iāve got to clean my indoor brooder one more time today......covering it with a towel to prevent escape increased the stench!!!
i suggest checking out @Nabiki ās brooder designs. i typically only keep mine in the house for the first week, on paper with no lid on the tote and then move them to shed brooder for 3-4 weeks on shavings that I can scoop with cat litter scooper and refresh as needed until I release them into the aviary. this batch had to stay inside longer than planned due to the extreme cold spell which has forced me to get creative!!
Agree on the creative. I was sad at the small hatch rate, but glad when I had to keep them inside for 3 weeks. They kept each other warm when the power was out that one day.
i should also add the caveat to elevate your waterer especially with shavings. if shavings get into the waterer, it can cause wicking and drown your quail
I used Hudson and was incredibly happy with it, but I used their gamebird starter I think or turkey starter. The maintenance one was lower in protein, I used the one with 24% I believe. I actually have half a bag left, and since the birds prefer pellets to crumbles, I put a little on top each time for them. I only switched because I found a feed store locally that carries southern states brand for much cheaper. If I ever canāt get my current feed, I would go right back to Hudson. My birds were on it for the first year of their life and are still going strong.I decided to update my autoships from chewy and i noticed they now offer a larger variety of flock feed!! I chose Hudsonās gamebird maintenance and conditioner crumbles but I didnāt see that one on your feed list @Kiki but it sounded familiar and had very good reviews. I will send you the complete nutritional info when it comes in so you can add it. itās a little more than my RK brand but will be worth it if it increases health, quality of life, egg production etc (and decreases the wagging of 150# from the feed store is a plus too!)
I use the flat rectangle Chinese food containers, I put the bowl part on the chips and I put the lid upside down on top of the bowl part. This raises it, but also provides a small lip around, and that helps keep shavings out. I do it for feed and water. For feed I use the big round containers in the same manner.
this bag is for my adults in the aviary and Iāve never tried pellet feed because of the extreme size difference in the birds. I used layer crumbles in addition to my meatbird last year and egg production seemed much better so I think the 18% in the Hudsonās will be perfect for them. I will probably get a bag of the grower later if i like it for all the younger birds. i found it interesting in my research though that feed recommendations for pigeons is only what they will eat in 30 minutes vs free choice
