A better water set-up for my quail

[Heather Christensen]

Hi,

I need a better water set-up for my 1 week old quail. I have one of those gravity water dispensers - with a tank that refills a water trough around it. They manage to poop in that thing a couple times a day. I went to clean it out today and the whole water tank stank, and I worry about the quail getting diseases. I also have a water bottle - the type that you attach to the side of a cage, used for rats and gunea pigs and such. I read that quail will use these - but so far mine have largely ignored it. Anyone have advice on setting up a more sanitary water situation?

 

[DK newbie]

If they are big enough to reach, placing the tank on something that raises it a little from the bedding helps me. A little plastic container or a small ceramic dish turned upside down, a slice of wood, a brick - anything will help, as long as they can still get to the water.

 

[Heather Christensen]

If they are big enough to reach, placing the tank on something that raises it a little from the bedding helps me. A little plastic container or a small ceramic dish turned upside down, a slice of wood, a brick - anything will help, as long as they can still get to the water.

Thank you, I'll try that. It's a bit awkward at the moment, as I have a mix of breeds and their size differences are getting more pronounced. The pharoah and the Texas A&M are a lot taller than the two Tibetans.

 

[PingoBags]

Raising the waterer never worked for me, they would still climb in a poop.
That method worked great for my chickens though.

The only thing that worked for me was horizontal chicken nipples.
They caught on fast and have not had dirty water since.

 

[dpenning]

The horizontal chicken nipples is what I have had success with. The only trick is you have to wait till they are big enough to activate them. Somewhere around 3-4 weeks is when I switched to the nipples. You have to take out any other source or they will ignore it.

 

[Heather Christensen]

Horizontal chicken nipples - try saying that 5 times fast! Thank you, dpenning and PingoBags, I'll look into it.

 

[JurassicBawk]

Mine have all had water bottles once they moved from their brooder to outside in hutches, and there have been no issues. But like was said above, they have to have no other option at first because they'll automatically use the open water option they are used to. My problem now is having to go give them a second option once it's below freezing outside and the metal bottle tips freeze.

 

[Heather Christensen]

Mine have all had water bottles once they moved from their brooder to outside in hutches, and there have been no issues. But like was said above, they have to have no other option at first because they'll automatically use the open water option they are used to. My problem now is having to go give them a second option once it's below freezing outside and the metal bottle tips freeze.

What height are your water bottle tips at relative to the quail? Like eye level, higher, lower? If they were showing any interest in the water bottle I might try removing the other watering option at a time when I can monitor their use of the water bottle. But at 1 week old I'm also wary of removing a water source they are using for one they are not. Maybe I should wait til they are a little older?

 

[JurassicBawk]

Between beak-level and eye level, or as close as I can get with the spacing on my hutches. They have to have it at a height so that when they push the ball the water runs down to their mouths, because if it's lower they usually peck straight at it and end up wasting more than they drink.

Mine were all 4-5 weeks old when I put them outside with the bottles, so at 1 week old they might still be too small. If you know for sure that they can reach it though, maybe test it for a bit without the other source, but be sure to show one of the quail how to use it. Push their beak on the ball until water comes out, and see if it catches on. It seems that once one of mine figures out or tests something (water bottle, new treats, new food containers) then the others will try it also and catch on quicker.

 

[PingoBags]

My problem now is having to go give them a second option once it's below freezing outside and the metal bottle tips freeze.

What are you planning to do?