Quail pen idea

[oskizzle]

I recently added 6 quail to our homestead, and had a crazy thought after seeing all the droppings under the pen after just one day...so I thought I'd throw it out there and get some opinions.

My quail pen looks similar to this. I'm curious about doing some composting and having a worm bin. What if I put the worm bin underneath the open caged side of my quail pen, so the droppings from the quail go down into the worm bin? Then, I would also put my food scraps into the bin as well.

I read somewhere on the forum that the quail droppings make good compost - would this be a good idea?
Would the smell or possible fumes from the compost bin cause issues to the birds?

I haven't thought through how I would build such a thing, I'm still trying to determine if it's a good idea.

Thank you for your insight.

 

[TheRealTimShady]

i have thought about doing this myself, if you do end up doing it, keep me updated. Anyway, yes it would work the red worms break it down, and if you were adding say..regular dirt to it as well for filler(warning: i don't know this...just what i think) it shouldn't stink anymore then regular quail poo does.

I don't run a complete compost underneath mine but i do stir in dirt and dirty wood shavings. I have contemplated using them in my garden, but i'm just scared of the wood shavings, eventho they break down.

anyway, i say go for it, sounds awesome. Let me know how it goes!

 

[Mek]

I know that you can have a worm bin for dog poo but I know that you have to feed them the dog poo exclusively as they would go for the vegetable scraps.
Perhaps a composting bin that heats the stuff up will work better as the heating process may sterilize and speed up the process of aging the poo (but man does it smell off). I got a bath tub filled with worms.. what is the PH of Quail poo? I would assume that its slightly acidic so you would need like dolomite (I think its dolomite) to counteract the acid.

 

[Pine]

Let me preface by indicating that I don't have any quail but I've been lurking for a while and learning. This worm focused topic encouraged me to register and add my 2 cents.

I too have thought about putting a worm composting bin directly underneath the wire of the cage. While investigating all things vermi, I ran into an article where someone was trying to use worms in a feed-lot environment. The worms were processing the cattle waste. That was the genesis of my idea.

I'm not an expert, but I have two vermi-composting bins under the deck. I also add worms to my low-water Earthbox style garden bins. In my case, I focus on coffee grounds and rip/cut-up cardboard. Local coffee houses would be a source for a greater volume of grounds than your household consumes. The worms are generally Esina Foetida - red wiggler/composting/leaf litter worms. These are not your garden soil worms.

One characteristic of vermicomposting is you need to keep the compost moist. I have large enclosed plastic bins and live in a low-humidity zone at about 7K feet. I spray water on the compost 3 or 4 times a week. In a more open bin, you might need to spray more frequently.

Concerns that I have on this idea relate to the fact that worms don't eat the materials directly. I believe it is the bacteria, etc. that is consuming the material that the worms encourage and then eat. Check out vermi-composting for those details. My idea was to keep the compost a few inches below the hardware cloth and thus there is the potential for adverse affects on the quail from the composting process.

 

[Eyeheartquail]

My husband built our quail coop and added rubbermaid lids below to catch the poo. Now, all I have to do is dump the poo into my garden or compost

I love it!

 

[Tikkajazz94]

Quote:
I will take one

(Just kidding)

 

[Eyeheartquail]

Neener Neener Neener!