Quail Pens for the home

After several months and beta testing customers, we have arrived at a design that we believe will stand the test of user satisfaction, predator prevention, and time.

Features:

• Stands 3’ tall at the top of the wire pen. This makes it reasonable for kids to participate.

• 2’ deep by 8’ long. This makes it easy for adults to reach to the back of the pen to collect eggs while giving the hens plenty of length for exercise.

• Wire floor eliminates the work of collecting the droppings. For nuisance control, such as flies, see below. The main purpose here is to keep rats and mice from attacking the legs of the quail and from trying to get into the feedboxes. Please contact us for pictures of the latest models in the pens.

• Feed is supplied with a modified shoe box. 1 shoe box filled to the ‘fill line should be enough for 48 hours per 12 hens, while 2 shoe boxes would be sufficient for long weekends, i.e., 4 days. Water is supplied from the 5-gallon pail, which can be refilled manually or automated with a water hose timer and float valve inside the pail.

• Pens can be divided into 2 or 3 sections. Quail hens need a minimum of 0.25 square feet per hen, so a 16-square-foot pen can hold up to 64 birds (Quail are very social and love to snuggle beside each other). We can divide the 8’ front into 3 pens (doors). The maximum density that we will support is 3’ (6 square foot total) for the 12 hens (0.5 sf/hen), and then 2.5’ fronts for up to 2 groups of males for meat, each with 24 males from 3 weeks of age up to maturity. Please note that males enter the pen at 3 weeks of age and do not require as much space. Males should be harvested with the largest first to liberate more pen space for the remaining birds, thus maintaining optimal quail welfare.

• Pens are to be picked up at our location. A truck or lightweight trailer is required. The pens are more difficult to handle due to the long dimensions rather than the weight. Accessories such as tin roofing and legs can be easily added for those wishing.

• The standard pen comes with 2 doors and no divisions. It is made of 1/2” hardware cloth. It has 4 watering cups and plumbing to hook up to a 5-gallon food-grade pail with a lid. Two feed boxes are included for each pen. Lighting is included with a 24 hr timer.

• Accessories

  • pressure treated 2”x2” legs, three feet tall. ($15)

  • Tin roof ($40)

  • Divisions for more groups

    • Divide the pen in to 2 parts (4’ wide and 4’ wide) ($25)

    • Divide the pen in to 3 parts (3’ wide for hens, and 2.5’ each for males) ($75)

• What you will need:

  • electrical cord to supply electricity for the LED lighting system

  • option: water hose and water timer to hook up to the 5-gallon water pail.

• Responsibilities

  • Collect quail eggs daily.

  • Feed the quail every 2 days or daily if needed.

  • Replenish the water every 2 days or daily if needed.

  • Apply sawdust pellets to the droppings below the pen. Standard shavings or sawdust pellets are fine and will capture the nitrogen that causes flies and odors. Regular mixing of the sawdust/shavings improves the compost quality and reduces odors/flies. Consider adding our B-squared mix to improve nuisance control and increase nitrogen capture for your future gardens.

• Cost $400 at Quail Power. Note that we do not currently have a delivery option.

One Rth Soil Testing Services for Austin and Central Texas

One Rth is pleased to announce that we are offering a soil test service in partnership with Logan Labs of Ohio.

Why should you choose this?

• It is not the standard NPK chemical fertilizer approach, but much more microbe friendly.

• We save you time by including a cost estimate along with the test results. This saves you from having to find someone to interpret the data and what to add to your soil.

• We can direct you to local vendors for the full bags of materials, and that saves you money by buying direct.

• We ship the rest of the soil prescription to your doorstep, with all of the small quantities premixed in a bag. This saves you time making multiple passes over your field, and from owning and storing the surplus minerals. Please note that adding too much of any mineral is like adding too much salt to the soup!

Compare

State of Texas Ag. / Conventional

Microbe Friendly / Organic Minerals Test

Minerals + Paste Test

Basic Test for pH, P, K, Ca, Mg, NA, S

Included

Included

Included

Micro Nutrients:  Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn

Extra

Included

Included

Test for Organic Matter Levels

Extra

Included

Included

Test for Salinity

Extra

No

Included

Tests for Salts/ Chlorine toxicity

Extra

No

Included

Tests for Carbonates

No

No

Included

Paste Test (test for plant available nutrients)

No

No

Included

Budget Estimate based on test results

No

Included

Included

Cost

$10-$74  excl. Shipping and trips to USPS

$70 incl. Free shipping from your mailbox (i.e. Postage included)

$100 incl. Free shipping.

Suitable for

Farms/fields using conventional agriculture

Garden Beds

Problematic soils, market gardens

Options for the delivery of minerals based on test results

Home Delivery

No

Available

Available

How to proceed?

A. Visit us at our farmer’s market locations and pick up a soil test bag.  Follow this procedure to fill the bag and complete this form for submission to the lab.  You can pay for the service at the market either when you pick up the bag, or when you drop off the soil sample.

B. Alternatively, you can use the same procedure and place the soil into a zip lock bag (i.e. without the sample bag option A above), and bring it to the market.  Again, please download and complete this form to submit to the lab.  You can pay for the service at the market when you drop off the sample, or in the website store here.  You can also mail us your soil sample to:  One Rth, 405 Academy Drive, Austin, TX  78704

Quail Power Producer

Quail Power Gardener works with market gardeners of 1 acre size or more to fertilize their garden beds with high nitrogen quail droppings that are Soy-Corn & GMO free. Quail Power provides you with the elements of success and cash flow for producing the quail eggs.

Producing premium quality fruits and vegetables is a rapidly growing opportunity for small scale market gardeners.  Nothing says premium like ‘Corn, Soy & GMO-free (CS&GMO)’.  Yet, gardeners can’t easily find CS&GMO free composts.

Quail Power boosts your market garden’s success and income by providing high nitrogen content CS&GMO free compost for your garden beds.  In combination with Quail Power’s marketing support, we give your produce a distinctive advantage with customers willing to pay a premium for CS&GMO free fruits and vegetables.

By adopting Quail Power’s unique and exclusive Gardener Program, you earn money for your time ($25,000/year for about 20 hrs/week) and keep the high nitrogen, premium compost for your gardens.  Add up to 1” of compost to your beds every year, for 1.5 acres of garden beds (assumes 50% of area in production), worth $5,000/year.

To learn more, submit your email address in the following form and we will send you an overview of the economics, etc.  If you like that, then we can proceed to a zoom call to discuss your operations and the impact of Quail Power’s exclusive opportunity.