Quail chicks - the mess is unreal

[E-quail-izer]

Okay I have raised all sorts of animals, including a few weird ones (warthog and meerkat's) but the quail babies make a HUGE mess! Poop machines and they literally turn their waterer into a dirty, mushy, quail Jacuzzi (even with the marbles in there).

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

Trust me, ducklings have got to be the nastiest little guys. They splash around and waste all their water in 2 minutes, resulting in a soggy, poopy brooder.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Hey @Kiki do you still change the paper towels every two seconds!?

 

[E-quail-izer]

Trust me, ducklings have got to be the nastiest little guys. They splash around and waste all their water in 2 minutes, resulting in a soggy, poopy brooder.

Okay, that does sound worse. I haven't raised ducks so I think you are probably right. I must admit the quail chicks are still the cutest little fluff balls ever, despite the mess.

 

[JaeG]

You do need to elevate their water because wet bedding stinks. I've started using these initially and they are brilliant for quail chicks.


Shelf liner underneath initially helps to limit the grot they manage to put in it.

And I have to agree with @25chickens -ducks win for stinky, messiness!

 

[E-quail-izer]

You do need to elevate their water because wet bedding stinks. I've started using these initially and they are brilliant for quail chicks.

View attachment 2148030
Shelf liner underneath initially helps to limit the grot they manage to put in it.

And I have to agree with @25chickens -ducks win for stinky, messiness!

Oh I am definitely going to source some of those or at least something similar.

 

[mdees88]

You can buy quail waterers at tractor supply. They are just like the red chicken waterers but the have a very narrow trough, so you don't need marbles. I use 1 gallon ones that I buy online.

You have to elevate them above the shavings so they can't knock the shavings in it or poop in it. I have different thickness pieces of wood I use.

Quail are definitely little poop machines. I use a deep litter method with pine shavings. I spread a thin layer out in the brooder, then every day or twice a day I will continue to spread thin layers of shavings over the poop. You have to keep raising the feeder and waterer though. This is easier than completely changing the bedding out everyday.

 

[Kale the Quail]

I have a pair of quail (A PAIR) and they'll get their waterer clogged with bedding overnight.

 

[FloorCandy]

I watched a video that said to put the waterer on a tuna tin, and that has really helped me. I didn’t have a tuna tin, but I have a plastic lid that I sit it on.

As the chicks grow, I’ve been moving them to a larger brooder, I’m now at my largest, a 50 gallon bin. The more surface area they have to spread the poop, the faster it dries. I also tried the deep bedding method, but mine dig constantly, probably because I sprinkle some crumbles around for them to forage haha. They dig and kick, and stick poop to the walls of the bin. At their current size, 9 days, I can go about 2 days between changes.

Also worth noting is that I have a heat plate not a light, so the deep bedding is a hassle with taking out the heat plate, raising the legs etc. I think the heat plate is more relaxing for them, because when they get scared they hide under it, the lamp brooders look so open and scary I think, so I’d rather change bedding every few days and have them feel secure. I’ve also worked with enough animals in the past that I feel like poop heated and dried by the lights gets more powdery, and it might be in my head, but I feel like I smell the chalky poop more than when it just falls on chips and dries naturally. The chicks mostly go to the edges of the plate to poop, and the plate doesnt radiate heat, the whole brooder isn’t a poop oven.

I really expected the smell and mess to be worse, I had a Congo African grey for several years and the 19 chicks in a bin definitely are less mess and smell than he was in a cage that like 3 people could fit in at once.

In summary, raise water, don’t heat the poop, that’s my 2 cents.

 

[FloorCandy]

You do need to elevate their water because wet bedding stinks. I've started using these initially and they are brilliant for quail chicks.

View attachment 2148030
Shelf liner underneath initially helps to limit the grot they manage to put in it.

And I have to agree with @25chickens -ducks win for stinky, messiness!

Do you have a link to those or the name to search, they look awesome!