Free Cages (Quail, other birds?)

[Deer Heart]

My place of employment was clearing out a TON of birdcages and letting everyone who worked there grab whatever they wanted. I grabbed 4 stacking cage racks, each with 4 bird cages (23L x 16W x 16H) I don't have pictures of the racks since they're at the new place already but I did store the topper cages at my house (all cages are exactly like the ones pictured with slide-out trays ). There's a 5th still there that I may grab on Monday if they haven't thrown it away yet (they badly need the space).

Anyway, I got them as I'm planning to purchase a few different kinds of poultry in spring (I should in theory be moved by then) and since I'm already getting Turkey to fatten up for next thanksgiving - why not give coturnix quail a try? In the meantime, I figured these would make wonderful single cages for young growouts or display cages for selling at farm swaps. But I might also go above just quail if at all possible. With Quail, I think I could do small breeding groups (3-5) with these sizes... or I could do Pairs of something larger like doves, budgies... I think that is mostly all that would be productive in that kind of space. I love birds as a whole, I just can't decide what would be the most appropriate and beneficial use of the space.

What would you do if you had these cages? (and for the record, they will be kept in an enclosed pole barn once it is completed)

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I would breed canaries!

Around here they go from $50 to over $100 depending on variety. You could buy quite a lot of meat (or feed for other animals!) with that kind of cash, and they don't eat all that much themselves.

 

[Deer Heart]

I would breed canaries!

Around here they go from $50 to over $100 depending on variety. You could buy quite a lot of meat (or feed for other animals!) with that kind of cash, and they don't eat all that much themselves.

Oooh I had forgotten about Canaries. You are right, they are not cheap in my area either. I usually see ads for $40 on the lowest end and pet stores charge significantly more than that for them. (and hah you guessed the main reason for this, I needed something to help supplement feed and hay for everyone without using too many resources themselves, basically I am looking for the most economical use of my new found wealth)

 

[Zass]

But I might also go above just quail if at all possible. With Quail, I think I could do small breeding groups (3-5) with these sizes... or I could do Pairs of something larger like doves, budgies.

My coturnix are larger than doves or budgies, or at least I'm pretty sure their bodies are heavier. Maybe mine have some jumbo coturnix blood..

 

[Deer Heart]

But I might also go above just quail if at all possible. With Quail, I think I could do small breeding groups (3-5) with these sizes... or I could do Pairs of something larger like doves, budgies.

My coturnix are larger than doves or budgies, or at least I'm pretty sure their bodies are heavier. Maybe mine have some jumbo coturnix blood..

They don't need to stretch their wings though or fly to some extent like doves do. According to Mother Earth News coturnix only need 40-50 square inches a bird which with these cage sizes comes out to more than 7 birds (but I wont do that as I like my animals to be able to move quite a bit and have space for enrichment) but with dove if they can't flap, they can't mate (the male would not be able to stay on the females back long enough to mate) so you have to consider that too.

 

[Zass]

Good points. I think it just surprised me to see them being described as smaller.
Coturnix are pretty mixed up in bloodlines, so I've heard, so their sizes are probably really variable.

I only have a few birds that I keep on the rabbitry floor. They seem to be pretty hardy, and able to adapt to different living environments.

 

[Deer Heart]

I think I used the wrong word, when I said "Larger" I mostly meant like... grander... like a larger investment in money but with larger outcome. I can't think of a better word to replace it even now. Quail in my area are worth quite a bit though tbh. People sell breeding groups of 6 for $35 or $1.50 for chicks (which is close to chickens @$2.00 for a chick) But Budgies, doves, and Finch all sell for approx. $10-$15 in my area. Canaries are more like $40 a bird which means less effort selling to make up for cost (having to sell fewer birds to cover everything)

 

[Zass]

There are fancy little quail for sale around here too, like snowflake. I'm not sure if it's a type of button or bobwhite, and
I don't even know if they need more space or how hard they are to market. Maybe something to look into though.