Best fodder for quail?

We recently acquired a small (ahem) flock of quail and are in the process of hatching out our first batch of eggs. I would like to supplement their feed with some fodder. I'm already growing some for the chickens, since their free-ranging days are numbered as winter sets in.

The mix I have at the moment is lentils, navy beans, pinto beans and hard red wheat.

Is the above mixture quail friendly? I'm going to add some barley, oats, alfalfa and possibly some organic corn into the next batch. I just need to justify to the hubs that this will work before I go get more ingredients and containers.

As a kind of bonus question...how do quail feel about small fish? I'm going to start a large tank for guppies and/or minnows for the ducks. Invariably, the chickens will eat some of them. Are they good for the quail, or should these little guys stick to little bugs/worms?

All quail love legumes in their diet. So I would say that all the beans you listed here would be adored by your quail. I do know however, that some birds are unable to digest some hard beans....as in they need to be sprouted or cooked first. So be aware of this. Hard beans slow digestion down and can slow crops down as well. So all this being said, I would sprout or cook these beans first.

They will also eat any grain and seeds as well. Bird seed like finch seed goes down easily. The oats should be hulled so that the grain does not get stuck in the throat. This can happen to quail. They enjoy hulled sunflower seed too.

However fish...I tried dried fish on my birds once and they showed absolutely no interest in it. They did try a bite, but flipped up their beaks at it the next time it was served.

Experiment to see what they will eat. They also love certain types of grass.

So far our birds seem to really love millet, small watermelons cut in half and placed in the cage, and kale.

I sprout barley for my quail and chickens as their primary feed source. They are all healthy and love the sprouts! For quail barley should be sprouted until it is 3-4 inches tall, that's when the protein is at its max

They'll eat kale! Yay! I'm up to my eyeballs in it right now!

what do u supplement the barley with to get to the 30% or so protein needed?

I discovered by accident that quail love sunflower sprouts. I'd grown a little garden for our rosa bourkes using cockatiel seed and the quails got there first and demolished the young sunflower plants. I have also been pegging up a big leaf of silverbeet and it doesn't last long.

RJSchaefer said:

We recently acquired a small (ahem) flock of quail and are in the process of hatching out our first batch of eggs. I would like to supplement their feed with some fodder. I'm already growing some for the chickens, since their free-ranging days are numbered as winter sets in.

The mix I have at the moment is lentils, navy beans, pinto beans and hard red wheat.

Is the above mixture quail friendly? I'm going to add some barley, oats, alfalfa and possibly some organic corn into the next batch. I just need to justify to the hubs that this will work before I go get more ingredients and containers.

As a kind of bonus question...how do quail feel about small fish? I'm going to start a large tank for guppies and/or minnows for the ducks. Invariably, the chickens will eat some of them. Are they good for the quail, or should these little guys stick to little bugs/worms?

Click to expand...

I would say no to fish as they are notorious for carrying worms.

Excellent fodder is sprouted wild bird seed, winter wheat and barley. They love is sprouted until it is turning green like grass. I just use whatever I have on hand to do the sprouting.



You can also serve the sprouting seeds before they turn green for variety.

If you live somewhere warm enough please buy or grow from seed a moringa tree. If you live in a colder climate grow it in a pot. Also called the tree of life, moringa is one of the most nutrient dense plants on the planet. Google it and see for yourself. I grow it, dry the leaves and sprinkle it over their food. They will also eat the leaves fresh but the older leaves can have a strong flavor so give them younger leaves. BTW it's also good for us humans!

JaeG said:

I discovered by accident that quail love sunflower sprouts.  I'd grown a little garden for our rosa bourkes using cockatiel seed and the quails got there first and demolished the young sunflower plants.  I have also been pegging up a big leaf of silverbeet and it doesn't last long. 

Click to expand...

My sun conure bag of food/seeds got wet so I threw them on the ground instead on throwing it away and it grew a lot of sunflower sprouts and I was wondering if it was safe for the quails to eat it. I threw a few in their and they seem to love it