The benefits of housing Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) in bedded cages versus conventional, farm-type, wire bottom cages* (2001)

Weterrings. I. M., Guajardo, C., Baer, J.

Abstract

Environmental enrichment failed to reduce aggression and feather picking. ... Since moving the quail to the solid bottom cages [with bedding], we have seen a decrease in the frequency and severity of feather picking resulting in a lower mortality rate. The bedded cages have also fostered an increase in species-specific behavior such as dust bathing and pecking in the bedding.*Abstract published also in Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 40(4), 88, 2001.