What can I add to increase protein in Quail feed..

I have my adult quail on turkey feed (20%), but I want to increase protein. I was thinking adding mealworms and some sort of seed in the daily feed. While adding cuttle bone in the cage for calcium. Will this work? what kind of seed do I add? Any other suggestions would be great.
I have coturnix quail that I am breeding and using for meat just an FYI..


Thnx

You can switch to game bird non medicate feed. It contains 28-30% protein.

speedy2020 said:

You can switch to game bird non medicate feed. It contains 28-30% protein.

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I can't find game bird feed in my area.. thats why I am forced to substitute.

there must be a farm supply around Mesa somewhere, google came up with a couple...Mesa Western Ranch-man at 602-467-3615 and Mesa Feed barn 480-969-9704. call and ask them if they can order it for you or you can order it online. Purina has a high game bird feed, even turkey starter is higher protein. Also feed boiled chicken eggs just mash shell and all, the shell is just added calcium which they need anyway. just be sure you do not buy medicated feed! and good luck.

Mealworms are a great high-protein treat for quail, but are high in fat and should be given in limited quantities. The limit is like 6-10 mealworms per bird per day. Also be cautious if you feed live mealworms, because they can survive quail stomach acid for a short amount of time and gnaw into the quail's stomach lining!! Better to chop their heads off before offering them to your birds, or you can order freeze-dried mealworms in bulk. Chickens will love them, too.
The best live food supplement, in my opinion, is feeder cockroaches. High protein, low fat, and they provide stimulation for the birds while mimicking wild feeding behavior. They're not common, though, so you'd have to order online and maintain your own colony and not everybody is cool with having cockroaches in their home, captive or no.

If you give cuttlebone, make sure it's the ground-up version and not just a whole cuttlebone, as i don't think the quail are strong enough to get what they need from a whole cuttlebone. Ground oyster shell from a feed store, offered in a separate dish, might be cheaper and easier for the quail to eat. They really go through that stuff!

Seeds are a great addition to your feed, but they will reduce the overall protein intake of your birds per day as they fill their crops with seed. You'll need to compensate by offering a higher-protein (26-28%) crumble. I use a wild quail and dove seed mix that i got at a pet store, but finch seed works well, too.
Order some gamebird crumble online or check out ingredients online and try mixing your own. It's a lot of work but if you have the time it's worth it to know exactly what your birds are eating. Consider that if you're raising these birds for meat, whatever they eat becomes what YOU eat!

you can feed sprouted alfalfa,chopped brocoli and kale( 45 % protein) to boost your protein levels and the birds love it . It also doesnt make them unhealthily fat in the process. They LOVE the stuff once they get a taste for it

I heard they do not actually "taste" their food. Do not know but my buttons love broccoli, spinach, any dark green leafy veg and corn, green beans, peas and cauliflower. I even give them watermelon and other melons and banana and apple is a favorite. Chopped sunflower kernels and flax seed, just to name a few. When my female sees me coming in the afternoon with their red dish she knows its snack time! Even eating out of the dish before I get it set down...she is a piggy! The male comes pretty quick too. silly birds! Do not forget grass, dandelion leaves and flowers and alfalfa.

When I want to give more protein to my quail, I buy DRY CAT FOOD, it has a high protein content. I have a blender that I got at a garage sale/Goodwill and I use that to grind feed. I always put ground cat food in my new hatched brooders, with ground oatmeal and chick/turkey starter. I run all my feed for newly hatched birds through the blender. My bantams are too small to eat it right out of the bag. I started doing this years and years ago when I went through my "button quail" phase.

Oregon Feeder Insects sells powdered aviary supplements and there is one formula that is 65% protein made from egg powder, spirulina, freeze-dried bugs, and oyster shell. Mixed into or sprinkled over your regular feed, it would provide a big boost in protein as well as calcium!
You'd have to be careful not to overdo it, though, and risk harming your birds.

What dried cat food do you use?