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Quail feed with weevils

post #1 of 4
10/9/12 at 6:02am
Thread Starter 

The last bag of quail feed I bought came chock full of teensy brown bugs. I have contacted the store, but in the meantime, can I feed this food to my quail? I'm thinking they'll just eat the bugs along with the food and be fine. I am a tad concerned that the bugs will leave the Rubbermaid bin that's in the barn and get into the hay or horse feed. Think that's a problem? Or should I just dump the infested feed out in the woods and get a new bag?

Married to amazing man, mama to 5 children, owner of:  2 English Springer Spaniels, 5 leghorn hens, 6 astrolorps, 2 RIR hens, 2 Plymouth Rock hens, 2 barnyard mix hens, 1 white silky roo, 5 buff orphingtons, 11 A&M coturnix, and 60 bobs.

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Married to amazing man, mama to 5 children, owner of:  2 English Springer Spaniels, 5 leghorn hens, 6 astrolorps, 2 RIR hens, 2 Plymouth Rock hens, 2 barnyard mix hens, 1 white silky roo, 5 buff orphingtons, 11 A&M coturnix, and 60 bobs.

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post #2 of 4
10/10/12 at 11:42am

You can feed it, but i'd recommend freezing it first. Grain beetles have very hard shells and could hypothetically survive inside your quails' stomachs for a short time and do some massive damage. They could also infest other types of feed. The larvae, however, are very high in protein so if you put aside the hassle of having to cold fumigate everything you could consider this a happy accident. Silver lining!

To kill those bugs dead, freeze your feed for three days, then leave it out for four, and back in the freezer for another three. Store it in airtight containers during and after the freezing process to prevent cross-contamination or re-infestation.
Good luck and happy freezing!
 

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post #3 of 4
10/10/12 at 12:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gorabbitgo View Post

You can feed it, but i'd recommend freezing it first. Grain beetles have very hard shells and could hypothetically survive inside your quails' stomachs for a short time and do some massive damage. They could also infest other types of feed. The larvae, however, are very high in protein so if you put aside the hassle of having to cold fumigate everything you could consider this a happy accident. Silver lining!

To kill those bugs dead, freeze your feed for three days, then leave it out for four, and back in the freezer for another three. Store it in airtight containers during and after the freezing process to prevent cross-contamination or re-infestation.
Good luck and happy freezing!
 

Thanks for your answer. Don't quite know how I would freeze 50# feed, but I'll brainstorm that with dh tonight.

Married to amazing man, mama to 5 children, owner of:  2 English Springer Spaniels, 5 leghorn hens, 6 astrolorps, 2 RIR hens, 2 Plymouth Rock hens, 2 barnyard mix hens, 1 white silky roo, 5 buff orphingtons, 11 A&M coturnix, and 60 bobs.

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Married to amazing man, mama to 5 children, owner of:  2 English Springer Spaniels, 5 leghorn hens, 6 astrolorps, 2 RIR hens, 2 Plymouth Rock hens, 2 barnyard mix hens, 1 white silky roo, 5 buff orphingtons, 11 A&M coturnix, and 60 bobs.

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post #4 of 4
10/10/12 at 12:18pm

Someone else recently posted a similar issue with weevils in chicken scratch. I believe she ended up scooping it into galloon zip lock bags and dealing with them individually. Not sure if that might help.

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