Baby quail feeding

[Nabiki]

Ok I might just get them some gamebird starter. The feed supplementing is getting too hard, and I know it's the best for my Quail. I'll keep the chick starter for when they are older. Thanks everyone for your help, and I should've listened to @Nabiki from the start

I replied to your earlier post before seeing this one. I'm glad you found some gamebird starter. They really will be better off. When they're around six weeks old you can start giving them some of the other stuff as treats, but keep the treats to less than 10% of their diet.

 

[Oob Child]

I replied to your earlier post before seeing this one. I'm glad you found some gamebird starter. They really will be better off. When they're around six weeks old you can start giving them some of the other stuff as treats, but keep the treats to less than 10% of their diet.

Ok. Thanks

 

[Ital]

Really. Adult laying hens need the calcium, chicks not so much.

I agree with what you’ve posted and believe it’s good advice, my point re. calcium is that they won’t over consume it given the choice and there is no harm offering it separately so it’s there for if or when it’s needed.

I think there’s a bit of confusion over what is offered separately and what is effectively force fed/mixed in with the only available food.

As you’ve suggested, a balanced blend if added to by more than 10% will no longer be balanced. In order to increase the protein levels in chicken starter to the necessary levels required for a quail you would need to add more than 10% insects which would reduce the overall available calcium below the desired percentage as oob child’s chicks have demonstrated by picking at it in small amounts.

If mealworms are used solely to adjust the protein levels this would also negatively impact fat levels so crickets would be a good addition to offer along side but protein levels are lower in crickets than mealworms so an even greater percentage would be needed to achieve the desired level of protein, further reducing the level of available calcium.

I’m happy the op is getting the appropriate food and this seems the best option unless a wide enough variety was being offered for them to balance their own requirement.

 

[Nabiki]

I agree with what you’ve posted and believe it’s good advice, my point re. calcium is that they won’t over consume it given the choice and there is no harm offering it separately so it’s there for if or when it’s needed.

I think there’s a bit of confusion over what is offered separately and what is effectively force fed/mixed in with the only available food.

As you’ve suggested a balanced blend if added to by more than 10% will no longer be balanced, in order to increase the protein levels in chicken starter to the necessary levels required for a quail you would need to add more than 10% insects which would reduce the overall available calcium below the desired percentage as oob child’s chicks have demonstrated by picking at it in small amounts.

If mealworms are used solely to adjust the protein levels this would also negatively impact fat levels so crickets would be a good addition to offer along side but protein levels are lower in crickets than mealworms so an even greater percentage would be needed to achieve the desired level of protein, further reducing the level of available calcium.

I’m happy the op is getting the appropriate food and this seems the best option unless a wide enough variety was being offered for them to balance their own requirement.

The only problem with what you're saying is that you're assuming chicks are just as good at self regulating as adults. They aren't. Adults will eat what they need. Chicks need to learn how to eat and will eat pretty much whatever you offer them, and sometimes things you don't.

 

[Ital]

The only problem with what you're saying is that you're assuming chicks are just as good at self regulating as adults. They aren't. Adults will eat what they need. Chicks need to learn how to eat and will eat pretty much whatever you offer them, and sometimes things you don't.

I made the same assumption as you until I found this..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-the-chick-balance-its-ration.1555475/

There’s been two peer reviewed studies where all the ingredients from a balanced blend were provided separately to see if they were capable of balancing their own nutritional requirement.

The chicks consumed an almost identical ratio of ingredients to those that were formulated in the original blend.

 

[Nabiki]

I made the same assumption as you until I found this..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-the-chick-balance-its-ration.1555475/

There’s been two peer reviewed studies where all the ingredients from a balanced blend were provided separately to see if they were capable of balancing their own nutritional requirement.

The chicks consumed an almost identical ratio of ingredients to those that were formulated in the original blend.

That article applies to chicken chicks. Quail are not chickens. I see a lot of people who assume that quail are just like chickens in behaviour, dietary needs, and disposition. This is not the case.

 

[Ital]

That article applies to chicken chicks. Quail are not chickens. I see a lot of people who assume that quail are just like chickens in behaviour, dietary needs, and disposition. This is not the case.

From the study..

‘Evidently the wild fowl possesses the ability to select a ration which produces a rugged constitution, even better than the “man-made” rations designed for poultry. If the wild fowl has the ability to choose such a ration would it not be advisable to take advantage of this natural instinct in designing rations for poultry?’

Surely the coturnix is closer to the pheasant than the production layer that was tested?

 

[Nabiki]

From the study..

‘Evidently the wild fowl possesses the ability to select a ration which produces a rugged constitution, even better than the “man-made” rations designed for poultry. If the wild fowl has the ability to choose such a ration would it not be advisable to take advantage of this natural instinct in designing rations for poultry?’

Surely the coturnix is closer to the pheasant than the production layer that was tested?

Coturnix quail have been domesticated since the 1100s. They have lost a lot of the wild fowl instincts. In order to produce chicks you almost always need an incubator, for example. You have to make sure to keep their water too shallow to drown in. You have to tap their feed and water to teach them how to eat and drink.

Coturnix quail may be closer to pheasant by far than chickens, but they are far from bobwhites or "wild" quail.

 

[Ital]

Coturnix quail have been domesticated since the 1100s. They have lost a lot of the wild fowl instincts. In order to produce chicks you almost always need an incubator, for example. You have to make sure to keep their water too shallow to drown in. You have to tap their feed and water to teach them how to eat and drink.

Coturnix quail may be closer to pheasant by far than chickens, but they are far from bobwhites or "wild" quail.

The lack of a broody tendency is probably because they’re often kept on wire, and teaching them to peck at food and water may have been something that was always initially encouraged my their mother?

If I had to guess I’d say that a coturnix would be more capable of balancing its ration than a battery brooder white leghorn but perhaps I shouldn’t assume one way or the other as it’s not something that’s been investigated or published.

I’m currently in the process of experimenting with Italian coturnix to find out exactly this so if you’re interested I’ll report back when I get the results of the nutritional analysis from the ratio and diversity of ingredients they choose?

It’ll either be sad but interesting to find out if they’ve lost their ability to self regulate their own nutritional intake or potentially invaluable in terms of designing a blended feed if they haven’t.

 

[Ital]

I’ve double checked my figures and must admit that I’d confused the protein levels between meal worms and crickets which are actually higher in crickets but just to complicate things further they are also less digestible.

@Nabiki I can see from your other posts that you’re obviously a wealth of knowledge re. quail and although I hope to prove you wrong about their ability to self regulate nutritional intake I also hope I’ve not offended you by questioning your logic and would welcome any input you can offer as my feed experiment progresses.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/free-rein-feeding-method.1581742/post-26892559
I’ve kept chickens and bantams before but quail are new to me so I’m sure there’s plenty I have to learn.