Quilted Quail

It's officially meteorological winter, and its finally, finally getting cold. Overnight temperatures later this week are set to drop to -4°C, with a "feels like" (one of MrEOP's bugbears) of -7°C. I know the chickens will be fine, the three of them huddled together on their perches, nice and warm in their coop. But the quail aren't quite so smart. I checked on them last night, and whist 11 were happily in the coop, hanging out next to their jar of fairy lights, two were right up near the edge of the run. Apparently they're pretty hardy little birds, provided they're not wet as well as cold, and there are quail keepers in Canada who would consider our meagre -4°C to be positively balmy. But as I didn't fancy waking up to find a batch of ready-frozen quail (though with the 2022 Christmas Turkey shortage, perhaps that's something to consider...?) I decided to try and keep them a little warmer.

I can't lock them in the coop overnight, thanks to the saga of #Five and the Injured Wing, so I had to protect them another way. I replaced their coop sawdust bedding with a new, thicker layer, and then added a nice big pile of straw to their run. They lose heat through their feet rather than their nicely insulated bodies, so its important to have warm flooring.

After getting a little distracted watching them shuffle around in the straw looking for the seeds and meal worm I'd scattered, I got to work on covering their run with a quilt that I'd made out of old clothes. I then added a piece of tarpaulin to prevent it from getting too wet, leaving the short (South) side of the run open so they'd get some sunlight, on the off chance it ever decides to come out again. The other long side of the run butts up against the chicken run, and the woodchip floor creates a barrier about 6" high, so that should help shelter them too. Both the quail run and chicken run are currently covered with tarpaulins at the moment due to bird flu, providing further protection.

So hopefully that will keep their toes cozy. I can't imagine there are many quail out there who have a hand-made quilt to protect them from a frost.