Aussie Finch Forum

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking of getting a pair (or trio?) of king quail for my aviary. I've read a bit about them, and what they need in an environment, but thought I'd get your point of view! The aviary in question is 3m x 1m, and houses 3 pairs of zebs. It has a concrete floor with a couple of log stumps in there, and is a combination of wire and colourbond.
Would it be better to put down gravel, rather than the plain concrete? The ground rarely gets wet, as I've put up clear plastic sheeting to prevent rain getting into the zebs food dish. The zebs food is on a shelf, and I'd put the quail food on the ground. I was planning to put in a large tray with sand for the quail as well. Would they be happy with the log stumps, and a few potted plants? Or would I be better off moving the aviary onto grass?
Thanks guys!

Any of the above really the are pretty adaptable. They love a good dirt bath and a feed of live crickets. Access to fresh water and a small amount of seed the same as the zeb's eat.
Throw a hand ful of cut long grass every now and again and it will keep them busy for a while.
Would stick to two birds as it just seems to work better.

PS If you let them breed the young will run straight through normal size bird wire and can drown fairly easily in shallow water

The stumps and pots will look good and offer them a place to nest , rest or hide BUT I find they go to prefer to choose their own place usually a bare corner where they place some grass and feathers to nest.
Marbles in the drinking water will prevent drownings and yes they can get through normal wire .
Nasty little buggers at times and can be very cruel , seem to sense blood and then all pick on the injured quail .
They call out at night and can attract cats but when they are being nice are a lovely addition to the aviary .

mine all nest on a bear corner in the aviary ...usually building a nest that looks like a messy pile of feather, grass and other crap..

Love em!

Very easy to breed and care for

I would put it on grass in preference to concrete, or put some sand/dirt/mulch in for them to scratch on and dust bathe.
I try to give a variety of substrates (eg: a sandy bit under the water bowls, a dusty bit somewhere dry).
They definitely like dust bathing, and scratching in litter/mulch.

They're hardy little buggers and good breeders, and produce one of the cutest chicks in the bird world.

I agree the chicks are super cute when young but they soon grow up. This is when you have a problem as you can't just chuck a heap of them in a holding aviary because they'll rip each other to bits. You need lots of separate holding facilities to prevent a blood bath. Nevertheless I suppose everyone should keep them at some stage.