Johnny’s House a Home on the Range
By Jim Evans

(originally published in Q.U. Magazine March/April 2003)

When I was a youngster staying on “Uncle Jim’s” rural farm in Virginia, the Johnny House was a place you ran to answer the call of nature.  Back then we rated them as One Holers or Two Holers.  If you train your own bird dogs you are probably familiar with a different type of Johnny House, often referred to as a “Recall Pen”.
The most common structures used are about four feet square and about six to eight feet tall. (Of course, in Texas they are twice this size.) The house has a screened in top area and ledges for the quail to fly up and sit on.  Part of this screen area contains a door that can be lowered in order to let some or all of the birds out.  The floor can be either solid plywood or hardware cloth.  (I prefer a solid floor.  We’ll talk about this later.)  There is also a one way “catch funnel” located in the bottom of the house. This allows the quail to reenter the house but not leave again.
The typical structure will hold 15-25 quail and can be set up in a small field.  The objective is to keep the confined birds healthy and available until you are ready to work your dog.  After you pick up your dog and leave the training area, the quail are recalled back to the Johnny House by the birds that were not released or with the assistance of a digital recall device.
Inside, the quail find protection from predators and extreme weather conditions.  They also have feed and water to hold them over until you return again.
The ledges, located near the top of the house, help the birds maintain flight muscle strength as they fly from the floor up to the shelf.  (Many people don’t realize this but most of the wing exercise is generated on the rise.)  It is rare but if you should have a small varmint get into the house through the funnel, the birds can fly up to the ledge to get away.
If you don’t own a large piece of hunting land or the land you have access to is not close to where you live, then the Johnny House may be just what you need.  The most common use of the house is to provide quail for dog training purposes.  Training a dog to be steady on point or to honor another dog’s point by “backing” requires having birds with which to work.  The Johnny House becomes the ready source for such birds.  Quail can be manually caught and placed in a bird launcher or “dizzied” and placed in the field before the work begins.  As the dog’s training progresses, you can release all or part of the birds from the house by lowering the release door and letting them fly out into the field.  Once you have watched to see which cover patches the quail land in, you can then go get your dog and begin working the field.
Another use for the house is to train a young bird hunter how to work the dogs and be a safe hunter.  This is a more controlled setting that presents a youngster with enough action to keep him/her interested in learning the finer points of wing shooting.
If your quail hunting area is only large enough to have a few wild or early released coveys, then the Johnny House can be used to provide additional birds during hunts. These additional birds will take some of the hunting pressure off your “premium coveys”.

Getting Started
Of course, the first thing you need to do is build the Johnny House.  Plans are available from several catalogs that sell dog-training supplies.  The plans used in this article are available from Quality Wildlife Services, Inc.  (www.qualitywildlife.com)

Site Location
The field setting for the house should be good quail habitat.  A field of fescue or bermuda grass will not work.  Instead, find a field dominated by native grasses and weeds along with scattered small patches of “heavy cover” such as briars or small shrubs.  If you are able, it is also a good idea to add a few scattered food plots of Egyptian wheat or sorghum to the setting.  This gives the quail a visual target to fly to as they leave the house.
Place the Johnny House out in the field away from any rank or unhuntable thickets.  The goal here is to make sure when the birds are released, that they don’t peel off into the jungle but rather they fly out into the work area.
Once the house is set in position, you can place some light brush tops around the funnel entrance on the outside of the house.  This will give the returning quail some concealment cover as they mill around the funnel entrance.
Preparing for the Quail

First, you will need a way to feed and water the birds.  For many years I avoided using a Johnny House because of the time it took to keep the birds serviced.  The quail were constantly fouling up the feed and water with their droppings or the feed would get wet and nasty after rainstorms.  That’s why I developed the LessMess feed and water system.  The system holds enough feed and water to take care of 25 quail for two to three weeks and is designed to prevent any contamination from the droppings.  This feeding system also prevents you from taming down your birds because it is not necessary to enter the house as often.

http://www.qualitywildlife.com/less-mess-quail-feeder.aspx

LessMess Feeder and Nipple watering system takes care of 25 quail for about 3 weeks.

The kind of feed used is important.  Wild or early season released quail are free ranging so they do very well when supplemented with grains.  This is because they are able to pick up green forage and insects as they find them.  Since the Johnny House birds are only “free ranging” off and on, you need to provide a more complete diet.  I obtain commercial game bird feed from a local bird grower or a feed store and mix it about half and half with either sorghum or wheat.
I said earlier that I prefer a solid floor in my Johnny House.  Now let me explain why.  First, with a solid floor I can place about a one-inch thick layer of clean sand in the bottom of the house.  This gives the quail sand to preen and clean their feathers.  The sand also absorbs moisture from the droppings and makes for a more sanitary environment.  Secondly, I add a double handful of hay and place it in a corner of the house.  The hay, along with the sand floor, enables the birds to stay much warmer during extremely cold weather.

A happy bird is a healthy bird.
Managing the Quail
The first thing you need to do is to get the quail into the Johnny House.  I usually place the birds into the house one at a time by feeding them into the funnel. To do this, just open the door of the house and place the first bird inside.  Next, put the remaining quail in through the funnel.  As each bird gets started up the funnel it will see the remaining bird inside and not hesitate to go on in.  This allows the birds to get familiar with the funnel.

I like to leave all the birds in the house for about a week.  During this time they can begin to bond as a unit and get familiar with the surrounding landmarks and horizon.  After this, I return and let about one third of the birds out.  If you are using a Total Recall (digital recalling device) on the house, now is the time to turn it on.  The unit is designed to give a sequence of “covey-up” calls at various times of the day.  When the unit begins to call, the released birds begin to make their way back toward the house.  If you do not use the digital caller you will have to depend totally on the remaining birds to do the job.  I repeat this process several times until all the birds have made several trips in and out of the house.
When you go to release birds for working your dog you will notice that wherever the first bird goes, the rest want to follow.  This can work for you.  Let’s say that the first bird flies out straight to a briar patch about 50 yards out in the field.  I like to let four or five more follow him and pitch in while they can still see him in flight. Then I pull the release door shut to stop the flow.  Once all the first birds have set down, I reopen the door and see if the next batch will pick out a different spot.  This way I can often get a good spread without having them all   pitch into the same patch of cover.   If the first bird sails out of the house toward an undesirable place, just pull the release door shut until he is no longer visible and try it again.
I like to leave at least one or two birds in the house to give the returning birds a stronger desire to get back inside.
One last note.  All this is fine during the fall and winter months, but once the days get longer and spring approaches the hormones start flowing.  This means that the cock birds will begin to get feisty and the covey behavior breaks down.
At this point I empty out the house and get it clean for next season.

Maintenance
About half way through the season I perform a quick house cleaning.  To do this I take a flat point shovel with the handle cut off, and remove all the old sand and hay.  Then I replace it with clean sand and put a double handful of hay to one of the corners.

At the beginning of the season it is also a good idea to get a block of “bar bait” and place it underneath the house.  Bar bait is a waxy block that contains a grain treated with rat poison. This can be purchased from your local feed and seed store.  Repeat this when you perform your mid-season cleaning.
During this article I have used quail as the focus species. However, Hungarian partridge and Chukar partridge “recall” very well also.  In very harsh northern climates you may find it more to your benefit to use one of these species.  The only changes you would have to make on the house would be to increase the funnel dimensions accordingly.  For instance, the standard quail funnel is 14 inches long and is 4 inches in diameter at one end and 3 inches in diameter at the other.  For Huns and Chukars the funnel would be 6 inches in diameter at one end and 4 inches in diameter at the other.
The other equipment is easily adapted as well. If you use a LessMess feeding system the directions will tell you the proper height for each species of bird.  The Total Recall (electronic recall device) is also available in both the Hungarian and Chukar partridge.
Recall pens are not for everyone. However, if your time and space are limited, Johnny’s House may the way you can keep some birds Home On The Range.
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For more information about Johnny House plans or the equipment mentioned in this article, contact Quality Wildlife Services at 1-877-242-2482 or visit  the website at www.qualitywildlife.com
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Buying Quail Land ?
By Jim Evans
November 3, 2009

GREAT HUNTING RETREAT
This 980 acres will make a great hunting area. Over 400 acres of mature pines, the rest in younger trees.
Abundant deer, quail, and turkey!

Are you scanning the classified ads and touring the countryside, in search of a piece of property to manage for quail?  If the answer is yes, then maybe you need to be thinking about what characteristics would make you want to purchase a particular tract of land and what would cause you to pass on it.  To help you with this process, let’s discuss some various scenarios you are likely to run across.
Forested Land

Quail are a species that prefer a  “early plant succession” habitat, better known to most of us as WEEDS and NATIVE GRASSES.  For quail, the best number of trees per acre is ZERO, but most of us in the southeast are going to find ourselves dealing with a woodland setting of some kind.
When considering a piece of forested land, you need to find out more than just the initial cost per acre. You should also  think about the answers to the following questions:
How much income can I generate by removing most of the timber and when?
How much will it cost me per acre to treat the cut-over areas with a forest herbicide to make sure the acreage becomes  quail habitat and not a jungle of hardwood brush?
Am I paying for existing “improvements” ( extra structures, ponds, improved pasture, planted pine stands, etc.) that I will have to spend money to remove or don’t need.

Asking yourself these questions as you look at different tracts, can help you zero in on your options.  For instance, if the  parcel of land has recently been cut- over,  you will not be able to generate any immediate income from timber sales to put back into the property for brush control.  If the seller  has conducted a “site-prep” herbicide treatment and replanted with Loblolly or Slash  pines, then you would be paying for the land, herbicide work,  plus the establishment of pines trees that are poised in a few years to eliminate your quail habitat options.
On the other hand, if the seller  has conducted a chemical site prep after the harvest, but not yet replanted the acreage with pines, then your timing would be great.  In this case the stage is set for your quail project to begin without having the additional cost of chemical work or paying for the planted pines “improvements” that you don’t want.
If you are looking at  land that was cut over several years ago and no effort was made to  follow  up with any brush control measures, then you should try to negotiate the price per acre down so that you can afford to do the application of forest herbicides ( about $90/acre) after the purchase.  If this is not possible then keep looking  for a tract that will cost less per acre to produce quail habitat.
If the land was established in longleaf pine then the situation changes.  Longleaf pine is a different critter.  There are government programs out there that are trying to increase the acreage of longleaf and native grass ecosystems.  If you run across one of these tracts up for sale, then you may have the option to combine some quail hunting with some degree of future timber income.   Longleaf  pine does not shade out the under-story habitat to the degree of most other pine species.  Also,  control burning can be initiated in it at a much younger age than the typical loblolly stand. With proper management you can keep the ground cover in quail habitat right up until you start thinning the pines.
These are just a few examples, but I believe you get the idea.  Going back to the original questions can help you think things through and sort out your options before buying forested land for a quail project.

FOR SALE  EXCELLENT HUNTING LAND.
150 ACRES OF CROP LAND PLUS 2 LARGE PASTURES, 400 ACRES TOTAL.  FIFTEEN MILES FROM INTERSTATE.

Open Non-forested Land

Much of the unforested land that is available falls into two basic categories:  crop land   and pasture land.
When you come upon quail land of this type, you may want to ask yourself similar questions to those asked about forested land, such as the initial cost per acre and what income can you generate on the land to help off set management costs.  Also, you need to identify what type of beneficial or non-beneficial vegetation presently exists on the property.
For instance, if you are buying old pasture land, the basic landscape is probably covered with some type of sod-forming grass.  Common ones are coastal bermuda, fescue, or bahia grass.  These species are good  for grazing and hay production, but have to be removed in order to allow native weeds and grasses (quail habitat) to flourish .  In this case, ERADICATION of sod-grass is the goal, but in reality you will probably end up just gaining CONTROL of the acreage.  By this I mean that you will be able to convert most of the area back into quail habitat, but you will still have to treat trouble spots each year to keep the sod-grasses in check.  This will be a necessary cost in this situation, so remember this before you buy.
One way to off set the cost of converting sod-grass to quail habitat may be to rent the land out to a farmer who is willing to plant Round-Up ready corn or soybeans for a few years. This way you can receive an income from the farming while the farmer is removing the grass problem in the crop fields.  In these situations, you can often pay the farmer to chemically treat the sod-grasses on the field edges as well.  Once the sod-grasses have been eradicated from the field borders, you could then establish them in weeds and native grasses.

After a couple of years, the Round-Up ready farming practices will present you with the option to expand your quail program by converting some of the crop fields to quail habitat or expanding the width of your field borders.
If you are considering the purchase of active crop land, carry some of these thoughts with you.  Interview the landowner about past and present farm practices and evaluate the kind of vegetation that is present in fallow areas and field borders.
One last point about purchasing land for a quail project.  While looking at maps and talking with the seller, find out what is taking place on  the adjoining tracts.   Does the property you are considering back up to another quail project or is there a trailer park loaded with roaming house cats along your southern border?  Nearby activities can affect the success of your quail project, so ask about them before you buy.
I hope this discussion will be of assistance to those of you fortunate enough to purchase some land for a quail project.  Keep focused on your objective for buying the land, and what you will have to do after the purchase to achieve your goal.
There is a lot of land out there for sale but remember,  all that shimmers is not gold.

“There is every reason to believe that this strikingly beautiful color phase will remain a rarity in the wild in the future, as it has been in the past.” -  Herbert Stoddard

I was recently visiting a friend of mine named Harold Ray. He is known through out the field trial world as one of the best ever shooting dog trainers.  He has won eighty championships and was elected to the Field Trial Hall Of Fame in 2007.  Early in his career Harold was hired by Elvin and Inez Smith to be the trainer for Smiths English Setters.    Last year Mrs. Smith  passed away, and   Harold was asked to go through some of the records and materials she had accumulated.  During this process he came across a binder of very old issues of  American Field magazine.   Harold told me that one of them contained an article that discussed   “the red quail of the Ames plantation”.  At this point my ears perked up.

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Johnny Houses for Quail II video is a great resource for those wanting to learn more about the use of Johnny Houses on their properties. This DVD produced by Daybreak Productions for Quality Wildlife covers the basics, the season of usage, field placement, preparing the house, Stocking the house, Usage, Maintenance, Disinfection and End of Season cleanup. Not only is this video informative; but Wildlife Biologist Jim Evans makes it really fun to watch!

The DVD can be purchased here for $20.95

When I was a kid, my dad and I would go to an old farm near Hawkinsville, Georgia and just go hunting. We never planted a food plot or put out any feed, yet each year we harvested enough quail to include on the menu for the family Christmas dinner. So why do we need to provide feed sources for quail today?

There are many factors that I could bring up, but let me briefly touch on two : high deer populations and sod forming grasses.  I have been managing quail properties in the southeast for many years. Here it is common for me to see a proliferation of seed producing plants emerge during the spring on acreage that was control burned the previous winter. During the summer months these same plants are browsed heavily by deer.  Though there is still seed production for quail, it is greatly reduced.

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Managing Quail Fields is a DVD release from Quality Wildlife. This is a great resource for anyone raising, or managing the Quail Habitat on their property. Please watch the short preview below, and see how this can be a useful tool for your property! Wildlife Biologist Jim Evans makes this a really fun and a very informative video to watch.

The DVD can be purchased here for $20.95

This is Quality Wildlife’s first video, which gives a great overview of the history Quail Management, and reviews their products as well. We have included a short section on the history of Quail Management.

This DVD is included with the Covey Base Camp and available to anyone interested in learning more about our release system and products.

The DVD can be purchased here for $15.95

Recently, a client of mine said to me,“Jim, I have two questions for you. First, are my early release coveys running off the native birds? And second, can released quail reproduce?” These are probably the two most frequent questions I have had come my way during the past thirteen years of working on pre-season release quail projects. What’s really going on? Who are the real Survivors in the quail game?

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By

Thomas H. Eleazer, DVM Avian Disease Consultant

Introduction by Jim Evans , Consulting Biologist

Introduction

Dr. Tom Eleazer received his degree of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Georgia in 1958 and served Clemson University as a veterinary pathologist, studying poultry and game bird diseases for 31 years. Tom is still actively applying his skills as a poultry and game bird disease consultant. In the past he has served as president of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, served on the advisory board for the Institute of Wildlife and Environmental Toxicology, and also as a member of the Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Advisory Board for the South Carolina Wildlife Commission. He was also instrumental in the development of the vaccine for “quail pox”. Now let’s hear what he has to say about the question: Are pen-reared quail a disease threat to wild birds?

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Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with many landowners that were devoted to having quail on their property. Questions about feeding quail seem to always arise at some point during my visit. For this reason I thought I would take a few minutes to share some thoughts with you on the subject and why for many of us, supplemental feeding is a necessity. Why do we even need to feed quail?As a youngster, my father and I hunted quail and never had to plant a food plot or put out any feed. The farms we hunted had residual crops scattered along the field edges and food never seemed to be factor. But I can also remember, during one of those hunts, when he took the time to show me the track of a game animal that was just starting to become re-established in the region – it was a deer track.Today you could leave half the crop in the field and still have nothing left for quail because the deer would have eaten it all. Also, deer browse on many of the native seed producing plants. This activity further reduces the abundance of natural winter food sources that quail need. In a situation like this, supplemental feeding is critical to sustain a winter quail population.

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