Are anyone else's quail seemingly made of dust?

[Flockincrazy]

I wish I could do something like that, but I wouldn't be able to catch all the quail and move them so often. They are terrified of me as is. We had a quail hutch built for us, and it is great but definitely lacking in ventilation. It is very hot these days in my area.

Mine have a run i kick them out in there run there pen is 4'×12'×4' and is off the ground with a welded wire run that goes 2ways that was the best thing I built for them was the runs could you build them a run (do you have the space)

 

[orloffer]

Mine have a run i kick them out in there run there pen is 4'×12'×4' and is off the ground with a welded wire run that goes 2ways that was the best thing I built for them was the runs could you build them a run (do you have the space)

Unfortunately I don't have the space for a run, and I would not want to transport them back and forth. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

 

[orloffer]

You could use a plastic bag. You may have to replace them often if the birds peck at it, but it might work.

Thanks, I'll try that! Hopefully it won't run down the ice supply too much.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Unfortunately I don't have the space for a run, and I would not want to transport them back and forth. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Oh its attached to there pen the coop and runs are attached to my chickens coop here is an old pic before I was done its in the shape of an L I have 207quail thats why it is so big and the run goes down the back side now too

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

This isn't really helpful, but everyone seems to say that they have so much trouble with their quail pooping so much and creating so much dust... I haven't cleaned mine out all week(since they hatched), and they don't stink barely at all, plus their shavings are still fluffy. I only put a tiny bit of shavings in because I didn't want to risk losing a tiny chick in inches of shavings(I've also never done quail before). Yes, there's only 10 of them and they have a 50 gal tote, but they haven't created a bunch of dust, they've chosen one area of the tote to sleep in and one area to poop in(mostly, some do still poop randomly). But I've never had cleaner birds before...

 

[Flockincrazy]

This isn't really helpful, but everyone seems to say that they have so much trouble with their quail pooping so much and creating so much dust... I haven't cleaned mine out all week(since they hatched), and they don't stink barely at all, plus their shavings are still fluffy. I only put a tiny bit of shavings in because I didn't want to risk losing a tiny chick in inches of shavings(I've also never done quail before). Yes, there's only 10 of them and they have a 50 gal tote, but they haven't created a bunch of dust, they've chosen one area of the tote to sleep in and one area to poop in(mostly, some do still poop randomly). But I've never had cleaner birds before...

Just wait till they are bigger then the real mess comes

 

[Quail4Fun]

Mine are indoors. I keep them on pine shavings. I get the flake kind rather than the fine kind. I clean it fully once a week and pick it out mid week. I have found that the flakes aren't as absorbent but helps some with the dust. Their play sand in the sand box is also just damp- not wet. That way it doesnt aerosolize as easily. And also a carbon filter air purifier is huge to keep smell down and dust down. This is probably the #1 help with smell and dust. I also always have a fan on in the room on low just to keep the air moving. I don't usually open the windows because I have a bee hive in close proximity to my back door and they like to venture inside whenever given the chance, but once a week or so when I clean the cage, I open the window with an 2-way fan to exchange the air.

 

[orloffer]

Mine are indoors. I keep them on pine shavings. I get the flake kind rather than the fine kind. I clean it fully once a week and pick it out mid week. I have found that the flakes aren't as absorbent but helps some with the dust. Their play sand in the sand box is also just damp- not wet. That way it doesnt aerosolize as easily. And also a carbon filter air purifier is huge to keep smell down and dust down. This is probably the #1 help with smell and dust. I also always have a fan on in the room on low just to keep the air moving. I don't usually open the windows because I have a bee hive in close proximity to my back door and they like to venture inside whenever given the chance, but once a week or so when I clean the cage, I open the window with an 2-way fan to exchange the air.

I don't think we have been cleaning out the shavings often enough. Maybe that is part of the problem.

 

[JaeG]

They are dusty birds. They are right up there with parrots for the amount of dander they produce.

I found feeding them fermented feed really helped with the smell when we kept them inside. But there's not much you can do about the dust.