Button quail for dog food?

[amandacv86]

I have 3 small dogs. This is something I've been curious about. Has anyone raised button quail for their pets, like for a raw food diet?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

would you eat raw chicken? if its not healthy for you then its not for them either. i would guess that if you want to feed to your dogs you would have to humanly kill them, take their feathers off, take their guts out, cook them and debone them. the little dogs can choke on the bones and it could kill them. now, how much is a can of dog food? sounds like a lot of work to me.

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

well dogs can eat raw meat with no problems its just the way that they were bred i guess... but dont you think its a little over board to feed a quail to your dog? i mean like meat from the grocery store i can understand.. but quail idk theres just something about them thats so **** cute.. lol

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

darn*

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i am sorry, i think i was rude. i just had a picture in my mind of chunking live quail over to the dogs. i have been researching this and it is my understanding that dogs poo out the salmonella with no ill effects and only cooking makes the bones brittle.i have never done this but i know someone that has.

 

[amandacv86]

Thanks, granny hatchet

About going to the grocery store, if home raised meat is better for humans why wouldn't it be the same for our pets?

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

you have a point there, i agree. theres just something about quail that i find awesome i guess! lmao

 

[buttonquailtx]

While I can agree that home grown food can be healthier for our pets, there are many different points to consider before feeding our pets raw meat.

First, to get my emotional opinion out, I love my quail. I keep my quail in the best and happiest ways I can manage. Even those I raise for slaughter are given occasional treats such as mealworms, black soldier fly larva, boiled eggs, and fresh veggies.

Now for the logical side. It would take about 5 or 6 button quail to feed a 5 pound chihuahua a single meal (and dogs should be fed a minimum of twice daily.) As for a raw meat diet : Yes, dogs are carnivorous, but they still need plant protein and vitamins. Dogs do eat some veggies, and also ingest plant matter that prey items ate and still have in their stomachs and intestines.

I have used quail chicks as feeders for reptiles before. Many arboreal boas and pythons eat birds as a main part of their diet. Feeding quail chicks is no worse than feeding baby mice to snakes.

The main issue, as mentioned before, would be cross contamination of pathogens. Especially salmonella! In order to insure clean, pathogen free meat, you would have to keep the quail in near laboratory conditions. This means keeping them on wire and cleaning and sterilizing their food and water containers several times a day.Their food and water containers would also have to be maintained in a way that prevents them from soiling them with droppings.

But, yes,raw meat offers more usable proteins than cooked meat (cooking breaks down proteins.) However,cooked meat is much safer to use.

If still interested in home grown meat, Coturnix quail would be a much more feasible alternative.

 

[amandacv86]

Thanks buttonquailtx! I'm probably just going to stick to coturnix. I have 65 coturnix and 96 button eggs in the incubator right now. The Buttons will be sold as pets. Didn't realize it would take so many to feed all of my dogs.

I'm really hoping someone with experience in feeding dogs raw will chime in (barf diet). Dogs don't have the same risks to salmonella that humans do. Also, I think the lab conditions would be unnecessary.

Anyway, I'm hoping the BARF(bones and raw foods) diet doesn't have to be all or nothing. I feed a decent quality of dog food so I'd still like to have that as their staple.

 

[FishaRneKed]

I used to worry about my dogs, but after seeing them eat rotten road kill and roll around in it for a road kill scent bath... They are fine. When it is hot I give them frozen raw chicken thy/leg or whatever. ChickenSickles!!!

IT IS COOKED POULTRY BONES THAT WILL CHOKE A DOG BY SPLINTERING AND STABBING THEM NOT ACTUALLY CHOKING. Raw bird bones are very chewable and do not splinter.

Most dogs can digest raw meat, but some purebreds may get the sh!ts the first time. Moderation is the key.