Indoor quail

[Sill]

How many and what kind of quail are you considering? The number of quail and the size of their enclosure will dictate how often you will have to clean them and how much they smell. The denser the population the more smell and dust they will create. Check out the fermented feed thread in my signature. Feeding them this way helps cut the odor of their droppings.

I get hardwood shavings from a custom cabinet shop for dirt cheap. Most of it is oak with some alder, birch and maple depending on what they are working on at the time. There is no odor to it. It's certainly safer than pine or cedar. Maybe you can find something similar in your area if you ask around.

Consider that any type of litter will have some dust, but especially shavings. If anyone in the home has allergies the dust may cause a reaction. The birds themselves create dust from their feathers just preening, which is worst when they are molting. Deep trays lined with paper under wire bottomed cages can help control the amount of dust in the air better than birds on litter. By changing the paper in the trays you will be able to discard all the dust they make during routine cleanings.

Consider a way to filter the air near their enclosure or vent it to the outside of possible. Also depending on your housing situation you might be able to get by with having them in a shed, laundry room, or other utility type area where they will be away from human living quarters but still not be "outside".

 

[quailz101]

10, cotournix quails. I already got them, put I'll try to do some of those things cause they do smell a lot.. Thanks!

 

[JaeG]

Fermented feed is awesome and your quail will love it. I've just switched ours from dry to fermented feed and it's a bit messier but it does make them smell less. And they just love it. We have some young ones at the moment and after crushing pellets up for them for weeks I can't believe I didn't start doing the wet food earlier.

Keeping them on deep litter is also good for keeping smell down as long as you turn it over every day and keep it dry. Chaff is an alternative litter to keep them on too. They adore dust baths so sand is the least dusty to provide them with for bathing. A lidded bucked with a hole cut in it for them to get in would be a good way of containing the dust.

As to others warning you of males crowing at all hours, our boy only crows about 5.15am when the outside birds start up (it's summer where we are) and he'll only crow once. He sometimes crows in the afternoon (again once, occasionally twice) but apparently they only crow during breeding season (we haven't had ours long enough to know for sure) and it doesn't bother us because he's such a gorgeous bird. Our kids pick them up a lot and our boy, Q (because Q is for quail - named by our 3 year old) just squats down and doesn't mind being picked up and kissed. Needless to say no birds will ever be eaten at our house! We enjoy the eggs though.

 

[jazzybio13]

I initially started with deep litter method for my indoor birds, but found the dander to be too much. So we do pine shavings and I change them out just as they get to (or right before) they start to stink. That's about 1x week. If we have company coming over though I just make sure they have clean bedding and then take some essential oils and put a few drops on the wood outside their cage. Typically cedarwood oil, lemon eucalyptus, lemon, or pine. That makes it smell nice for those who aren't used to any sort of animal smell. But really with the bedding changed at least once a week that keeps the smell down. I purchase the bag of pine shavings in bulk at the feed store for $11 bucks and it lasts me 3 months. And that's with changing them out that regularly. I only do 1.5-2" deep bedding in each box.

As for the males, I keep 1 male, and ONLY 1!!!! Seriously at the 5.5 week old mark I processed all the males. They were a bit small but as I live in an apartment and they are kept indoors the noise was a serious factor. So early processing to freezer camp they got. I just chose to keep the quietest male of the lot. And he only calls out once every couple of days now that he's a bit older. (weeks 5-8 were the toughest with him...I guess he's becoming a big boy then and really felt the need to call!) lol.

I think you saw our set up but I think the most important thing about an indoor set up would be a good way to keep dander under control. So our cabinet has a washable sheet that we can remove and wash the dander out every so often. Along with an air purifier that stays on Auto by the quail enclosure. I vacuum that filter out every week as well...and trust me IT NEEDS IT! lol.

We are going to try out some fermented feeds too, we already do sprouted foods, and the pellets. *Just make sure you don't have medicated feed... or their poop will STINK to high heaven!

Best of luck!