Can I feed my quail grapes? And foods that are bad for quail.

[yallapilko]

HI, I've got some fresh left over grapes that I dislike, and was wondering if it was safe to feed them to my quail. Is there a list anywhere of foods that are bad for quail?
Thank you.

 

[The Quail Guru]

I'm pretty sure quail are alright to eat grapes but they cannot eat the seeds. Basically quail will avoid anything bad to them unless starving.

Quail cannot eat the following:
- Avocado
- Stems and leaves of tomato plants
- Uncooked potato
- Uncooked egg
- Alcohol
- Salt
- Sugar
- Citrus fruits
- Caffeine
- Parsley
- Rhubarb
- Chocolate
- Lettuce

There might be a few more missing foods but again, quail will avoid food that are bad for them unless hungry.

 

[yallapilko]

Thanks The Quail Guru. So I wont be giving my girls the grapes as they have seeds in them! I'm pretty surprised about lettuce. I give English lettuce such as iceberg, butterhead, which as soft and green, and have been doing for years, without any noticeable effect. So are we talking about the same sort of lettuce?
Or have I been silently poisoning my girls!???? (I hope not!)

 

[Lozuufy]

I think lettuce in smallish amounts would be fine, but maybe it's too watery or something. My quails have been fine eating lettuce but their favorite greens are dandelion and amaranth (make sure they were not sprayed). The Quail Guru is right but I think that maybe with the grape seeds as long as they don't get broken open they are okay, my ducks found a patch of wild grapes and ate everything they could reach and were fine. But those ducks eat anything so I wouldn't trust their judgment on what is safe to eat, yesterday I gave them a papaya and it was gone in about 30 seconds, skin and all

 

[dc3085]

Lettuce is fine. Doesnt have a ton of nutritional value but it wont hurt your birds. Ive never seen any scientific evidence that lettuce is bad for quail.

If youre feeding them anything besides crumbled feed you will also need to provide digestive grit (not oyster shell) or the birds wont be able to process it effectively

 

[Mary1956]

Lettuce is fine. Doesnt have a ton of nutritional value but it wont hurt your birds. Ive never seen any scientific evidence that lettuce is bad for quail.

If youre feeding them anything besides crumbled feed you will also need to provide digestive grit (not oyster shell) or the birds wont be able to process it effectively

Jumping in here with a question regarding grit. I've been putting DG along with dirt in a flat container in my quail pen. I leave it in there at all times and rotate it with new dirt every couple of weeks. Will this work as grit? Or do I need to buy some? I feed turkey gamebird mixed with quail/dove feed. Also, kale and other treats. Thanks.

 

[The Quail Guru]

I have gave my buttons lettuce before with no effect when my friend had told me that it wasn't good for them. So I did the research and found somewhere that it isn't good for them so I thought I'de mention it so you could stay on the safe side.

 

[yallapilko]

Thanks everyone. I think as I've fed them lettuce for years I'll continue with it. I have noticed that too much gives them the runs, so I'll go easy on it.

 

[SimonGrow]

I've fed my young quail raw fresh pressed sugarcane juice and they are still doing ok. I put it in their waterer and diluted it 50% with water.

On a side note, I also let them drink fresh pressed wheatgrass juice and they are healthy and growing fast.

Simon

 

[yallapilko]

I'm interested SimonGrow as to why you would want to feed them sugarcane juice....???