Ahh... feed protein debate

[NotTheMomma]

I was reading the brochure on the care of DeKalb layers (chickens) and it was saying the protein is NOT as important for weight gain as fat % is. And it gave the appropriate %s for protein, fat, etc during each stage of a chicken's life. Adding vegetable fat in the form of oil, or the fat powder was the biggest change in each stage for higher laying production. I'm seriously considering giving half my hens fed with the higher fat, and half what htey are already eating, and seeing if things change. Of course my study would be better had I started this as chicks, instead of pre laying.

 

[bigjohn]

I consistently use 20% protein (gamebird specific) feed after 6 weeks and my birds lay well and grow well.

I guess I am not as concerned with protein and fat as much as the other nutrients that 'supposedly' quail need that chickens do not require. My label on the Purina feed has tons of nutrients that I have not compared to a comparable chicken feed label.

Hopefully, someone will feed chicken feed for several generations of quail and see how their future fertility, egg laying abilities, etc compare with those who are feed a "gamebird' feed.

But it is nice to know that a lower protein feed does not have an drastic effect on growth rate/size.

 

[rachel]

Here's what I found to be the most interesting statements in the studies that Monarc posted:
Protein levels in experimental diets during rearing had no effect on egg production up to 63 days. However, laying was delayed and variation in body weight was greater in quails fed lower protein levels.

I think the next round of chicks are going to get organic chick starter with some crushed hard-boiled eggs from my chickens. I'm really hoping this works well and I can switch to organic quail as well!

 

[kycrawler]

i start baby quail on 20% chick starter as the nutrena i get local is finer ground , after about 1-2 weeks i switch them to 28% medicated turkey starter mixed with 18% meatbird feed for the last 2 weeks before proscessing i am feeding just 18% meatbird feed

these 3 types of feed are all on hand anyway because of the different types of birds i hatch and raise but if i had to i would just use the 18% meatbird feed

 

[Ironsun]

Hi,

In a previous post I mentioned I could only get ordinary poultry food (18%) protein. I feed this at 5 weeks onwards.

I've always kept hens from my own birds and only buy male birds in, so I can trace all the birds back to the first hatching in 2006 (all my birds wear numbered leg bands).

I've found no difference in fertility, hatcherbility or even body weight of adult birds,The eggs numbers are nearly the same as other flocks, Can't remember when I pulled a dead chick from a brooder either.The chicks come out of their shells at 8-10g So thats about normal.

Most people who keep japanese quail in the uk, only feed 18% protein foods, and most people (myself included) can't understand why fellow keepers in the USA feed such a high protein for so little extra.

So the only advice I can give is, set up an experiment with a group of day old chicks and give it a go. It will be intresting to see any results.

Ironsun.

 

[kingmt]

 

[cawooduck]

Well, my chicks are a week old now and i havnt lost one. They are also right on schedule as far as size and feathering. They are on Flockraiser 20% protien. Its definitley nice to be able to just run to the feedstore, grab 3 bags and feed everything on the farm, except my wild type ducks, i feed them a little lower protien during the summer molt and then i start adding my grains (whole wheat).

 

[simplyscrambled]

Very interesting discussion! I have a question: has anyone tried feeding chicken scratch like food to their cortunix? Would they eat it?

 

[cawooduck]

Quote:
I did put a bit of scratch in the quail food once to see what they would eat, they ate everything but the corn. I tend to stay from any grains with the quail because i dont add any grit, they may use the playground sand i provide as a grinder, but i stick to crumble feed and vegetables/fruits.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I feed my chickens a 16% calf grower feed, they free range anyway, so they get everything else they need. A friend of mine also does this with her chickens, along with whatever else she feeds them. She decided to give the 16% feed to her quail, and they STOPPED LAYING....for at least 2 weeks after she switched the feed. I don't know if she has changed them back, but they have since started laying again.

I was also feeding my quail 20% flock raiser, and was having terrible trouble with fertility! Not so much fertility as 'hatchability'....every egg I opened was fertile, they just wouldn't hatch. I have switched my birds from 20% flock raiser to 28% game bird starter, and am seeing an improvement on the hatchability. The game bird feed is only about $1.50 more than the flock raiser, so not that big of a difference.

I still feed my babies the flock raiser, as I do with all babies that I hatch, even turkeys, which I have been told they couldn't be raised on protein levels so low. I guess nobody told my 3+ week old turkey baby that is thriving on it! I'll go back to flock raiser for all my birds this winter, since they won't be laying anyway, though I'm thinking of doing something about that as well

My egg production also picked up, I was only getting 6 or 7 eggs from my jumbo browns, I have gotten 10 eggs from 10 hens everyday for a week. I have been feeding the game bird starter for about 2 weeks. Today I got 20 eggs from 22 hens, one of which hasn't started laying yet. The other egg will be in the cage in the a.m. when I go out to feed.