Anyone got experience with quail???

[Betrisher]

I was thinking of putting a pair of quail in the Beaks' cage to pick up the (considerable) amount of food they waste. Has anyone done that? Would the Alexes attack an innocent quail? And what size quail should I think of (if any)?

I thought maybe a pair of Jap Quail or Bobwhites. The floor area is about 2m x 1m: is that too small? What do you think???

 

[Bundiibird]

Trish, I have no experience with quail and had not thought of that. I am not sure that Bundii would take to anyone "invading" her home. But that is Bundii. She is a single bird on her own and I don't think she would like any playmates. but I maybe wrong.

 

[crimson]

I think you have two different issues.
one being your Alexes may not take kindly to your innocent quail.
the poor things could not defend themselves should something 'tick' them off.

the second thing I wanted to bring to your attention is, you know how when seed gets on the bottom of the cage, some of it gets pooped on right?....I would think if quail eat that, they would possibly get sick like any other bird.

I know they are ground dwellers, and lots of breeders use them for clean up purposes, I have thought about it as well, but do you think your lovebirds would accept them?

 

[Mike17]

I've seen large aviaries with quail running around the bottom, well as suspended cages outside where chooks were allowed free rein to forage around underneath. In fact, our friend's place back over east had a great many wild native birds coming in the pick up seed etc underneath the suspended cages.

 

[MikeyTN]

I know others that use quails as well but I wouldn't do it. For one thing they stink and their food stinks too....when I bought the aviary it was under the condition if I take their quails too. So I did and then turned around and give them away cause the smell was horrendous. I couldn't take it.....

 

[Terry57]

I have 2 button quail in with my Bourkes and diamond doves. They have their own separate feed and don't really eat much of the waste from the others. I feed them finch seed and turkey starter as well as the veggies and fruits that everyone gets. I have paper towel on the bottom of the cage since they are always down there, and we don't use the grate. I have to clean their cage every day. I don't really find that mine smell, but I am sure they would if I didn't change the paper towel everyday. Mine are very small and I would be afraid to put them with someone who was more aggressive than who they are with.
I really do like them, though, they are little clowns and man, can they jump! One got out of the cage, and jumped so high he almost hit the ceiling and ended up on the other side of the room!

 

[MikeyTN]

The two I got were button quails and yes they can jump and quick too. I couldn't stand the smell so they were gone within 2hrs.

 

[Terry57]

The two I got were button quails and yes they can jump and quick too. I couldn't stand the smell so they were gone within 2hrs.

Too funny! One of mine was given to me, and we had to get him a friend. The second one was in a cage that was FULL of poop, and she had these big, hard balls of poop on her feet. I had to put her in a cage and soak the bottom in Dawn to get it to loosen up. Unfortunately, she had already lost several toes from it. But the guy where we got her, his quail reeked they stunk so bad. She did as well, now that I remember, until after many, many baths. I had forgotten all that.

 

[Betrisher]

Thanks for the input everyone! I'm still in two minds, though.

I kept parrots as a teenager and always had two or three pair of quail in my aviary. I never noticed any smell and the system worked well. I kept potted spiky shrubs for the quail to hide in as well as a network of PVC pipes. In return, they kept my aviary floors fairly free of waste food and, hence, I had fewer mice invading (except for the Massive Mouse Invasion of 1980, but that was an exception).

My current birds aren't in aviaries, however (not enough space, buggerit!) The Beaks are in a very large cage 2m x 2m x1m and the Lovies are in a flight cage 1.5m x 1m x 70cm, so neither cage is as large a floor area as my old aviaries. Thing is, the amount of food wasted is enough to support a small village for a fortnight! Hubby is going to make me more no-waste feeders from acrylic, but I'm not sure when. I just figured a couple pair of quail would nom up all the waste for me so I didn't feel so bad about it. As it is, we collect up as much as we can and put it on the roof for the wild birds, who really appreciate it.

I don't recall my earlier quail ever smelling, Mikey, but as Mike 17 said, their feet would get clogged up with poop and I'd be forever cleaning them (a dab of cooking oil helped a lot: the poop won't stick to that). These days, my sense of smell is all but gone, so the problem would not be mine. LOL! Also, the Beakies like to poop in exactly two places in their cage, so it's not as if the poop coverage is all that great. The Beaks also don't spend any time on their floor, which is why I began wondering about quail. I'm not doing it, though, until I've heard of someone who has done it successfully and had advice about it. Quail are great little birds and have a personality all their own (especially the King Quail, my favourites).

I dunno about the Lovies. I know plenty of people who keep quail with them in aviaries, but that's a bit different from a cage with lots fewer places for quail to hide in. Ah well. Still thinkin' about it... I'd be glad of any more opinions if there are any.

Sorry for the long rambling post, but as you can tell, it's my stream of thought.

 

[RavensGryf]

I know others that use quails as well but I wouldn't do it. For one thing they stink and their food stinks too....when I bought the aviary it was under the condition if I take their quails too. So I did and then turned around and give them away cause the smell was horrendous. I couldn't take it.....

Quails stink? :11: how come?? The only thing I know about Quail is they're pretty cute!