Anyone have plans for a quail Johnny house/recall pen?

[mamohr686]

Hello all,

I think my new project is to start building a recall pen for some quail. I'm almost ready to start running my vizsla in some MH tests but I need to do some more training w/birds. I've done a lot of research on the web and all I can get are links to plans you have to pay for. Call me cheap but someone should have some around. I think I get the basic outside idea, but I don't know what is on the inside of them.

[LABS4ME]

My friend who ran pointers had 40 acres of land to keep a covey of quail on... He built a chicken wire pen with a plywood roof over it 9the roof was maybe 3' above the mattress)... I think it was 8x8. Inside the pen, he had an old metal mattress. He raised the birds and fed the birds in this pen for a few weeks (does 8 sound right?). Then he took down the chicken wire and just had the sheet of plywood over the top of the mattress. Predators were not able to getthrough the maze of wire in the mattress to get to the birds and the roof kept them dry. He continued to feed them there and they would roost each night in the mattress... They for the most part made it through thte summer. I think he harvested what was left in the fall. This has been close to 20 years ago, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but that was the jist of it.

Good Luck!

Ken

[kentuck_ike]

Labs, do you think this would work with chukars?

Thanks, Ike

[tybo]

From what i've heard chukars will covey but they might not be as reliable to return as a quail. Don't know for sure just what I was told when looking into getting birds to train my dog just over a year ago.

here's a link where they talk about this and show chukars.

[note from admin: please read forum policy - no unauthorized links]

[gspman]

Chukars don't recall as well as quail. Quail are the best for this sort of thing. I think courtnix quail will recall too.

[gspman]

You may want to go to the public library and check out all the old birddog training books. I pretty sure some have johnny house plans. Also mail order johnny house plans cost less than $10. Considering the cost for training a birddog that's peanuts.

[germanshorthairs]

I have a call back pen and have had great luck with quail. I got the design from my training book "the ultimate guide to bird dog training"jerome b. robinson. Great training book for me. Mine is 36" wide by 72" long by 18" height. Down the center is a divider so I keep the males separate from females. At one end you have their house(area that has roof and sides-plywood) the rest can be mesh. Each side has an entry funnel. This pen is designed to hold about 12 birds. Just remember quail mate and if they find a mate during breeding season they are less likely to come back that is why I separate and only release one sex at a time. I release a few birds a day. Let my dogs find and point them, then I flush the birds and heel my dogs away. At dusk or at dark birds will come back. Let the birds get used to the pen for a week or so. I have had birds last through the winter. Great for pointers! Good luck!

[mamohr686]

Thanks for the book info, I'll have to look into both of those.