My good ole pal (kay she's not my pal, but I do adore her)
Jodi (bracken ridge ranch breeder of bq for 30 years) just got back to me on me asking her questions about kitten food here's what she had to say:
"Hi Niki,
We only add the dry, finely ground kitten food to our chicks feed.
It does not have to be a brand name food, in fact, the generic ones
generally have a higher grain content and yet have about the same
protein content as name brands. Because some brands have a high fat
content, it is not a good idea to feed it to adult birds on a steady
basis, especially during the summer months.
Before everyone gets all jumpy with this, let me say that one of
the 2 main reasons we use it is because cat food contains Taruine,
which helps with young quail's metabolism. It also helps develop the
central nervous system, is an antioxidant and helps process feed more
efficiently.
The second reason is that it generally has 18 to 30% minimum
protein. When a chick hatches from healthy parents, it is
approximately 15% protein. If it does not receive food containing the
necessary protein it will have slow stunted growth. A chicks protein
energy is divided between physical growth and feather growth. If fed
a diet that is deficient in protein the energy normally absorbed for
growth may be diverted to its feathers or vise versa. If a chick does
not have the proper levels of protein and fat from the start, its
natural instinct to forage for food an water will be inhibited and it
will quickly die of starvation or dehydration,
Ground cat food can be added to an adults diet when the weather is
colder if additional fat and protein is required to maintain their
metabolism. In cold weather, the birds intake of fat is divided
between maintaining their body heat, egg production (if in a situation
where they are forced to lay year round) and feather growth.
But...a word of caution: Since not all fats are digestible, care
should to be taken in the amount and type offered to adult birds.
Since most labels do not identify the source of fat in feed, we have
to assume that in cat food, it is a combination of vegetable and
animal fat, and a little goes a long way in an adult birds diet. The
over all amount of fat/protein should be taken into consideration when
using cat food for adult birds. I.E. Meal worms, grow/breeder crumbles
etc.
Hope this helps. (Niki, our new website is
www.brackenridgeran ch.ocm) We are using that site while we rebuild
our old one at
www.ncws.com/ mcdonald."
