Repel quail

[Koenbro]

Hello everyone, just registered in the hope of finding a way to repel quail that have devastated our beginner garden.

I have just built a 12 x 3 ft raised bed garden with great soil from a warm farm and added grid irrigation, then planted various vegetables suitable to start in January in Arizona: mixed salads, broccoli cauliflower, peppers, artichoke. One week into it, neighborhood quail have discovered it and completely devoured everything except the peppers. My wife and I are heartbroken. So I would like to build a barrier and looking for advice and suggestions.

My current idea is to build 6x3 ft frames and place chicken wire, for a total of 12 panels. Will also need some end panels. Then attach these to some frame with easy on-off attachment (remain to be decided how). Could build the panel frames from 1/2 in steel tube for example; alternatively wood. Although a totally noob gardener, I am experienced with building stuff and have a fully equipped metal (CNC plasma table, welders, mill, lathe, you name it) and woodworking shop, so I can build these things for sure but don't mind buying a turn key solution if it makes more sense.

I have no idea what is the best way to keep the odious quail away, so am looking forward with grateful thanks to any advice.

After the forst attack:

 

[Meadowlark]

I have no idea what is the best way to keep the odious quail away, ...

Welcome to these forums and I hope you get some ideas here.

I have to say by way of introduction, I'm a huge fan of quail and have spent good $$$ money trying to get them re-established here in East Texas without any success. To think of them as odious is completely foreign to me...but I'm also an avid gardener and can understand your frustrations totally. I'll try to throw out a couple of ideas for your consideration.

Curious are you dealing with Gambel or bob white or others?

Quail are basically ground birds but can/do fly up to 15 ft and beyond. The veggies you mentioned in general don't grow very high so the covers you build for them wouldn't have to be that high.

I would look for a simple solution first...and the first place I would look would be to have an outside dog(s). Dogs are very effective predators on quail and one of the reasons I've been unable to re-establish them here.

If that is not an option, then I would use the propane cannon...very effective on scaring unwanted birds and it doesn't take long for them to learn. I've used one for protecting fish in ponds and it worked so well that I haven't had to use it for several years now...and no bird thieves.

 

[Koenbro]

Welcome to these forums and I hope you get some ideas here.

I have to say by way of introduction, I'm a huge fan of quail and have spent good $$$ money trying to get them re-established here in East Texas without any success. To think of them as odious is completely foreign to me...but I'm also an avid gardener and can understand your frustrations totally. I'll try to throw out a couple of ideas for your consideration.

Curious are you dealing with Gambel or bob white or others?

Quail are basically ground birds but can/do fly up to 15 ft and beyond. The veggies you mentioned in general don't grow very high so the covers you build for them wouldn't have to be that high.

I would look for a simple solution first...and the first place I would look would be to have an outside dog(s). Dogs are very effective predators on quail and one of the reasons I've been unable to re-establish them here.

If that is not an option, then I would use the propane cannon...very effective on scaring unwanted birds and it doesn't take long for them to learn. I've used one for protecting fish in ponds and it worked so well that I haven't had to use it for several years now...and no bird thieves.

Thank you for your reply @Meadowlark. I used to be pro-quail, particularly as they are cute in the spring as they run around with like 10-15 young. Must have an atrocious survival rate into adulthood as their number seems pretty stable despite prodigious progeny.

That said I want to enjoy our garden and this is a zero-sum game at this point. I don't intend to hurt them. That's why I was thinking about a barrier. Building it might allow placing a sun shade fabric in the summer, or a thermal cover on the rare winter nights when it freezes. So the initial labor + materials is a lot, but hopefully will last and provide other benefits.

Would a scarecrow work?

My wife and I both work full time away from home so we can't be at home to fire cannons etc. We used to have dogs but small ones are taken away by owls and even large ones are attacked by coyotes. We live in a pretty suburban are with lots of wildlife. Our dogs were attacked before, neighbors lost theirs to coyotes.

Any ready made enclosures one can buy?

 

[Koenbro]

As for your question "Gambel or bob white or others" -- I don't know will try to take a photo on the weekend if I can and post it.

 

[Meadowlark]

Would a scarecrow work?

No, they don't even work on crow after a time.

My wife and I both work full time away from home so we can't be at home to fire cannons etc.

They are automatic and operate on a timer that you set for whatever interval you want.

We used to have dogs but small ones are taken away by owls and even large ones are attacked by coyotes.

Hard to understand how you can have so many quail in the presence of so many coyotes who prize quail as a primary food source.

Any ready made enclosures one can buy?

Yes, there are a lot of them...Amazon has many choices, most garden shops have them as well as the big box stores. Search...

 

[oneeye]

I would just put in a bird net over the raised bed. It must be installed correctly or it won't work. You can buy a cheap PVC plastic pipe, loop it over the bed, and install the bird net over the PVC. Birds are seasonal and will come and go at different times in the Seasons. After the seed sprout and the seedlings mature enough you can remove the net and save it for the next time.

My grandmother hung disposable pie pans in the wind to keep the birds away. The wind would keep them moving and making a lot of noise. The grandkids loved the idea because that meant more pies to eat. I remember sitting at Grandma's with 30 pie pans hanging in the trees on a Sunday with my belly stuffed.

Get a dog. Dogs are the perfect way to keep birds away from the garden.

Feed all the wild birds and they will leave your garden alone. Put out 2 or 3 feeders away from the bed. I go through about 40 lbs of wild bird seed a month. I feed the bird every day. I mix Black Sunflower seeds with the wild seed and they eat it all with no waste. I spend $20 a month and birds love me for it. I love the birds too.

 

[Meadowlark]

I go through about 40 lbs of wild bird seed a month. ...

That would be my spring/summer/fall usage rate @oneeye. In winter, it is more like 40 lbs. per week especially in January and February. Huge numbers of birds flock in from North...you can just about forecast bad winter weather by the numbers of birds looking for food.

 

[cpp gardener]

I'm with oneeye and the plastic hoops with bird netting. They're not going to be that persistent and a simple mesh barrier will work fine. Pie pans, old CDs or even paper plates will work too.
In Phoenix the expected quail would be Gambel's.

 

[Koenbro]

I very much like the idea of plastic hoops, and "bird netting" was the magic keyword that opened up the shopping choices. I already ordered some and should be delivered tomorrow. Thanks @oneeye and @cpp gardener

 

[Meadowlark]

Get a dog. Dogs are the perfect way to keep birds away from the garden.

This ^^^^

Ironically, strays, drop offs, and abandoned dogs, of which there are far too many these days, make the best protectors of my gardens. Absolutely free, humane to take them in, natural, and highly effective.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I use the hoops and netting as oneeye says, much more effective for some things and some birds than others. If there are strawberries inside a European blackbird will squeeze in the smallest gap, if it is brassicas I don't even need ends on to keep pigeons off, they are so wary of traps.
I have seen an excellent bird scarer that works on a windmill winding up a mechanism that makes a terrific whirr and clack every so often, but it does depend on wind, no good on a still day.

 

[pepper2.0]

I would get a pellet gun and put the quail on the plate between the tossed salad and artichoke. People here pay a fortune for those little bite sized chickens.

 

[Koenbro]

I have a BB gun but don't wanna hurt them. Nonetheless I am much less pro-quail then I used to be. The netting and the hoops come tomorrow so will be able to install them over the weekend. Also seems much less work than I initially planned. Hope my garden will grow back.