Coturnix quail on sand

[jennifleur]

Hi all, just wanted to share some tricks that work for me. I rake my modified Dog kennel coop with carpet rake found on amazon. I can get the sand very clean. It gathers up the poop and debris, leaving the sand groomed and in place. I than sift the pile with an ex-large half dome wire sifter I found at a kitchen supply. It's so large, it takes both hands to shake, but goes very quickly. I do wear gloves, and have plastic stool to sit on. This is probably laughably extreme to many of you, but I enjoy spending time out there with them. They all end up fighting to take sand showers right under the sifter/strainer. I searched along time for the right rake and kitty litter scoops leave alot of poop and are so small. I do use granular stall fresh and DE. If it's dusty, I have disposable face masks that cost next to nothing in bulk. The DE has not bothered my quail as yet, some are two years old. The DE that caused cancer in the miners, is a different type than the food grade. Well, I hope some you that keep quail on sand find this useful. Your tips and experiences have helped me many times. I enjoy this site,and have been lurking along time. Thank you.


Edited for my many typos.

 

[Outpost JWB]

Thank you for sharing. And

 

[stephstuckman]

I would be interested in seeing your tools and coop. This spring I have a 4'x4' chainlink dog kennel I am going to convert into a grow out pen for my quail. I am building a box, no bottom, out of some scrap 2x10 board that the kennel can sit down in, then fill it with sand. I will also cover it with 1/2 inch hardware cloth and tarps on the top.

 

[jennifleur]

I'll work on posting pictures. I think I'm too new to post them. If you google carpet groomer images, it should come up. I think they are for raking shag carpet or to fluff up carpet after having it shampooed.
I found pictures of my sand sifter by googling domed metal wire mesh food cover.The Mesh is just large enough for the granular Stall Refresh to flow though easily. If the sand gets too wet its hard to sift. DE and Stall refresh absorb moistuer and help make the poop harden. I always have a wet spot under the waterer, so mixing any dusty dry areas with the damp sand helps.
I have a 8x4 lucky dog kennel from costco, I added a Wire 4x4 second story to that one. Put the ramp against the wall or the quail might not use it. I keep my hay up there. The rake is useful for getting any eggs laid on lower sand level under the hay level.
I also bought two 4x4 kennels from Craigslist. The kennels need to be covered with Hardware cloth, I used zip ties. The door is the problem, the gap was too wide around it. I ended up covering the door with a stiff but flexable 1/4 grid black plastic mesh that was cut larger than the door,overhanging the edges. It flexes and bends so I can open the door. But keeps the cats from sticking their paws under it and waiting for a quail to get too close and clawing it. I even had a neatly decapitated quail body one morning before the fixes. Hope this helps

 

[Outpost JWB]

Sounds good. DH wants to raise quail. I am still not so sure about it. Too many projects, not enough time. Maybe by next spring we can have a new coop together and get some. 10 or 20. Oh dear.....Quail Math