Advice needed for Coturnix Quail

[King of the Farm]

Last summer I started raising quail and now I have approx. 50 quails. I was feeding them Pheasant Breeder feed from Stevens Feed Mill, and now 5 weeks ago I started feeding them Small Game Bird feed from River Nutrition due to a different market for my eggs. About 3 weeks ago I started to notice a built up on their feet and I was getting more cracked eggs. Currently about a third of my eggs are cracked. Did the feed change have something to do with it? Is there something lacking in their diet?
Any advice appreciated!

 

[Nabiki]

What is the calcium content of both feeds? Do you have the nutrition labels for them?

 

[indomix]

The cracked eggs do sound like lack of calcium. I've used Hudson Feeds game feed, quite nice, should have everything they need. But if you don't want to change feed again, you may also complement it with oyster shells or egg shells to give them more calcium.

 

[CliftonQuail]

With a quick internet search, I couldn't find nutrition labels for either feed. I agree with the others that the cracked shells sound like a calcium lack. If you have labels that you can post that could help confirm.

 

[King of the Farm]

 

[King of the Farm]

Here are the labels from the feed bag. Sorry the one is not very clear.
@Nabiki @indomix @CliftonQuail

 

[Nabiki]

The pheasant breeder feed looks a little low in protein. lysine and methionine, but the small gamebird feed label is seriously lacking information. I suspect that it's because it doesn't contain great nutrition otherwise. Certainly not enough calcium for laying birds.

 

[CliftonQuail]

I agree with @Nabiki . The pheasant feed appears low in protein and even lower in lysine and methionine. About the only thing good I can say about that feed is the calcium looks pretty good. I wish I could find a game bird layer feed with that much calcium.
I can't tell the calcium level in the Small game bird feed, but suspect it's much lower than the pheasant feed.
Most recommendations I've seen for feeding coturnix is to use a turkey or game bird starter with 28% protein or more for the first 6 weeks, or longer. Then transition to a lower protein feed, but still needs to be for game birds. If the calcium isn't high enough, supplement with crushed oyster shell (which you should be able to find at your feed store), or dried and crushed egg shells (can be from any bird).

 

[King of the Farm]

The reason I switch to the Small Game Bird feed is I have a customer who wants Non GMO, Chemical Free, Soy Free, & Corn Free eggs. If I would supplement with oyster shell would it need to be Chemical Free etc.?

 

[Nabiki]

The reason I switch to the Small Game Bird feed is I have a customer who wants Non GMO, Chemical Free, Soy Free, & Corn Free eggs. If I would supplement with oyster shell would it need to be Chemical Free etc.?

It probably would. It would probably be easier to find eggshells that meet those requirements than oyster shells.

I really have my doubts about the nutrition of the Small Game Bird feed, though.