Unconventional chick grow-out idea— opinions?

[MamaBirds_Quail]

Okay okay so, hear me out:

I emotionally threw 3 eggs in my incubator when my scarlett roo went on a murderous rampage and offed HALF my hens.

I don’t know if they are fertile yet (I’ll check today, they’ve been in the bator for 4 days)

We live in New England, these eggs will hatch in JANUARY. and my outdoor grow out pen was compromised by predators anyway.

Would it be ENTIRELY absurd, dangerous, otherwise a bad idea to allow a couple redemption-quail to grow out in the bottom of my budgies enormous flight cage?

Here’s the cage:

It’s huge and our 4 budgies really only spend time in the top 1/3. The budgies are also young, MUCH smaller than even a few week old quail chick, and not fully flighted so I don’t have any obvious reasons to think they would be a risk to the quail… and I’m having trouble picturing a flighty gamebird chick being aggressive to a bird who can easily climb out of the way.

Quail chicks would have 2x3 feet of floor space in this scenario, they’d be in a secure, warm enclosure with excellent ventilation, where I could reasonably be able to manage the husbandry because I am already changing litter and feeding/watering birds.

I don’t believe that parrots and quail share any diseases, the budgies have been cleared of parasites and mites, and nobody in that cage has contact with wild birds, or the adult quail.

Besides the risk of the quail being weirdos after imprinting on parrots am I missing any obvious pitfalls?

Are there better options for growing out indoors? My setup for little chicks is a low-wattage heat lamp clamped to a big rubber bin and they *STINK* in there after only a few weeks, I’m worried that even with only a few chicks that will be a husbandry disaster for a 5-6 week stay. It’s also a much smaller footprint.

Does anyone have better ideas? Anyone kept mixed birds even short term? I’m open to any and all suggestions but the —I believe— Temple Grandin quote about “If the right way to care for an animal is not also the easiest, most readily available way, it won’t get done” keeps running in my head, I don’t want to set myself up to struggle to care for them because they are in a weird spot, or somewhere I’m not set up to manage bird poo already.

 

[Nabiki]

That might work. Keep a close eye on them, though. I've heard that budgies can be territorial and may harm the quail.

I use plastic bins with hardware cloth tops for grow outs during the winter. With my new house, it will be nice to have them in the garage rather than my kitchen. They produce an awful lot of dust.

 

[le_bwah]

You're looking at 3 quail chicks in New Year, right? If you have the space, a large plastic tote could work fine. Just melt some air holes in the lid/mid sides for good ventilation. I use stall pellets every time I brood indoors, which helps with the mess and smell (but dust seems inevitable—clear out anything that will be hard to clean later!).

When I have more chicks, I just chain totes together so they have space as they grow (all in one side here for a cleaning). You could try something similar for growing them out. Also, I find that a heat plate keeps them quieter than a lamp, but that might just be me. Best of luck however you go about it!

 

[MamaBirds_Quail]

That might work. Keep a close eye on them, though. I've heard that budgies can be territorial and may harm the quail.

I use plastic bins with hardware cloth tops for grow outs during the winter. With my new house, it will be nice to have them in the garage rather than my kitchen. They produce an awful lot of dust.

I’ve heard that about breeding budgies (and females) … luckily ours are all male, and not at maturity yet so I’m hoping so long as the quail don’t like, fly up and eat all their chop they’ll be chill

 

[QuailQueen3]

Quail, at least Jumbo Brown Coturnix, take off vertically, flying straight up. So, it’s possible that your setup may result in injury or death to a quail from a vertical take-off. Young quail can die if they catch a draft, or can stray too far away from the heat source or food and water. Quail can also become aggressive and territorial if they have too much space.

I have a small brooder from Dale’s Quails that is awesome! The wood sides and removable wood floor (hard cloth underneath) creates warmth like an oven, prevents drafts, and is 14” elevated from the floor. Carbon dioxide levels are higher close to the floor. I also use a ceramic heat lamp bulb that emits only heat (not light), and my baby quail chicks are quiet through the night by the time they are 24-48 hours old. My heat lamp is on an adjustable height stand which makes it safe and easy to reduce/wean them from the heat. The brooder itself is 12” high which prevents them from injuring themselves when they take flight. They pop up and right back down. It also is a safeguard if the lamp should ever tip over…or if my cat, Romeo, sneaks into the room.

 

[MamaBirds_Quail]

Quail, at least Jumbo Brown Coturnix, take off vertically, flying straight up. So, it’s possible that your setup may result in injury or death to a quail from a vertical take-off. Young quail can die if they catch a draft, or can stray too far away from the heat source or food and water. Quail can also become aggressive and territorial if they have too much space.

I have a small brooder from Dale’s Quails that is awesome! The wood sides and removable wood floor (hard cloth underneath) creates warmth like an oven, prevents drafts, and is 14” elevated from the floor. Carbon dioxide levels are higher close to the floor. I also use a ceramic heat lamp bulb that emits only heat (not light), and my baby quail chicks are quiet through the night by the time they are 24-48 hours old. My heat lamp is on an adjustable height stand which makes it safe and easy to reduce/wean them from the heat. The brooder itself is 12” high which prevents them from injuring themselves when they take flight. They pop up and right back down. It also is a safeguard if the lamp should ever tip over…or if my cat, Romeo, sneaks into the room.

All good advice! Sorry, I should have clarified: I have a brooder system that works well for us, this was for the time between when they’re off the heat, and when they are big enough to join my adult flock (are 6 birds still a flock?)

I’m assuming that if they move from the brooder to the cage bottom they’ll adjust to the surroundings yeah? Like my adult quail don’t flush into the ceiling of their pen because they are familiar and know it’s there. I figure the budgies themselves will be the biggest “threat” and they stay up high so I was planning to give the chicks some boxes and hidey holes for cover thinking that would probably be their preferred panic response. If it doesn’t work out or anyone seems overly stressed then we can reevaluate but it would be my preference to be able to centralize bird care inside the house. The bird cage is also dog-proof which was an issue the last time we tried to keep the brooder on the main floor… but then dealing with feeding and waste and mess was an issue in the bedrooms . I’m fingers crossed the Pademonium (that’s the actual word for a flock of parrots! ) will ignore small bottom-dwellers entirely. Best case scenario the chickies will be able to clean up all the spilled seed also and at least offset the mess they generate!

 

[bhaugh]

Don't forget the smell of quail poo. And their dander when living inside

 

[bhaugh]

For a pen I've used guinea pig cages work great