Durable and highly mobile predator proof Japanese Quail Tractor design?

We have some quail that are about to go into a chicken tractor setup, but we'd like to put together a chicken tractor design that's a bit more secure and safe for our courtnix (Japanese) quail. The big predator we have to worry about are snakes. We also have a den of foxes near as well as a variety of other little beasties.

We have about 1/2 an acre we're going to tractor the quail around in for feeding, but it really seems like some of the chicken tractor designs so far have not been sufficient for quail.

Anyone see any particularly good designs that have proven out to not only be safe, but easy to move about and is sufficiently durable?

This is going to be moved by kids and teens mostly so I'm hoping to make it "highly mobile" as well with nice tires and sufficient lift while not letting the little buggers out. Thinking about maybe a kind of chain or some such skirt, but maybe this isn't necessary.

Can you give more detail other than nice tyres and flexible skirts?
problems
- snakes
- moveable
- mesh size
- quail size
- weather

Wants
- height?
- shelter?
- size?
- wheels, diameter, width, solid,

Greg, I have not raised quail though I do watch them at the water station on our patio.

Quail are so small that it seems that a chicken tractor would not be designed for them.

Do quail need a dusting room?

Here are some pictures I fould that might give you some idea:


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I have seen several threads about raising quail though I don't remember any about quail tractors.

Thanks so much. I looked at these pics and they were interesting and good. I went fishing around a bit more and found the following scenario that seems to have worked out relatively well since we need to not have a wire mesh floor:


I don't really think the wheels and height are great, but it probably is what is needed in this scenario in order to keep it close to the ground.

As for the skirt I am going to try to find something more "loose" than the chicken wire that's used in this if possible. I'd like to drag it to discourage escape attempts or wayward birdies that might get crushed.

I hate to suggest something that's not very "permie-ish", but I made some 4'x8' mini hoop houses out of PVC pipe. The critical part, is that I used 2" (more like 2 1/2 OD) pipe schedule 40 for the base. This slides much easier than wood will and sliding easily is critical to not squishing little ducklings that seem to lack common sense and don't speak English ( Follow Mommy! Move to the fresh grass! Stay away from the wall! Huh??? ) Since we're in a continuously damp environment from Oct to May or longer, it doesn't rot either.

Downsides: 1. If you want to use light pipe for the upper, you need either really special connectors or make your own. We've done both. I used 1/2" Sch 40 bent into hoops.
2. If you wanted to use EMT hoops, they bend best with special equipment and will require making special connectors although when I did that for a shelter, I used scraps of sheet metal and custom bent to the shape I needed and it worked fairly well.
3. They're *still* easier to move sideways - I have ropes on each 4' end and I lift it a little and slide it sideways, then walk to the other end and repeat, and go back and forth a couple of times to get it where I want it depending on the cooperation level of the occupants.

Upsides: Ducklings grow - at some point I can let them out for a run, move the shelter, and then put them back before any aerial predators take one.

In a perfect world, I wonder if you can make a second story lock-box with the food up there - chase them in, close the door, move the shelter, then let them out to go down and play on the grass. Alternatively, at least have a pop door with a small, easy to detach easy to lift "Annex" - shoo them in there and detach it, move the shelter, then reattach it and let them exit on their own - my experience is that birds *love* fresh grass, so getting them to exit won't be an issue.

@Jay Angler I really like your idea. I'll talk it over with my wife. Sounds like a real winning solution. Would you mind sharing some photos?

Greg Payton wrote:@Jay Angler I really like your idea. I'll talk it over with my wife. Sounds like a real winning solution. Would you mind sharing some photos?

The only way I could use "hoops" was to make  gull-wing doors which Hubby hates as they are fiddly to build and fit. However, these shelters are light, easy to move, and fairly easy to not squish things, although with quail being as flighty as Khaki-Cambell ducks, I'd be inclined to be creative using this as a beginning.



The peak of the hoops is about 4'3" which allows me to "stoop" if I need to go inside. Not comfy for a long period, but I don't like kneeling in shit. Experience tells me there will be a time when an injured/sick bird needs to be rescued!


The bit of mesh high up at the "closed end" makes it possible to peek in and see while moving the shelter. *Very* useful! However, it also allows for air flow while keeping the feed dry in our wet climate.


For baby birds that need to "meet and greet" other flock members, I highly recommend an area with mesh down to near ground level. The pop-door is useful for letting young birds free-range for periods, however, we've also used this shelter with dog exercise pens as "run space" by moving the water out into the run and leaving the pop-door open. Works for khakis and meat chickens, but I added "baby bumpers" out of 1/2" hardware cloth to the bottom of the x-pen panels to stop small birds from getting out.

These shelters are *not* mink proof. They would need electric fence on the outside to discourage racoons, but we trap coons if they show signs of messing with our animals. Keeping feed safe decreases rat risks, and rats are prey for coons, so keeping feed safe indirectly helps to keep coons wild and wary of "human stuff".

Hopefully that gives you some ideas.

The first 4x8 ft shelter I built was intended to be a portable baby tomato shelter. It had two hatch doors, was made mostly out of scrap, but was too short for tomatoes, yet heated up too quickly when the sun shone. It quickly got adapted as an animal shelter. However, the top part of the roof was flat - in my ecosystem, flat roofs collect water and Muscovy duck poop which then makes things ugly to move!

This past winter I finally figured out how to fix many of its shortcomings, so here it is back in my field in its new and improved form. However, the pipe at the bottom is a smaller diameter so it doesn't slide nearly as well as my "hoop" versions, and the single door isn't as convenient for moms with ducklings as the two door mini-hoop in the above post.


The corner fitting used to have wheels that could be pushed in, but small birds could get out and the plastic on the wheels solar degraded and died. The roof now has a slight slope at the cost of extra weight, but it also gives some up-high ventilation.


New side-opening door - this part I like compared to the gull wing, but building two would have been time consuming and have added even *more* weight. If I end up building more 4x8 shelters, I'll likely use the best concepts from each style to come up with something light but easy. I'd rather stake something down in the wind (yes, I've done that with these) than struggle to move them every day. (yes, that's a momma Muscovy and two khaki ducklings peeking out!)


The old pop-door was a vertical sliding gizmo that worked, but was very tricky to manufacture and parts of it had died, so I went with the swinging version this time. This is our one shelter with a "goose-sized" pop-door in case I need it. These shelters are great back-up if I have an injured or rescue bird. The mesh beside it got added during this reno because it's been a demonstrated asset.

The metal bracket on the ~middle vertical pipe, has a mate at the far end and I have a round wooden perch that can bolt in place. This allows me to use this shelter with a small group of chickens or pullets. Four full sized chickens would be my max unless I added a run for day use or it was *very* temporary and I was able to move it twice a day. This shelter has been used under some of my fruit trees for "portable fertilization" and "bug control" during periods when we've had aerial predator pressure (like now - group of 4 Ravens has prevented us from letting any young birds out long after we'd normally consider them safe, but the Ravens are tag teaming and we've had to lock a bunch of birds up more than normal - hopefully they'll move on???) For that purpose, I'd put 8 birds in it if needed, move them often, and it would only be for a couple of weeks.

These are beautiful - very nicely built - and have offered a lot of inspiration. I think we'll try our hands at something similar, but with additional structures for egg laying, etc. I really think the concept of using PVC is fantastic, but I want to be sure to protect it from higher ends of the EM spectrum that shorten their lives. Perhaps by using some UV resistant tarps for the roof instead. We'll see!  

Thank you @Jay Angler!