I've been feeding quail to my crew (two boas and a carpet python) for about a year now without issue. Yeah, the claws and beaks look pretty intimidating, but it's nothing a snake can't handle, and you can always trim the feet and heads off the feeder with a pair of shears if you're really worried. And to be fair to fowl, rodents aren't without pointy bits either -- their incisors are really something.
With a few more feedings your female should learn how to manipulate a quail more efficiently. Learning how to handle prey is something of a skill, and she just needs more time to hone that with a new prey item.
If your male is an inconsistent feeder on rodents and seems interested in quail, why not offer him one the next time he's hungry? Maybe he secretly prefers fowl instead. The paper I think you're referencing found that male royals actually have a more fowl-heavy diet in the wild, so maybe that's what he'd actually like to eat.
Oh, and for what it's worth, my crew's waste doesn't seem to smell any worse with quail mixed into their diet. A roughly 50/50 split between rodent and fowl seems to dampen any foul smells.
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