How to keep your quail's feet clean?

[Dakota14breyer]

This is my first time owning quail, and I've loved every second of it, except for this one problem. It always seems that my button quail keep getting their own poop stuck on their claws, turning them into little orbs of fecal matter and feathers hanging off their feet until I clean it. I've had to remove it from every bird at least once, and now the poop is attaching to their feet too. I clean their cages weekly, and they are on the carefresh shavings bedding at the moment. I've heard bad stories from parrot forums on keeping a sandpaper perch/spot for them, and I know it'll get pooped on incessantly. Does anybody have a good idea to keep their feet clean for longer?

 

[TurtletheCoturnix]

I don't know if I'm much help, but I personally think that the frequency of poop balls has to do with the size of cage and the number of quails, and how much wood shavings you give. I have a cage that is about 4' x 1.5' with only two button quails in it (which I know is a bit less compared to others) and I clean their cage about once two weeks, and their feet are fine.

I've read that sand helps poop balls, but never tried it myself. You can try to add more shavings to their cages.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Poop balls on their toes is going to happen with quail. Their toenails are super long and have just enough of a curve on them to scoop up and hold fecal matter. To help keep their feet clean(er) longer, I provide a plastic shoebox (available at most dollar stores) filled with construction-grade sand (unwashed, untreated, undyed, plain old, cheap-o, coarse sand), like the sort they use to make concrete with (NOT grouting sand). As your birds dust bathe in the sand, they'll be scratching and digging to get the sand dug out to just the right depth and shape, and toss enough of it up into the cracks and crevices of their feathers... all the while, giving themselves a decent manicure in the process.
I still have to break out the nippers to carefully remove poop balls from their toes, but instead of this being a twice-monthly need, I only need suffer the procedure two or three times annually. My quail prefer to not be handled, so they're doubly satisfied with the sand.

 

[Kiki]

I've never had a poop ball footed quail.
I keep my cages clean and dry.

I keep my birds on dirt.

 

[ValerieJ]

I don't know the size of your operation, (cage size, # of quail, etc) but my first thought would be if the coop is clean the feet will be. Maybe clean it out every day or two? I think I'd rather clean a coop than quail feet.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I've never had a poop ball footed quail. I keep my cages clean and dry. I keep my birds on dirt.

I don't know the size of your operation, (cage size, # of quail, etc) but my first thought would be if the coop is clean the feet will be. Maybe clean it out every day or two? I think I'd rather clean a coop than quail feet.

Limited space, largest cages available were about 2x4', they tip their water frequently. Bought some nipples to make waterers with, they leak from the part where they're supposed to tap making a mess... went back to a dish of water... they seemingly bathe in that several times daily (always have wet birds and have watched them hop in and out of it). Have tried shredded newspaper, with some success. Have tried sand, didn't like using JUST sand for my quail as the poop pulverizes into a stinky dust/mud in the sand. Have tried empty rice husks, so lightweight that they track everywhere and are a royal pain to try to get out of carpet or rugs. Currently they're on wood shavings that I buy at the pet store, the type they sell for gerbils, mice, and whatnot mixed with sand on the bottom (as they toss the sand from their dust bath). Prefer the wood shavings over the other methods I've tried. Still get poop balls. I just cannot in good conscience make them live on wire... It would certainly fix the poopy toes, but I believe it would cause other issues that I'm not willing to deal with; sprained and broken toes and legs that could lead to bumble foot or even gangrene, spraddling due to slipped tendons, scrubbing poop off of the the patio floor under their cage because they live on my enclosed back patio... that sort of thing.
I keep weighing the options for the problem, and thus far, my best solution is to give them a pedicure periodically.

 

[le_bwah]

I raise Coturnix on wood chips and straw—when a girl gets a dirty foot, I hose down part of the aviary and throw treats over the wet spot. A few hours of scratching in the damp substrate usually gets them clean. I rarely have to help them manually.

In the case of buttons indoors, you might try a more absorptive substrate—from experience, I can recommend stall/coop pellets. In between full changes, stir the pellets to reveal cleaner and un-wetted ones. Increasing the amount of space the birds have and changing their bedding more frequently would also cut down on poo feet.

 

[blackoaktammy]

Buttons are infamous for poop balls. I have some that never get poop balls, and some that I have to remove every week when I clean cages. At this point, I'm sure it has something to do with the structure of their toes/nails. It doesn't seem to matter what substrate I use or how big the cages are. I use needle nose pliers, lined up so their toes are not between the pliers and squeeze from a couple different angles. The ball will either crack apart or crumble and you can remove the remainder with your fingers.

 

[Dakota14breyer]

Thank you all so much for your comments! This has been really helpful to see what others do in this situation, and really comforting to know I wasn't the bad quail mom of the group. I do plan on giving them more sand or gritty stuff to play in, as the little sandbox in their popsicle home is always left empty of sand in a few days. Though it is working as a nesting box for my broody hen. I wonder if the pool filter sand I've been using would be ok for the entire enclosure bottom.

I did find a super-easy way to clean their feet when they do get poo balls on the nails: I cut the bottom and viewing window out of an old Folgers coffee plastic can and covered the openings with hardware cloth (I put duct tape on the edges to prevent injury or scratches). I then set them on an old baking tray (which is now quail only) in a very very shallow layer of warm/room temp water. I just left the bird in there for an hour and their nails are clean as the day I got them! It definitely saved some stress and now I can do it alone.

 

[Dakota14breyer]

Here's some clarification on my setup and the quail-cleaninator-5000 as I'll call it from now on.