Bedding: Pellet vs Sand

[gummylick]

I had pine shavings on the cubby side of my quail hotel but decided to put in sand since they love it so much. It's going great but I also noticed they do well on the wood pellet (powder) and bathe in it as well. I'm thinking it's more absorbent than the sand? Would there be drawbacks to using wood pellet powder vs sand?

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm assuming this is outside? And do you get any water runoff in your quail enclosure? Sand is top notch at dehydrating poo, but it's meant to drain vs absorb liquid. Assuming the quail don't eat the pellets, I would go with whatever performs best in your climate for ease of cleanup. You could also do what I do and have a mixed medium run. I use mulch on the perimeter (because I need something that REALLY soaks up water) and sand on the interior.

 

[gummylick]

In southern TX so very hot climate and the right side (cubby side) is fully enclosed with a door to open side. There's no drainage, I scoop or sift out to clean. I see them peck thru the sand and heard they sometimes use it for grit, so was concerned that if i switch it out for wood powder, it'd be a problem.

 

[thecatumbrella]

In southern TX so very hot climate and the right side (cubby side) is fully enclosed with a door to open side. There's no drainage, I scoop or sift out to clean. I see them peck thru the sand and heard they sometimes use it for grit, so was concerned that if i switch it out for wood powder, it'd be a problem.

If the sand's working well, I'd stick with it (if only because it will be a massive pain to move!) Give them a separate dust bath area with broken down wood pellets. Best of both worlds!

 

[gummylick]

Ah! I have a tray I put in with different textures/rocks/treats for them to peck around in. I'll do that, thanks much!

 

[Susan Skylark]

I love and hate sand, the birds love it but it is heavy, gets nasty when wet, and we seem to go through a ton (the wet thing!). I use the bedding pellets and have started deep litter composting in my indoor group pen and really like that. My outdoor hutch has a leftover sand layer on the bottom, and I’ve actually been using dried grass clippings this spring and have really liked that. But if rain or drainage isn’t an issue and you can scoop it often, it would be a great option, but didn’t work in my situation. Though i have a no mess feeder in the group pen full of sand which they help themselves to as grit and they seem to like it.