If anyone is wondering how much quails stinks...

[Pippy]

the answer is "a lot". A few weeks back I asked how bad the smell would be if I kept quail in the house. Well, my 8 quail are nearly 4 weeks old, and the smell is pretty bad. I have them in the house in a large carboard box as a brooder, and am hoping to get them out to the garage in another 2-3 days, then eventually outside. I just turned off the lamp a few days ago.

They're on woodchips, and I dump new woodchips in with a little bit of baking soda, every few days, and they still smell. I have a very sensitive nose, I should add. They are also dusty now, as someone else mentioned. I didn't understand the dust thing until they started stretching and flapping their wings and bopping up toward the top (I have netting over the top), and they get dust and small feathers everywhere.

So, moral of the story - if you're going to keep them in the house and you have a sensitive nose, plan on either kicking them out of house when they're old enough or change/clean the cage at least every other day.

 

[sourland]

Cleaning every other day should be an absolute minimum when raising birds inside.

 

[satay]

I clean mine out everyday. No smell then.
I also don't use shavings in the brooder. I use newspaper and paper towel and just swap it out each morning.

 

[USAmma]

I agree!!! I have mine outside. I kept them inside as tiny chicks and by 3 weeks old I moved them to the garage it was just too unbearable.

After much experimenting and them developing some foot problems, I have them on deep litter. Basically I mix dry leaves and straw and then every other day I add a handful more of straw and spread it around. I change the whole thing out once a week. It doesn't smell like daisies but it is better with this system.

I don't know how anyone could keep quail in the house unless they changed the bedding like 2x a day. That's what I ended up doing with my babies until they were moved out.

 

[PinkBee]

I'm really smell sensitive as well. That said, I have 15 3 week old quail in a 2x4 brooder/cage in my house and, at this point, I have to do a bit of spot cleaning once a day (though I can stretch it to 1-1/2 days, but I'm sure that'll change soon.) I have, from the start, given them 1/2 tsp ACV with "mother" in their water (quart). I also have them on deep litter. I have a box cut and fit into the bottom of the wire brooder/cage. I put in plastic shelf lining (non holey kind). On this a layer of newspaper. On this a thickish layer of hay. On this pine shavings. I have another box (big banana box from Costco) within the brooder that is lined only with a lot of newspaper then pine shavings. This is where I feed them. This I've started to clean out (not the newspaper unless it's wet) almost every day and replace the shavings. The rest of the cage I stir up the shavings on top and add a handful of shavings if I feel it's necessary. They still have a red heat light at night and another regular light running till 10 pm. A couple of days ago I thought it was getting nasty until I realized it was the flowers I'd gotten a few days before. (Gorgeous flowers, but wow, stinky! LOL) Anyway, I'm a firm believer in the deep litter method now, especially after reading how stinky it gets for everyone.

 

[Pippy]

Yeah, they didn't smell much at all from 0-2 weeks (I changed the litter out completely once or twice a week), 2-3 I started to notice they got more stinky, now, 3-4, really stinky. They are definitely going outside in a week or so. Between 3 kids, a dog, and a job, there is no way I have the time or the desire to change them everyday. I will definitely try ACV in their water.

 

[Ntsees]

I say it depends on what you feed them which in turn affects what odor their dropping will give off which in turn affects how they'll smell when they are confined with their droppings. Putting them outside is a good idea for ventilation. The wild quail in the forest though, smells like the forest (because it's been brushing itself through the herbs and vegetation while feeding).

 

[teradragon]

I have 8 A&Ms in a 90cm x 55cm box. I have newspaper, sawdust then hay. I put some apple cider vinegar into their water and this cuts the ammonia in the droppings an awful lot.

I clean mine out twice a week and I haven't noticed any smell, nor have any guests when I have asked them (I have friends who would tell me).

 

[Fuxzi]

Teradragon...
I've never heard of apple cider vinegar in water before, may I ask how much you put in the water at one time?

 

[teradragon]

just a tiny bit. So my waterererer is about a litre and I put maybe half a teaspoon in. It makes a lot of difference for such a little change!