Can I keep newly hatched quail on clean sand?

[yallapilko]

The title says it all.
I'd like to try this out, but was worried they would eat the sand.
Has anyone tried doing this? If so, how did it go?
Thanks,

 

[ChickenLegs13]

In my experience turds & sand make poopballs that build up on their toes and are hard to remove.

 

[yallapilko]

Thanks ChickenLegs13. What bedding do you use? I've used wood shavings, but they also get stuck to feet and are hard to remove, but I can see that they may indeed turn to concrete in no time.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I use cheap paper towels on the floor of the brooder box. It absorbs the moisture from their poop and dry poop don't stick to their feet as bad. After about a week there's a layer of poop on the paper towels and it gets sticky and smelly so at that time I move them to a wire bottom brooder/grower cage. Sometimes they get turdballs before I move them and the balls will get caught the wire floor making the birds trip and it will snatch off their claws and the end of their toes. In that case I use a chicken waterer base instead of a quail waterer base. It's wider and the quail will step in it. The water softens the turdballs and they fall off.

 

[UniqueQuail]

Hi. I use paper towels for the first few days. Cleaning it daily, cause man can they poo a lot. Then I change to sawdust. Pretty deep sawdust which I love them on for about a week before going on deeper sawdust pen if I have space or wire based grow pen if I don't.

 

[That Quail Lady]

I only use paper towels. Saw dust, pine shaving anything like that including sand would probably irritate they're eyes and nostrils.

 

[eHuman]

Paper towels for 3 days and then into a deep litter brooder filled with decomposed wood mulch that was sifted through a 1/4" mesh. Dust bathing by day 5 .

 

[Ladybirdmama]

We are getting what will be about week old chicks on Tuesday and plan on doing deep litter when they are out of the brooder. Should I start them on deep litter right away when to get them? I'm a newb. I was originally thinking I would line the brooder with newspaper and put hay in one end and the food & water in the other end. It don't have a solid plan though and am doing more reading now.

 

[eHuman]

I used paper towels until 3 days old and right into a deep litter brooder. I used decomposed wood chip mulch that I sifted through a 1/4" mesh. They were dust bathing by 5 days old.