Fermented Feed for Quail

[PierreAZ]

Hello Sill!

Thank you for the quails the other week, they are doing great!

Im thinking of manufacturing FF for my quails, although I'm not at my house every day since my parents are separated. Will the quail benefit from feeding them the FF every other day or should I not bother?. Also if I layed out the feed to dry on cheese cloth or something with a fine mesh, will it retain most of its benefits?

Also, should I be worried about a Great Horned Owl constantly coming to my house every night perching close to my quails?

Thank you!

 

[Sill]

Hello Sill!

Thank you for the quails the other week, they are doing great!

Im thinking of manufacturing FF for my quails, although I'm not at my house every day since my parents are separated. Will the quail benefit from feeding them the FF every other day or should I not bother?. Also if I layed out the feed to dry on cheese cloth or something with a fine mesh, will it retain most of its benefits?

Also, should I be worried about a Great Horned Owl constantly coming to my house every night perching close to my quails?

Thank you!

Glad the quail are doing great for you! Yes you can feed it every other day if that is what works for you. You can always feed regular dry feed on the days you are not there.

I dry FF to feed to my tilapia, should work for the quail too. If there is anything left from the previous days FF I spread it on foil and leave it in the sun. Here it doesn't take long to dry! Just make sure it doesn't get moldy as it dries. If you spread it out too thick for drying it can mold, but in summer here not likely. You can just crumble up the dry FF and store it. It keeps well as long as it's dry enough, but try to use it up in less than a week for best potency of beneficial bacteria.

You don't want an owl scoping out your birds! It can stress them just by staring and it will only be a matter of time before it tries to grab them through the wire. Owls can reach right through one inch openings so always use 1/2x1/2 inch hardware cloth for quail cages. Maybe a visual barrier like shade cloth can discourage the owl from sighting your birds.

 

[EnnisLakeFarm]

That is an interesting idea to dry FF. That might work well for me when I am on vacation (my sister feeds the critters for me when I am gone and she isn't really fond of the FF "slop).

Thank you for the idea

 

[lightchick]

I just hatched 7 Coturnix quail and decided to feed them fermented feed. I put a cup of game bird starter in with 1 cup of water and let it sit 24 hours. But I found out the there's no way my chicks are going to be able to eat all of this in one day so I'm not sure what to do with the rest of the stuff. Do I just leave it or do I need to add water? It absorbed all the water already and I've read from several website that you should keep enough water in there to cover it. So I don't know. It seems like everyone has a different way to make it.

Thanks!

 

[Sill]

I just hatched 7 Coturnix quail and decided to feed them fermented feed. I put a cup of game bird starter in with 1 cup of water and let it sit 24 hours. But I found out the there's no way my chicks are going to be able to eat all of this in one day so I'm not sure what to do with the rest of the stuff. Do I just leave it or do I need to add water? It absorbed all the water already and I've read from several website that you should keep enough water in there to cover it. So I don't know. It seems like everyone has a different way to make it.

Thanks!

You are right, there are as many ways to make fermented feed as there are people and we all do what works best for us. You can feed the stuff you already made over several days. As the chicks grow you will have to make bigger batches. If you like you can add more dry feed and water to the existing batch, or make an entirely new batch up each time.

You can make it thinner for chicks so they have an easier time eating. Add more or less water according to their ages. Experiment and see what works best for your chicks as they grow. I tend to feed wetter feed in summer since we are so dry here, and chicks always get slightly wetter feed than adults.

 

[lightchick]

Quote: Ok thanks! They are doing awesome so far. I just kept on feeding it to them. They are about four days old now.
Is there any other healthy stuff I could give them? I give them boiled egg and occasionally ACV in their water. I started the first batch with whey. Is there anything else I should start it with?

 

[Sill]

They can get treats, just try to limit it so they are still getting their protein. Stuff I've given chicks are rounds of zucchini or cucumber, a leaf of kale or moringa, finely shredded carrots or beets (beets will make them poop pink-red!) and chili pepper flakes. Just think healthy and give the treat sparingly. It gets boring in the brooder so a novel food item can be the highlight of their day!

 

[Sill]

Forgot to say I avoid fruits for chicks. They spoil quickly, have too much sugar and make a sticky mess of the chicks!

 

[tangledprairie]

Hi, I'm a first time poster although I've lurked in the forum for years now.

I've been feeding FF to my chickens for about a month now and just starting to try with my coturnix. Their feed has a meat based protein source - is anyone fermenting a feed with meat meal, and have you noticed any difference between that and fermenting a 100% plant based feed? So far, 4 days in, the feed seems to be fermenting well, bubbling, etc., but it smells (and looks) quite a bit like dog poop.

Gave some to the birds for the first time this morning and they seemed interested but not entirely sure it was food.

 

[Dannies]

I am trying fermenting my quail feed. I have 6 quail and I've sped through two 10 lb bags of feed in the last....month and a half? And I'm dumping a good portion of that out of their tray underneath the cage. This is going to get expensive!!!
I hope I can figure out the fermented feed thing. I tried feeding them some fermented feed this morning and they have eaten it all up. So I think I need to give them more. Not sure how to measure for only 6 birds!