Calling all indoor quail keepers

[FenDruadin]

Quaillady & pascopol--I'd like to use your stories & experiences! Those are awesome. I'm still in the preliminary stages here, and it can be months, even a year or more before an idea goes from idea to published article (if it makes it that far). Would it be all right for me to have your email addresses so I can contact you when I'm ready for more details? My email address is heather at writerforlife dot com (take out the spaces, replace the "at" and "dot" with symbols... I do it that way to prevent spam bots from picking up my email address from the forum).

aprophet--thanks for the tip--I'll take a look at those. I'm thinking right now that a large birdcage with a pull-out tray would be perfect, but I think I'm going to have to make something new for indoor use, so I'll look into that.

I appreciate it and will keep everyone updated as much as I can. And keep the stories & feedback & tips coming! Thanks!!

 

[Stellar]

Mine is stellargamebirds at yahoo dot com

Take your time, the best works are the ones that take time to get the thoughts in.

 

[FenDruadin]

Thank you! I sent you an email.

 

[KimJongill]

So I'm looking at a new bedroom set-up for a pair of quail, I've been advised that a pair of females would work best. I've been looking at this guinea pig cage it fits the dimension of the space I have perfectly, but I don't know what else to include to make it feel more homey.

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

ps. this is more as a pet setup, so I'm not overly interested in eggs or breeding at the moment.


Edit - I cannot post the link, search for "LARGE (90cm) metal rabbit / ferret cage" on Australian eBay.

 

[Little_Bigfoot]

fifty coturnix inside? i have five buttons inside and feel overwhelmed with cleaning.... i dont see how you could house 50 quail in an appartment and still retain sanitary conditions, let alone sanity.

 

[Sergey]

At my home 5 birds in a cage. And 50 on a balcony.
The smell isn't present absolutely. The main thing to clean every day.
It is necessary to make so that the moisture wouldn't get to the pallet for a dung. Water drops.
If there is no moisture - there is no smell.

 

[laughingdog]

im actually looking for posted button/Chinese painted quail (apparently even on here some confusion, so mean the tiny ones), and Japanese/courtnix courtnix, egg production quail. im wanting to try keeping some "buttons" inside, as aviary pets with tiels, budgies, finches and diamond doves, maybe other tiny members of bird families as well in time (cant seem to find diamond doves or button quail, and maybe have to try to trade or buy hatching eggs), and wondering how button quail are compared to chickens (currently have one possible game hen, and had nine austrolorp in last apartment, and had leghorns, easter eggers, and dutch/old english game or some type supposedly of mex fighting hen), as pets, as well as courtnix as pets, and cournix compared to as layers.

 

[Sumatra503]

I started with 5 coturnix quail in my bedroom. My room is fairly small as rooms go. I've also had as many as 10 in there before. They are manageable in a small space in these numbers, which I'm assuming is what a small in town raiser would start with. 10 hens is enough to feed a family of 2 or so and 5 was enough to feed me breakfast.

I from my first batch of 5 hens I was getting about 4 eggs daily and that was enough for just me. I keep them in a ferret cage that is about 2'x2.5' and 12" tall. The cage has a plastic tray, with no wire. I used a rabbit water bottle for them and they keep their bedding dry. The larger nipple is easier for them. I use a 6" rabbit feed hopper for the feed and raise it to head height and they don't seem to scratch much. I would recomend a seed protector or some sort of barrier to keep the shavings in for this set up. I provide a small animal igloo for them to give them a place to hide and they love it and use it often. I clean it every other day and the smell tends to be bearable until then. I use pine bedding, but the cozy den pellets work well also. I liked the corn cob bedding the most, but it is more expensive.

This is the cage I use, but the one for my male outside.

I suppliment in wild bird seed daily. They also appriciate small ammounts of cabbage, clover and grass from the yard, spinach, and other leafy greens. They appriciate scrambled eggs and the protien is good for them.

Hope this helps.

I have a variety of cages in a variety of styles and I am willing to try out any ideas you have. If you need anything tried out, just let me know.

 

[Sushi]

I have 5 Seramas, 1 bantam cochin frizzle, 4 bobwhites, about 50 buttons, coturnix eggs in the incubator and a small dog, all in my small downtown condo. I use shavings for litter, and as long as the humidity remains low in the cages, there is no smell to speak of. If there's a smell in my place, I either haven't taken out the garbage or the dog's weewee pad needs to be changed. I sprout greens under grow lights for my birds. I use finch seed and pigeon mix, and sprout in flower pots. I then place the pot either in the cage or right next to it with in reach of them by the cage, depending on how likely they are to throw around the soil if I put it in the cage. I use small crock style pet dishes for water, and havent yet figured out a better way. They always get shavings in their water dish and I have to wash them all out daily.

 

[KimJongill]

How do quail like walking on welded mesh flooring? I'm looking at a Guinea pig cage with a removable waste tray, to take advantage of the baking soda suggestion to cut down on cleaning regularity. But I also want them to be comfortable, so what are people experiences?