controlling quail smelliness and dust inside.

[Scratchychiken]

Hi all, I was going to incubate some Coturnix quail eggs this summer and keep a couple hens as indoor pets.

I came to talk about the smell and the dust.
As far as dust goes I plan on vaccuming frequently, getting a less dusty substrate, and using a HEPA air purifier.

for smell, besides cleaning out the cage a lot, I'm stumped. any advice would be appreciated.

 

[le_bwah]

Dust is an unavoidable part of keeping birds. I'd almost say use the deep litter method, which is moist enough to keep dust down, but that could be a real mess indoors (not to mention the compost smell).

What kind of enclosure will they have? Two-to-three birds shouldn't be too hard to handle on their own, especially since you're willing to clean diligently. A Button owner could probably tell you more about smell reduction.

 

[Scratchychiken]

Dust is an unavoidable part of keeping birds. I'd almost say use the deep litter method, which is moist enough to keep dust down, but that could be a real mess indoors (not to mention the compost smell).

What kind of enclosure will they have? Two-to-three birds shouldn't be too hard to handle on their own, especially since you're willing to clean diligently. A Button owner could probably tell you more about smell reduction.

The enclosure would be a Living world deluxe animal cage (Extra large, it’s on amazon) Saw another user on here use that for some coturnix inside and looked to be a fine setup.

 

[Erkenstein]

I haven't done it (yet), but people who ferment their feed say that it helps with smelliness. But bird poop is always smelly and coturnix poop a LOT. They also don't mind where they do it, so it will get on the walls of the cage as well. And you'll need to make sure that food and water feeders are up off the floor or they will poop in them as well.

I don't mind the smell all that much when they are brooding in the garage, but my family can't stand it. Once they are a few weeks old, they move outside. I wouldn't want them actually in the house.

 

[Acre4Me]

I have mine ina garage with wire mesh floor cages. Poop drops thru the mesh into trays lined with paper. I sprinkle some natural clay cat litter - fragrance free on the paper and it seems to help. No fragrace because bird lungs are sensitive. If your cages have a poop tray, then clean it daily. If you use paper to line the cages, then buy big roll of the paper to have in hand (butcher paper comes on rolls in white, pink, or natural). Also, you can buy the baking soda fridge boxes meant for deodorization and place a couple near the cages.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Fermenting is what I would try with their feed, not sure how it would work for your situation but worth the try. I do DLM (shavings & PDZ) & ferment feed, my neighbors had no clue I had chickens. Aside from the nutritional benefits, I LOVE that they poop less, it's firmer and no stink except the cecal still stinks Never had any issues with flies either. I do have a poop board (filled with PDZ) under their night roost, like cat litter just scoop the poop and all nice.

 

[nightowl223]

I tend to sprinkle the poop trays with DE to try to ward off any flies getting the idea of visiting the featherbabies' "presents". Then when I dump it in the compost, I just hope that the extra moisture there will make it safe for the earthworms. It seems to work out okay so far.

I do like the idea of the baking soda, though - may change over to that, instead, when the DE is used up. I'v seen giand sized boxes of it at Costco at what seemed to be a quite reasonable price.

 

[ChickNanny13]

PDZ will work in the poop tray, just scoop up the poo. DE is to "dusty" for the poop trays, wind will blow it around & not healthy for chickens & your respiratory systems.

 

[Acre4Me]

For indoor keeping, you won’t want to use DE as it is very fine and very dusty.

My question is whether your indoor birds will be on a mesh bottom or on a solid bottom (walking around on shavings, poop, whatever). If they are walking around the bottom of the cage, you will need to be conscientious as to what they can “eat” of that material. I use clay cat litter, but my quail can not access this material as it is below them on a poop tray they cannot access. With only a few quail, you won’t have a big issue with smell and it will be self-regulating.....you will clean it when it bothers you or your family, so this could be daily or could be every 3 days...but you’ll find out quickly what your preference is.

Quail love to dust bath. No matter what you use, if they can dust bath in it, they will. If you provided them a gravel base, they would try to dust bathe ...it’s just what they do! So it’s good you are already planning to vacuum on a regular basis.

 

[fishforbrains]

I keep mine in my bedroom and don't find they smell at all. They are on wire with pine sawdust cat litter in their dusting box and I only empty the poop trays once a month. They do produce dust, but I think that is from the feed. I have a dust removing filter set up that sucks most of it way, then I just dust once a week.