Odor/Smell reduction for Coturnxi Quail

[bigjohn]

I began raising some Texas A&M coturnix quail last Spring.  I had some real issues with keeping the smell at a resonable level when I moved the birds outside into their cages.  I tried numerous things like placing fresh newspapers under the pens and cleaning them each day.  But it got out of control and there was still a smell and the flies just kept coming.  I live in a small subdivision with neighbors in close proximity and did not want to cause a problem.   A friend gave me a suggestion that resolved the issues for me and wanted to share it with anyone interested.

I purchased a couple of bags of top soil ($1.29 each) from Lowes.  I emptied a bag under each pen.  When I would feed the quail, I simple racked the top around and lightly covered it with some fresh soil.  All of the odor was eliminated.  It is amazing the ease in keeping the odor and flies at a minimum and makes an easy, inexpensive and great vegetable garden addition when it needs to be replaced.  I guess the liquid from the poop soaks into the soil leaving a much drier poop on top. 

[wildergamebirds]

             

  I like this guy!    Shows up with a useful suggestion, rather than "I've had 1000 quails eggs in an incubator for two weeks, now, when will they hatch, and where should I put them"?  Will my Iguana terrarium work?

  I can see where that would work, as long as the poop to dirt ratio wasn't too high.  There aren't many things that smell as clean as fresh turned earth.  Those of use with more rural homesteads could use "roto-tilled" dirt.

  Chuck, I'm putting you in charge of research and development.  Maybe you guys could eat some of it, or put a layer in the easy chair. (This idea needs more refining).

  John, this post entitles you to three free dumb questions, without ridicule.  A little ribbing, maybe, but no ridicule.  Stick around.

[tweezy50]

  , John

[birdlover17]

  big john, yeah that soil sounds like a great idea i use the same concept but sometimes i'll use sand instead of the soil.  Then like you said when its time to clean their pen for fresh soil just add it to the compost, (dont add it directly near vegetable plants as it can burn them a bit, the manure can be so strong that it could kill the plants)  You'll need to add it to the compost area to let it age a bit.

[Flying Bob]

We have a local business that makes flooring and they have a huge pile of free sawdust and wood shavings that I make use of.... The dry soaks up the moisture and the bark odor helps nuetralize the bird smell... Still has to be shovelled out and recycled in the garden or tilled.

[backyardquail]

I know this is an old post, but wanted to add my 2 cents.  Per my wife's suggestion I have been using a thin layer of straw under the cages.  It seems to keep the smell down, but not the flies.  It makes for easy cleanup as every couple of days I just rake it onto a shovel and straight to the compost pile.

[judge8604]

Another late response to this is that I have been using lime on my drop pans and under the outdoor pens and it really helps a lot for getting rid of the smell.