Quail Dust Bath

[PatientType]

Quail seem to love a sand box. They sit in it, they toss sand over themselves, they peck at it as a grit to better digest their food.

If you're putting in an outdoor aviary-type pen, my suggestion would be to get the biggest cat litter box you can find - one that has fairly high sides. Keep the box somewhere in the pen that it will not get rained on. Then, invest $6 and buy a 50# bag of construction, all purpose sand. Then keep about 1-1 1/2 inches of sand in the litter box.

 

[le_bwah]

Quail don't just like a dust bath, they NEED one. It's a natural and necessary part of their grooming behavior. Removes oil, debris, pests—probably feels good too, to be real.

I have a dirt floor aviary with bark sprinkled overtop. The birds just dig little pits wherever they like and bath whenever—no problems so far. If your floor isn't a bath-able substrate, shallow cardboard boxes or disposable trays works just as well—anything to hold a couple inches of dirt that you won't mind getting pooped all over.