How much space does a button quail really need?

[Serin]

Posting on a pet forum, I was told that anything less than 4 x 2 x 2 feet is inhumane.
I was called out as cruel, ignorant, and neglectful for having a pet quail indoors in a bird cage about 30 inches long and told by several people to give my bird away to someone who won't abuse it.

I found this shocking and bizarre, having previously considered the minimum cage size around ten gallons, and my cage roughly 3 times as large, but still I upgraded to a 50 gallon bin cage, more than twice the floor space of the other cage... for one tame, imprinted pet button quail.

And I then read someone remark that nothing short of eleven feet in length is acceptable...

Am I really that out of the loop or are these people nuts??

 

[Quailobsessed]

I wouldn't say giving them lots of space is nuts, but I would say that people calling you cruel, ignorant and neglectful is mean.

I always try to give my birds as much space as possible, but I'm not perfect. I don't like that I keep king quails in cages, but I'm always trying my best to improve their lives (I'm hoping to give most of them new enclosures that are larger soon).

I've read that they need at least 1 square foot per bird (which I think they need more), and maybe one other place that said they need four square feet per bird.

I do strongly believe in giving them as much space as possible, but I don't think calling people cruel, ignorant and neglectful is the right way to get that across. Judging people like that is not helpful for anyone.

I hope you find some more pleasant conversations

Just curious, was that on BYC?

 

[muddy75]

Posting on a pet forum, I was told that anything less than 4 x 2 x 2 feet is inhumane.
I was called out as cruel, ignorant, and neglectful for having a pet quail indoors in a bird cage about 30 inches long and told by several people to give my bird away to someone who won't abuse it.

I found this shocking and bizarre, having previously considered the minimum cage size around ten gallons, and my cage roughly 3 times as large, but still I upgraded to a 50 gallon bin cage, more than twice the floor space of the other cage... for one tame, imprinted pet button quail.

And I then read someone remark that nothing short of eleven feet in length is acceptable...

Am I really that out of the loop or are these people nuts??

your cages are amazing and from everything i have seen, your birds are spoiled rotten!!! So yes, IMO whoever told you that is NUTS! each individual situation is different, but as long as the birds are happy, then that’s all that matters!!

 

[nao57]

One of the ways you know how intolerant these kind of people are that accuse others of 'inhuman', and 'cruel', is that they have so very many absolutes.

Its ALWAYS inhuman if you do this...

Its ALWAYS cruel to do X...

I NEVER do anything wrong.

I would NEVER do that...

See the pattern?

People that are intolerant of others will care only about show and they'll be caught in these ideology bubbles where it HAS to be their way and no other way could work.

So don't fall for it. You see a lot of leftist garbage using that kind of view but I won't go there.

...

One day I was looking at bee keeping videos and I found this Vietnamese beekeeper channel on Youtube.

I'd heard how you need a 'farm' or yards for bees before. And then I see this guy's videos and he quite literally has like twenty beehives in a small area of a house alley the size you'd park a car in. His bees are healthy and he's happy and treating them nice.

So the point is, there's many types of approaches. There's more than one way to do things to do things, the point is if you really care for animals and be active. If you clean up after them, and if they have access to food and water its all good.

...

Now even though I said that...the tricky part is that people are brainwashed to only accept a showy point of view like people who have big money. That's where there's trouble. These same people would expect anyone to have animals to have a pool and a horse ranch first. (Exaggerated yes...)

...


Here's another idea for you...

I saw this one video of a duck farmer in South East Asia and to transport the ducks he had a multi-level flooring setup on the back of this large truck. So instead of only '1 floor' for the ducks, he had like 4 stories.

Technically someone could do something like that by rigging up plywood layers and supports. That way you'd gain more square footage. (A pressure hose could be used to flush out the debris a couple times a week.) (And plywood, and two by fouring would be cheap if you did it yourself with elbow grease.)

 

[ButtonBag]

So don't fall for it. You see a lot of leftist garbage using that kind of view but I won't go there.

Totally agree with your message other than it having anything to do with politics. Some people just like to assume they're better than others.

I was called out as cruel, ignorant, and neglectful for having a pet quail indoors in a bird cage about 30 inches long and told by several people to give my bird away to someone who won't abuse it.

Obviously we'd all love to have giant aviaries for them, but I'm sure so long as they're healthy and happy, the people attacking you are too quick to judge, like others have said.

Mine have 4.6sqft of floor space in a vivarium for a pair, but they do pace a bit sometimes, so I'd love to know anything and everything people are doing to keep their buttons entertained and comfortable

 

[Serin]

Just curious, was that on BYC?

No

One of the ways you know how intolerant these kind of people are that accuse others of 'inhuman', and 'cruel', is that they have so very many absolutes.

Its ALWAYS inhuman if you do this...

Its ALWAYS cruel to do X...

I NEVER do anything wrong.

I would NEVER do that...

See the pattern?

People that are intolerant of others will care only about show and they'll be caught in these ideology bubbles where it HAS to be their way and no other way could work.

I argued the same but was basically told this is the wrong way to think, contributes to animal abuse, and then banned from posting in the community...

Mine have 4.6sqft of floor space in a vivarium for a pair, but they do pace a bit sometimes, so I'd love to know anything and everything people are doing to keep their buttons entertained and comfortable

My bird now has 4.7 square feet and I have still been told it's too small...

 

[Canina]

No



I argued the same but was basically told this is the wrong way to think, contributes to animal abuse, and then banned from posting in the community...


My bird now has 4.7 square feet and I have still been told it's too small...

I am conflicted. On one hand I think some people here think cramped and nasty conditions are perfectly acceptable, plus I felt chased away from here for being a clueless townie who thinks animals are Disney characters not livestock, I need to be more realistic etc. Then I went to a quail group and the first post under a picture of my 4.6 square foot cage was saying it’s tiny. The same group had a picture of 5 coturnix in a cage 1/2 to 2/3rds of the vivarium I use for 2 buttons a few weeks earlier so I don’t know what to think. I believe I am sensible in realising they can’t have a freaking zoo enclosure but don’t think they should be on wire or in battery style cages either.

 

[dradamstarr]

I wouldn't say giving them lots of space is nuts, but I would say that people calling you cruel, ignorant and neglectful is mean.

I always try to give my birds as much space as possible, but I'm not perfect. I don't like that I keep king quails in cages, but I'm always trying my best to improve their lives (I'm hoping to give most of them new enclosures that are larger soon).

I've read that they need at least 1 square foot per bird (which I think they need more), and maybe one other place that said they need four square feet per bird.

I do strongly believe in giving them as much space as possible, but I don't think calling people cruel, ignorant and neglectful is the right way to get that across. Judging people like that is not helpful for anyone.

I hope you find some more pleasant conversations

Just curious, was that on BYC?

You guys seem to know what you're talking about when it comes to button quail. I was thinking of hatching some to patrol my greenhouse for bugs and slugs etc. They'd have plenty of room to roam around the greenhouse, but I was trying to figure out how large of a nesting box or enclosure to build them for sleeping in etc. Any advice on that? Any you have would be appreciated. I've had chickens for years, but this is my first time thinking about quail. My email is [email protected] I've never used this website before so I'm not sure how I'd know if anyone replies to my post unless it's emailed to me.
Thanks!

 

[Nabiki]

You guys seem to know what you're talking about when it comes to button quail. I was thinking of hatching some to patrol my greenhouse for bugs and slugs etc. They'd have plenty of room to roam around the greenhouse, but I was trying to figure out how large of a nesting box or enclosure to build them for sleeping in etc. Any advice on that? Any you have would be appreciated. I've had chickens for years, but this is my first time thinking about quail. My email is [email protected] I've never used this website before so I'm not sure how I'd know if anyone replies to my post unless it's emailed to me.
Thanks!

Quail (including buttons) don't use nesting boxes. They settle down pretty much wherever they are at night. Rather than one enclosure, give them several small boxes, flower pots on their side, branches, or places that they can hide.

FYI, this thread is a couple years old, so you may want to start your own thread at some point.

I recommend starting here for information:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/quail.32/