Indoor quail possible?

[bridgetchicken]

Can you keep coturnix or valley quails inside your home in a large rabbit cage? Would there be any foul smell?

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Can you keep coturnix or valley quails inside your home in a large rabbit cage? Would there be any foul smell?

It's not unheard of but you will have to keep very few in a rabbit cage and ensure that you clean them often. They are very smelly, they have a very strong smell of ammonia. I'd not recommend keeping them inside honestly.

 

[ButtonNomies]

Of u want indoor quails the go for buttons, they don't smell, but I wouldn't use a rabbit cage as the bars are too wide. Vivs and tanks are easier to keep clean xx

 

[Rafnel]

I keep 8 coturnix indoors in my office. You will definitely fight dust & smell. I have gotten better at dealing with this over the past month:
- Keep their dust bath in an enclosed container or hideaway in the coop. This limits the dust that they spray into the air when bathing. Do note that you will still have a small layer of dust on every surface in your room every few days. Easy enough for me as my office is fairly empty
- Get a small HEPA filter. I got one off Amazon and keep it on full blast 24/7 in the room with the quail and it helps reduce smell and mess somewhat. The larger the filter the better it will do against the smell probably.
- If possible extend the walls of your enclosure up 6-8 inches so that you can use deep litter. I use pine shavings and I stir them each morning and evening and throw a fresh handful on as well. This will freshen the smell. You can also add some sweet pdz or diatomaceous earth here and there but do note that any sandy or dusty substance you add will contribute to the dust in the room as they kick it up.

So tl;dr it is doable but it will be some work to keep it smelling okay.

 

[Nabiki]

If you have any kind of allergy or respiratory issues, do not keep them inside. When I had chicks inside, the quantity of dust that they produced was unbelievable.

You want at least one square foot per bird, so you won't be able to keep more than a couple in a rabbit cage, so something like button quail would've your best option wince they do well in pairs.

 

[007Sean]

Can you keep coturnix or valley quails inside your home in a large rabbit cage? Would there be any foul smell?

I wouldn't recommend keeping Valleys indoors. They require more space than Coturnix or Buttons and don't fair well in small cage type environments.

 

[Boppo]

As people have said, unbelievable amounts of dust, dust, dust! The birds themselves shed dust from their feathers, as well as all the dust they kick up from their beloved dust bath. And oh, yeah, coturnix at least have very stinky poo! Pine shavings really help a lot, but man, it's a constant battle, and I get the wood chips all over every time I try to add to the cage or take them out, so there is that, too.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Coturnix are unbelievably messy and stink: fine for the outdoor coop and great at producing compost but definitely not indoor pets. At a few days old the chicks went into our garage since it's warm enough here, and we're not even neat freaks.

 

[dulahdaglace]

I keep mine inside - I have space in the garage or outside, but I like being able to easily watch them during the day. I found that putting apple cider vinegar in their water keeps them healthier and reduces the smell of their poop. Fermenting their food would have the same benefit, but that's more work than I have time to commit to. I have my cots in a wire cage and the droppings fall onto a plastic paint drop cloth underneath that I empty into the compost 1-2 times a week. Someone else mentioned making sure their dust bath is completely covered except the entrance and I agree that's important - they fling the sand everywhere. If it's next to a wall, make sure you have a plastic on the back to prevent droppings back there. Sweep frequently- we have feathers and dander EVERYWHERE no matter how many times I sweep.

 

[Boppo]

Ooh what a good idea about covering the dust bath!