Their diameter should be about 30 mm.
• For the assembly of all parts, wooden corners are used, as well as self-tapping screws.
• A floor measuring 700×350 mm is prepared from the grid. It is attached to the finished structure with a construction stapler or nails.
• The mesh door is fixed on the front wall with canopies.

Plastic construction

To create a plastic cage with your own hands, polypropylene is used. Finished construction turns out to be very compact., while about 50 quails are placed here. Here you can breed quails for meat or keep laying hens.

Benefits of plastic cages:

• ease of cleaning;
• durability;
• resistance to deformation due to temperature fluctuations;
• almost complete absence of an unpleasant odor;
• minimal chance of spreading bacteria.

Recommendations for quail breeders

• It is best to use 2 bunker feeders for feeding quails, which are fixed on the front wall. The drinker is fixed on the back wall.
• Several newspapers should be laid under the bottom, as quail droppings partially fall down during the disinfection of pallets. To avoid this, it is worth having 2 pallets available.
• To eliminate unpleasant odors, it is necessary to clean the floor at least once a day.
• Anthers should be placed a little higher than the cage, thanks to which it will be possible to avoid overdrying the air.
• It is recommended to install a whole battery of cages in order to increase the number of quails. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that all doors open from the front, and the distance from the bottom cage to the floor exceeds 1 m.

Breeding quail at home does not cause much difficulty. It is enough to prepare a heated room and choose the appropriate type of cage, using plywood or a metal mesh to create it. If everything is done correctly, the finished structure will last a long time and will not affect the performance of the bird.