6 Best Quail Egg Nets For Market Gardens That Prevent Cracked Shells

You reach into the quail hutch and find what you were hoping for: a handful of beautiful, speckled eggs. But as you lift them, you see the tell-tale hairline fracture on two of them, rendering them unsellable. This small loss, repeated daily, is the quiet profit killer for many small-scale quail operations.

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Why Gentle Egg Collection Boosts Quail Profits

Every cracked quail egg is a direct hit to your bottom line. Unlike chicken eggs that can sometimes be used for home consumption, the tiny, fragile nature of a quail egg means a crack often leads to a complete loss. For a market gardener selling eggs by the dozen, losing even 10% of your daily collection to breakage can erase the profit margin entirely.

The problem goes beyond simple financial loss. Cracked eggs create a mess that attracts pests and promotes bacterial growth in the coop. This mess requires more of your most limited resource: time. You end up spending precious minutes cleaning sticky egg yolk off wire mesh instead of tending to your crops or preparing for market.

Furthermore, messy eggs can encourage egg-eating behavior in your flock. Once quail get a taste for their own eggs, it’s a difficult habit to break and can spread quickly through the colony. A well-designed, gentle roll-out system not only protects your product but also maintains a cleaner, healthier environment that prevents costly behavioral issues from ever starting. Your egg collection system isn’t just a convenience; it’s a critical component of your farm’s profitability.

FarmTek Roll-Out Netting for Gentle Landings

When you need a flexible solution for a custom-built hutch, FarmTek’s netting is a solid contender. This isn’t a pre-made kit, but rather a roll of soft, plastic netting that you cut and fit to your specific coop dimensions. Its primary advantage is the "give" it provides. The flexible material creates a trampoline-like effect that gently catches the egg and slows its roll into the collection trough.

The key to success with this material is achieving the correct tension and slope. Too steep, and the eggs roll too fast, defeating the purpose. Too loose, and you’ll create low spots where eggs collect and risk being trampled or pecked. You’re aiming for a gentle, consistent 8- to 10-degree slope that guides the egg forward without it picking up speed.

While highly effective at preventing cracks, this netting has its tradeoffs. It can be more difficult to scrub clean than a solid surface, and over time it may sag and require re-tensioning. It’s an excellent choice for the farmer who enjoys a bit of DIY and wants to retrofit an existing structure with a softer, more forgiving egg-saving floor.

Kuhl Gentle-Slope Plastic Mesh Nest Bottoms

If you prefer a more rigid and standardized system, Kuhl’s plastic mesh panels are the answer. These are durable, interlocking squares of plastic mesh designed specifically for poultry. They are tough, long-lasting, and incredibly easy to clean—you can pull them out and hit them with a pressure washer, something you can’t do with soft netting.

The "gentle" aspect of these panels comes entirely from the installation. The plastic itself has very little give, so the slope of your floor is everything. You must install the supporting framework with a precise, shallow angle to ensure eggs roll slowly and safely. Unlike soft netting that provides a cushion, this system relies on a perfect roll to prevent breakage.

This is the choice for farmers prioritizing sanitation and durability. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it system that won’t sag or stretch. However, it’s less forgiving of installation errors. If your coop frame settles or was built slightly unevenly, you may find eggs cracking from rolling too fast or getting stuck in flat spots. It’s a trade of softness for cleanability.

Ware Manufacturing Roll-Out Nest Box Insert

Sometimes the best solution is the one that requires the least assembly. The Ware roll-out nest box insert is technically designed for chicken nesting boxes, but its simple design makes it easily adaptable for small quail colonies. It’s essentially a self-contained, pre-sloped plastic tray that you can place on the floor of a hutch or small coop.

The main benefit here is simplicity. There’s no need to build a custom-sloped floor or stretch netting. You simply set the unit in place, and the sloped bottom and collection tray do the work. The plastic is easy to wipe down, and the enclosed design can make the birds feel more secure, potentially reducing floor eggs.

This isn’t a solution for a large-scale setup. The inserts are a fixed size, so they don’t offer the wall-to-wall coverage of custom flooring. But for a market gardener with one or two small breeding colonies, it’s a fantastic way to get the benefits of a roll-out system with virtually no installation hassle. It’s an ideal starting point for anyone new to raising quail for eggs.

The DIY Padded Turf Collection Tray System

For the resourceful farmer on a tight budget, the best system is often one you build yourself. A popular and effective DIY method involves using a standard wire mesh floor but adding a "cushion" where the eggs land. By lining your collection trough with a strip of artificial turf or a dense, washable mat, you can dramatically reduce impact cracks.

The concept is simple: the wire provides the slope and allows droppings to fall through, while the turf provides the soft landing. This allows you to use cheap and durable wire for the main floor without sacrificing the eggs. The turf strip can be removed easily for regular washing, which is absolutely essential for maintaining hygiene.

The major consideration here is sanitation. Artificial turf can trap bacteria if not cleaned religiously. You’ll need at least two strips per coop—one in use while the other is being cleaned and dried. This system trades a higher labor requirement for a much lower upfront cost. It’s a perfect example of how a little ingenuity can save you money and protect your product.

Stromberg’s Cackle Box Sloped Wire Floor

The classic sloped wire floor, like the kind found in Stromberg’s Cackle Boxes, is the workhorse of quail breeding. It’s built for maximum durability and sanitation. The 1/2" x 1" galvanized wire mesh allows droppings to pass through easily, keeping the birds and their eggs exceptionally clean. There is no simpler surface to scrape and disinfect.

However, this durability comes at the cost of gentleness. A bare wire floor is the least forgiving surface for a freshly laid egg. Success with this system depends entirely on two factors: a very shallow slope and a well-protected collection area. If the slope is too aggressive, eggs will crack upon hitting the front of the cage or colliding with other eggs.

Many experienced keepers use this system but modify the collection tray with a strip of foam, turf, or even cardboard to cushion the final stop. The wire floor gets the egg out of the cage quickly and cleanly, and the padded trough ensures it arrives intact. It’s a balance, prioritizing cage hygiene while adding a final, crucial touch to protect the egg.

GQF Cabinet Incubator Roll-Out Egg Trays

This is an unconventional but highly effective option, especially for farmers already invested in breeding. GQF (Georgia Quail Farm) makes roll-out trays for their cabinet incubators and brooders. These trays are precision-molded plastic or wire systems designed with the perfect slope and spacing for quail eggs.

Repurposing these trays for your cages offers a premium, ready-made solution. They are perfectly sloped, easy to clean, and designed by a company that understands quail eggs better than anyone. You can build a simple wooden frame to hold the tray, creating a modular roll-out floor for your hutch.

The obvious tradeoff is cost and availability. These are specialized parts, not general-purpose materials, so they carry a higher price tag. They also come in fixed sizes designed to fit GQF cabinets. But if you’re a serious breeder who might already have spare parts, or if you value a perfectly engineered solution, adapting these trays is a clever way to build a top-tier collection system.

Choosing the Right Net for Your Quail Coop

There is no single "best" system; there is only the best system for your farm. The right choice depends on balancing your budget, your coop design, and how much time you can dedicate to cleaning. Your decision should be guided by a few key questions.

First, are you building a new coop or retrofitting an old one? For new builds, integrating a durable system like Kuhl plastic mesh from the start is efficient. For retrofitting an existing hutch, the flexibility of FarmTek netting or a simple drop-in Ware insert is often more practical.

Second, what is your biggest constraint: time or money?

• Time-Poor, More Budget: Pre-made systems like Kuhl panels or GQF trays are fast to install and easy to clean, saving you labor in the long run.
• Budget-Conscious, More Time: A DIY turf-lined trough or a carefully installed wire floor is extremely cost-effective but requires more diligence with cleaning and maintenance.

Finally, consider your scale. A small backyard colony of a dozen birds can be managed with a simple insert. A market garden operation with 100+ birds needs a system that is durable, efficient, and easy to sanitize on a large scale. Match the system to the reality of your daily chores, not just the ideal coop in your head.

Ultimately, investing in a gentle egg collection system is an investment in efficiency. It turns a potential daily frustration into a reliable harvest, ensuring more of your hard work makes it to the farmers market and into your pocket.