Quail Hutches and Chicken Coops/Run Plans

For the past couple of weeks, Mel has been a busy beaver with the SketchUp program. It's been cold and rainy so instead of trying to work on projects, she's been fine tuning the designs for the quail hutches and the designs for her chicken farm coops. She's also been searching the internet for designs (mostly YouTube) for this and that to make care of these new Cockeyed Critters easier on us. We ain't getting any younger, but maybe a little bit smarter.😉 She tweaked her original designs to incorporate these new elements we liked. I pulled her thumb drive with the pictures to be able to share them with y'all. So you get the first peek!

First up, (because I can 😁) is the new quail set up. We decided to sell extra birds (various stages of life) and the eggs too for eating and hatching. Why not have our efforts pay for themselves like every other critter on our homestead, right?

From our research we decided all hutches would have the following:

• Utilize/reuse our oil drip pans from the rabbit hutches for the quail for their droppings.
• Recycle all 99.9% of rabbit hutches for this project, we might need some new screw or staples.
• ALL cages will have a gravity fed, automatic water system, and bulk feeders. We have leftover cups, PVC and fittings from other projects. Our bulk "J" feeders from the rabbits will work for the quail.
• Dust bathes areas will use sand (leftover from gardening), wood ash from our wood stove, and the extra plastic shoe boxes from our fodder operation will find a new purpose in this. 
• The extra floor tiles from the rabbit cages will be used to allow the birds to get off the wire bottom and serve as the base of the cardboard hide spots. 
• One corner of each cage will have a "wild" area of branches, leaves, and a straw bed for the birds' enjoyment.
• Although each cage has the room for 100 birds, a max number of quail per cage will be 50. 
• To deter rats, snakes and other predators, 5 sides will be 1/2" x 1/2" welded wire. The 6th side is painted plywood. We decided not to slant the floor and configure roll out egg catchers for the very same reason. We configured the doors large enough so that I reach in to grab birds and/or eggs left-handed.
• Instead of wood cross pieces to support the cage floor and litter tray, PVC will be used for easier clean up. 
• Each set of hutches will have an 18-gallon tote underneath it with a 8'x6' tarp for inclimate weather, and at least 10 lbs of food at all times. 
• Each hutch will have a salvaged metal roof for added protection from the weather.

Now onto the pictures!

Breeder cages

 

Brooder/Grow-out/Harvest or Sale Cages

 THE PLAN

The Breeder hutch will house the quail that we'll get our eggs from. They will be eaten, sold as eggs, or sold as fertilized eggs, or incubated for additional stock. It has four cages for abundant supply for each. Although, the first  100 eggs will be incubated for more breeding stock and a start on our own food needs. We'll allow the two weeks of eggs to be eaten or sold to give the males a chance to figure out what's what before incubating the egg harvest. with a ratio of 3 hens to one rooster, the odds of having fertile eggs is greater. Each cage will house 5 roosters and 15 hens even though the cage will hold 40. Who wants to live in a crowded house for two years? We'll be on the look out for excessive fighting and abuse during the first few weeks while they establish their own pecking order. Offender and severely abused quail will be eaten.😈 I will be holding one of the four breeding cages open for suitable replacement birds. These will be the largest birds by full grown weight not on the breeding cages by the same ratio.

The Brooder/Grow-out/Harvest or Sale Hutch will house quail chicks from 4 weeks old to maturity at 6-7 weeks old and serve as holding pen for quail harvest or sale. The plans call for two to be built upon a successful 6 month run of sales of eggs and birds. If the demand market is low, then only one is necessary for homestead needs. The cost of the second cage will be from profits of the business. Quails will be sorted and sexed at 6 weeks old.

• The top cage will have a light, if necessary, for heat and can be closed in on two sides by hanging tarp pieces. (salvaged from large ripped tarp with new sewn edges)
• The middle cage is strictly a grow out cage until the quail reach maturity or harvest weight of at least 8-10 ozs.
• The lowest cage will house extra roosters and hens ready for harvest or sale. These will be 8-12 weeks old. 

Now, onto the chicken.

Cockeyed bunny/chicken barn

Two of our older birds, Miss Greedy Piggy and Goldie (two-year old hens) will be gifted to our local librarian who wants them. She bought a dozen eggs from us every two weeks.We are keeping Broody and Black Butt who are proven to go broody and are good mothers for our homestead flock. They will continue to roost and stay in the bunny/ chicken barn.

They will eventually be joined by a dozen assorted egg layers for homestead egg  and egg sales. These birds will free range. The five chicken we hatched out will be in the bunny/chicken hoop barn with Broody and Black Butt when they reach an appropriate size to introduce them. They'll be our free ranging stock.The five chicken we hatched out will be in the bunny/chicken hoop barn with Broody and Black Butt when they reach an appropriate size to introduce them. A chicken door will be added to lead out to the homestead. We do love our chicken integrating themselves in our daily activities as you can tell from our videos. Eventually, this will be our designated brooding or Americana chicken area. We haven't decided yet.

The first coop and run was built to overwinter our free ranging chicken. It is now vacant and needs some TLC which it will receive.  For the second, new coop and run, we are taking advantage of a past building project, the hoop greenhouse. Though not as big as the bunny/chicken hoop barn, it'll serve its purpose as a grow out area for chicken until they can join their larger companions in the big runs and coops. Since we only have two rabbits now, they'll only require one quarter of their 12'x 26' bunny/ chicken barn for them and all their needs (grooming station, feed, hay, and romp area). That leaves the rest of the space for Broody, Black Butt and whomever we put in there with them.

This is the design Mel came up with for utilizing these hoop barns for chickens. The coop will be built inside of the enclosure with a small run within. When the chickens get bigger and need more space and run will be built off the greenhouse conversion. Notice the small chicken door inside the human door. This will lead to the run area.

The old greenhouse set up will be strictly grow outs. We can add a heat light if the need arises. Mel is thinking about getting her first set of 25 chickens next month and the second set of 25 in March for her initial start up for her farm. By the time the first set of 25 starts laying eggs, the second set can be moved in with them. This will populate the first orchard pen. We'll start buying lots of 25 chicks every year after that too keep the interbreeding mix low for healthier chicks. Meanwhile, we can hatch out our own eggs too to grow her business. Financially, purchasing twenty-five chicks in rotation is a lot more feasible than fifty.

Now for the chicks we hatch out ,be they quail or chickens, Mel designed brooder boxes for them. They are 1 1/2' x 4' x 2' each. They are made from scrap pallet lumber and leftover bits and pieces Mel has in her shop. A lamp can clip on this and still have space to put feeders and waterers. They are small enough for easy clean outs, but big enough to house the birds until they feather out and can be moved to the grow out houses. She can build multiples and they are small enough to fit behind the sofa or anywhere really.

Now Mel has also designed the chicken coop to go into the orchard too! This 8' x 12' x 8' building will be on every other row because it also has storage space built in. Each downward roof angle will be guttered into a gravity fed automatic watering system to service two coops and runs. In the storage area there will be allotted space to gather eggs, stores food, scratch, tools needed to tend the coop and run areas, and straw to clean out two coop areas. It also allows for the tender to get out of the weather which is always a plus. By building two, it cuts our weekly/monthly in half with less wear and tear on our older bodies. We are being kinder to our bodies, instead of traipsing up and down a quarter acre worth of terraces carrying implements, feed, and bales of straw as we work towards raising healthy chickens and eggs.

We are looking to work smarter not harder. This way our yard tractor and cart can move the debris to the compost heap at the end of each run. It can also transport finished compost to where we want it. We'll build a two-stage compost bins out of pallets for the end of each run. I never quite saw the sense in a three compartment system.The beautiful part of this plan is that the building and operating costs of this venture (besides the initial investment) pays for itself and pays it forward as it expands. Each chicken coop and run will house 50 birds for a total of four units. We won't put the big chicken/egg companies out of business, but Mel can earn a nice income from it.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo