Creating my own quail feed?

[Moocowman123]

i am finally getting close to getting my first quail!!! I have been debating on finding out a way to successfully make my own blend of seeds and things for my quail. But how do I do it? And I also want to be able to plant and collect these seeds so it can all come from the farm eventually. Has anyone done this? Or is there a better cheaper way? I don't mind the time and effort, but I just don't like going to the store to buy a sack of feed. Any advice is appreciated!!!!!! Thanks!

 

[kingmt]

For me the sack of feed was the best way.

 

[Moocowman123]

K thanks! Does anyone else?

 

[kingmt]

I'm sure you will get a few more answers. Most seem to be on here in the mornings. Probably after their chores are done. You may get the same kind of answer from most tho. When time is money it is cheaper to do the bag of ready mix. There is a great deal of work in creating the correct diet. If you was to buy the feed you needed to mix your own you usually end up paying more then buying it mixed. Gathering & mixing your own should be cheaper but I couldn't even imagine the work that would be involved for such a small scale. It would be almost impossible in my area to keep the feed from going bad if you was to get enough to make it worth while.

 

[Moocowman123]

If a bag is the recommended way to go, is there anything that I can add to it to make it last longer? Like more seeds or basically a filler?

 

[Sill]

The best way to make your feed go further is to ferment it. The ingredients in the feed plump up with water and naturally occuring bacteria and yeasts ferment them. This bulks up the feed volume, increases digestibility, ups the protein content, adds vitamins (B vitamins are a by-product of fermentation), and gives probiotics for their digestive tract health. Most birds prefer fermented feed over dry feed, but some need more of a transition.

There is a thread here on the quail forum about fermenting feed for quail, quite a few of us do it for our birds. There is a link in my signature. You can learn more about it there. People with chickens more commonly ferment their feed but you can do it for quail, ducks, turkeys and other birds too.

Here are some of my birds eating a dish of fermented food, the white stuff is plain yogurt as a treat. There is also some watermelon but they are ignoring that until most of the fermented feed is gone.




Some dishes ready to go out to the birds. This day they got mango, chili powder and zucchini slices.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

Some people feed sprouted feed to their quail. There was a recipe on this site somewhere long ago, I remember reading it before I signed up myself. It is probably still around in an old thread but I can't find it.