- Aug 1, 2013
- 5
- 1
- 9
Welcome to the wonderful world of quail poo. Stinky, sticky, and oh-so-abundant!
The easiest way to keep them clean is to keep them on wire. Vinyl-coated is a nice touch. And when I say wire I don't mean chicken wire, but the thicker 1/2" square mesh hardware cloth. Keep their feet dirty and you'll soon be out of quail.
Below the wire, I use a flat tray with paper on it. Basically a droppings board. Change the paper daily. Occasionally sprinkle the tray itself with Sweet PDZ to keep it clean and fresh. Change DAILY. The paper is actually greaseproof paper pan liners that they use in bakeries ($25 for a thousand sheets) but you could use butcher or newspaper or whatever. Keep it from blowing away using binder clips along the edges, I guess. Or picnic tablecloth clips.
Litter works, but flat paper is less mess, less bulk, cheaper, and biodegradable. Slide the paper and poop out and dump into the "green bin" and let the city haul it away.
Or compost the poo and paper together.
If you want to use a litter-box type system, which doesn't require daily dumping, make sure you sprinkle Sweet PDZ at the bottom and occasionally over the top until you clean it. Absorbs ammonia and keeps odor down, all natural mineral, perfectly edible. (www.sweetpdz.com) and cheap, since they use it in bulk to keep horse stalls smelling sweet. A bag of it will last you a long time. Get the granule and not the powder to keep dust down. You could put a layer of wire on top of the litter bin, too, like a lid, to try and help keep the litter inside the bin where it belongs?
Oh, for flies, the hardware stores sell cheap "baggie" style traps. It says each trap will catch forty thousand flies... And it will. Best solution for flies, though, is no poo and good air circulation. (http://www.rescue.com/product/big-bag-fly-trap)
Alternately, and this is really none of my business, but 18 quail in 20 sq feet, while certainly do-able, seems a bit much? If you don't need a dozen and a half eggs a day, why not cut down to a less-stinky 10 or 12? Just a thought to keep your bioload down.
Consider a chicken-nipple waterer. Dumped water from typical waterers keeps poo wet and stinky longer and significantly reduces the lifespan of your litter.
Also, if you're keeping them outside, WATCH FOR RATS. They can reach in (and UP!) through the mesh, grab the quail, pull them to the wire, and start eating. I know that's probably off-topic but it's a horrific sight. A double layer of wire with space between (if your coop has wire attached to the outside, attach a layer to the inside) will help prevent it by simply keeping the quail out of reach.
Good luck!
The easiest way to keep them clean is to keep them on wire. Vinyl-coated is a nice touch. And when I say wire I don't mean chicken wire, but the thicker 1/2" square mesh hardware cloth. Keep their feet dirty and you'll soon be out of quail.
Below the wire, I use a flat tray with paper on it. Basically a droppings board. Change the paper daily. Occasionally sprinkle the tray itself with Sweet PDZ to keep it clean and fresh. Change DAILY. The paper is actually greaseproof paper pan liners that they use in bakeries ($25 for a thousand sheets) but you could use butcher or newspaper or whatever. Keep it from blowing away using binder clips along the edges, I guess. Or picnic tablecloth clips.
Litter works, but flat paper is less mess, less bulk, cheaper, and biodegradable. Slide the paper and poop out and dump into the "green bin" and let the city haul it away.
Or compost the poo and paper together.If you want to use a litter-box type system, which doesn't require daily dumping, make sure you sprinkle Sweet PDZ at the bottom and occasionally over the top until you clean it. Absorbs ammonia and keeps odor down, all natural mineral, perfectly edible. (www.sweetpdz.com) and cheap, since they use it in bulk to keep horse stalls smelling sweet. A bag of it will last you a long time. Get the granule and not the powder to keep dust down. You could put a layer of wire on top of the litter bin, too, like a lid, to try and help keep the litter inside the bin where it belongs?
Oh, for flies, the hardware stores sell cheap "baggie" style traps. It says each trap will catch forty thousand flies... And it will. Best solution for flies, though, is no poo and good air circulation. (http://www.rescue.com/product/big-bag-fly-trap)
Alternately, and this is really none of my business, but 18 quail in 20 sq feet, while certainly do-able, seems a bit much? If you don't need a dozen and a half eggs a day, why not cut down to a less-stinky 10 or 12? Just a thought to keep your bioload down.
Consider a chicken-nipple waterer. Dumped water from typical waterers keeps poo wet and stinky longer and significantly reduces the lifespan of your litter.
Also, if you're keeping them outside, WATCH FOR RATS. They can reach in (and UP!) through the mesh, grab the quail, pull them to the wire, and start eating. I know that's probably off-topic but it's a horrific sight. A double layer of wire with space between (if your coop has wire attached to the outside, attach a layer to the inside) will help prevent it by simply keeping the quail out of reach.
Good luck!
