oats for brooder bedding - your thoughts please

[TwoCrows]

twocrowsranch - thanks, that's a great lot of info. Yes, you're right about the timing for cocci of course... think I was half asleep when writing! And cleaning is most important. But I'm wondering what 1/4 inch hardware cloth is.... I guess we must have a different name for it in the UK. Does the 1/4 refer to the thickness or weave or something? What type of fabric is it? I'm really beginning to see the benefit of the wire floors, for cleaning issues and it's good to know what sizes you use for the different ages. Also that's a great idea to put an area especially for getting off the wire to rest their feet. From all the materials you list, for the bedding, basically, it's got to be something absorbant and obviously cleaned regularly.

james marie- So, I guess then people have used both the oat straw and the actual oats. Although, I've just never heard (other than the British author I mentioned) anyone using the actual oats themselves, especially as the author says it can contribute to toe balling. I think there must be a better thing to use. I like the sound of the paper towels.

1/4 inch hardware cloth refers to the size of the hole in the wire. 1/2 inch or 1 inch, again, is the size of the hole in the wire. Here is an example of 1/2 inch hardware cloth...

Yes, bedding needs to be cleaned regularly, especially with chicks. Their immune systems are not developed and the simplest of bacteria or virus can kill them. As the chicks grow, their bodies learn how to deal with these bacteria's.

If you are in the business of raising thousands of quail at one time, such as James Marie does, cleaning up bedding would be a monumental task with a lot of health risks for the chicks. So wire is the easiest and safest way to raise them. However if you are raising quail on a small scale, bedding can be kept clean if you are diligent about it. I prefer using wire for chicks because it does help prevent cocci, it does require less cleaning, and is far more sanitary for the chicks than bedding. When my birds are older however, I do keep them in aviaries on a litter floor. (grass hay). My climate is very dry, my aviaries are roofed with side protection as well so that rain or snow is kept out, and I have the time to do light cleaning on a daily basis. But do a thorough cleaning when necessary.

Cleanliness is the key to good health in poultry.

 

[James Marie]

Cleanliness is the key to good health in poultry.

Well said...twocrowsranch.....the most important thing anybody can learn about poultry and gamebirds....

 

[yallapilko]

Thanks twocrowsranch - I think what you call hardware cloth we would call mesh....I'd was expecting it to be some sort of cloth!
Well, that's good to know anyway.
So, from what I understand now, basically almost anything can be used after a few days and the chicks have found their way to the feeders.
Cleaning is very important of course.
But as yet, no one has stepped in saying they've actually used the oats.
My chicks should hatch on Friday, so maybe I'll give it a go and let you all know how it is....

 

[walkingbird]

My button and coturnix quail REALLY enjoy eating the corn cob pellets I tried, but it was easier than most bedding types to spot-clean, which I do with my button quail. They also loved to dig around in it. I'm still trying out different types occasionally. Once I tried the king soopers bedding for small animals that was made of some kind of cotton batting. The birds thought it was fine, they really enjoyed throwing it around like confetti, but I didn't like how the droppings sat on top of it. It didn't dry out well once it had absorbed more than a tiny bit of water.

 

[FenDruadin]

Ya know, I can't help thinking that since we're talking about experiences in other parts of the world... there may be a linguistic confusion rather than one of actual practice. For instance, in England the word "corn" means what we in the U.S. mean by "wheat," and when an English person wants to eat what we call "beets" they ask for "beet roots." So I would not be surprised to find that the "oats" of which some folks speak as bedding is actually something else (perhaps the straw from oat fields, for instance).

Having said that, I could see experimenting with whole oats (the kind they feed to horses--not the rolled oats we humans eat for breakfast) as a bedding. Still, it's not the cheapest thing, so why even try?

My quail are raised on the ground mostly, but when I do bring them in to wire pens, they're on wire and then I top the wire with whatever cheapest straw or hay I have on hand. They love hay because they pick at the seeds and grass. I also give them sandboxes to dust bathe in. I toss handfuls of bird seed (oats would be fun too) into the sand for them to pick out.

Good luck with whatever you decide to use!

 

[yallapilko]

Well as I'm English, I feel a little qualified to comment about this!

In the UK, wheat is exactly the same as the US. We don't say corn bread and mean wheat bread for example. But the confustion comes with the language farmers use where they use 'corn' for general crops,which can be anything, including wheat. But for the general populace, wheat is wheat!
With regards to 'oats', I didn't mean oat straw, I meant the stuff that we use for breakfast.
I did try using the oats (stuff you eat for breakfast) with my first lot of chicks, but it was dreadful and toe balled then cemented on their feet in no time. So I swapped for wood shavings, (dust free) which worked a treat.
I love your idea of adding the sandboxes to dust bathe. Much more quail friendly!

 

[FenDruadin]

Hm. I must be remembering wrong. Considering it was the 1980s and I was a pre-teen when I lived in England... no surprise. Or perhaps it's a change since the 1980s, as a result of Americanization of popular culture (tv, etc.)? Very interesting. Thanks for clarifying. I do clearly remember getting a history exam question wrong after returning to the U.S. because it was asking about corn crops, and I thought it meant wheat... And then there was the incident where I asked my neighbor in science class for a "rubber" so I could erase a mistake... I was not a very popular girl that year.

There can also be language changes from one generation to the next (in any country or language), where reading old instructions can become mildly confusing.

Who knows--that may not be the issue at all here. It's just what I thought of while reading through the thread and trying to puzzle out why anyone with experience would think oats would make a good bedding for quail.

 

[yallapilko]

Oh how interesting, where abouts where you in the UK? Was it Mark Twain that said we are separated by a common language? I don't thing the language has changed that much in respect since you were here, but still the same old things. There is someone on here who uses as part of his name 'Nappy', which makes me smirk.
And yes, after reading the book by a British author about using oats for bedding, and then trying it out, I'm wondering why on earth anyone would use the stuff. Thankfully, my baby quail recovered. I'm now on my second batch and you may remember giving me advice about reducing 'dead in shells' and humidity info.... So I've now reduced it by 5%, hoping it wont' be by too much. Trial and error I think.

 

[FenDruadin]

Haha--I love when names translate to something amusing in another (English) language. I lived in Newmarket the first three years I was there, then Prickwillow the last year & a half. Both in Suffolk County. The nearest (ahem) "town" to Prickwillow is Eli... nobody, not even native English, know where Prickwillow is. But it *is* on the maps. In fact, so is our house there--it's at the top of Shippea Hill, which you can search in google maps. Pretty amazing. Used to have an old dilapidated section that we turned into a haunted house--I think they tore it down. In Newmarket we lived in Moulton House, 87 High Street (actually on Kingston Passage behind the Moon's Toy Store).

Whereabouts are you?

And good luck on your next hatch. I don't remember the specific conversation, but I suspect I told you to turn down your humidity. Fingers crossed for a great hatch!!