Soil flooring for quail?

[Mdegeli]

Hello! I have 8 Courtnix quail. I am building a new hutch. I was wondering if anyone has used soil for a floor with worms below for cleanup? Is there smell? Is it easy to care for? They are currently on a wire flooring and I wanted something more natural. Thanks!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

I have raised worms.. and they don't eat poo as far as I know... maggots do.

Maybe the deep litter method many use for chickens would work for you?

Good for you for looking for more natural. And good luck figuring something out!

 

[Mdegeli]

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

I have raised worms.. and they don't eat poo as far as I know... maggots do.

Maybe the deep litter method many use for chickens would work for you?

Good for you for looking for more natural. And good luck figuring something out!

Ran

 

[Mdegeli]

Thank you for the feedback. I will look more into the deep liter. No thank you on the maggots . Thanks!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank you for the feedback. I will look more into the deep liter. No thank you on the maggots . Thanks!

Lol.

Agreed.

 

[le_bwah]

When I hear people mention using worms to "clean up" after birds, it seems the worms do a better job of eating dropped food than they do eating droppings.

Deep litter is a good thing to look into. I've used it for almost a year now and the quail love it—they bathe in the decomposing plant matter and dig deep holes that help keep the litter mixed. As long as it's turned frequently enough, it keeps their feet clean, too. Definitely more natural and kinder to the birds than wire.

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

When I hear people mention using worms to "clean up" after birds, it seems the worms do a better job of eating dropped food than they do eating droppings.

Deep litter is a good thing to look into. I've used it for almost a year now and the quail love it—they bathe in the decomposing plant matter and dig deep holes that help keep the litter mixed. As long as it's turned frequently enough, it keeps their feet clean, too. Definitely more natural and kinder to the birds than wire.

I really think this is the way to go, i do deep litter, pure sand actually, that i turn often, and sometimes add a little dried alfalfa to it too. The quail are so happy because they can distbathe everywhere the only drawback for me is they sometimes bury their eggs but i just count when i collect and check it throurally. Also they will mess the water up, but you can simply raise it on a platform or use a different type of waterer besides the gravity towers. I tried keeping them on wire for a little while and they are definitely happier with either half being sand or the whole thing deep litter.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Hello! I have 8 Courtnix quail. I am building a new hutch. I was wondering if anyone has used soil for a floor with worms below for cleanup? Is there smell? Is it easy to care for? They are currently on a wire flooring and I wanted something more natural. Thanks!

there are alot of people here on BYC who dont keep their birds on wire. It does def do something for the lil buggers to have a more natural environment so i second the way to go for wanting to provide that at a little extra work for yourself! Problem is theyre pretty messy and thats why in large numbers farmers like to keep them on wire. As long as your willing to keep an eye on it and turn it if theyre not moving it enough i love the suggestions youve gotten for deep litter. I have large numbers kept on wire but i refresh dust baths for each of them weekly plus half of each pen has a wooden section floor where i can spray it off wkly when i do dust baths. I wanted to do an aviary style run but numbers got out of hand

 

[mixedUPturk]

Sand might not be as feasible if you dont live near it, its isnt very absorbent and unless it gets good sun i would worry about it staying dry. Some people fear the particulates the birds can inhale from sand also but im not sure how much of a factor that is because i kno others who have done it for years and swear by sand in their runs. Then they also say use the flake shavings vs the fine for the same reason so it may have some merit or may be a wives tale type orgin?

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Yeah, I used to have all mine on wire but after my first bumblefoot outbreak I became a convert to shavings. It honestly is less smelly than just having the poop sit in the pans anyways, and the birds are much happier.

I second (third, fourth?) the suggestion to look into deep litter. I am trying to figure out how I might accomplish the same thing in my teeny weeny cages right now. I throw out a LOT of shavings currenly since I can't even compost here until I come up with some sort of leak-proof setup (sensitive watershed).