Can Baby Quail have Wheat Bran?

[The Critter Place]

Hi ,
I just got some baby Jumbo Brown coturnix quail, 5 days Old.. And 2 Button Quail, 1 day old.

I have a large bag of wheat bran I got from the feed store for raising meal worms and was wondering if the babies can have some of it.

 

[diggerduck]

No dietary expert, but quail are pretty demanding when it comes to protein, and I am not too sure wheat bran will be very high. You will get a lot of opinions in here so here is mine. Purina Game Bird Startena ( I think that is the spelling ) carries 30% crude protein. Coturnix grow so fast they need a high protein to support their groth rate.

 

[The Critter Place]

Quote:
HI Diggerduck,
Thank you!
I just realized I wasn't more specific. So Sorry I left out a few details.

I am feeding Gamebird starter. I was just wondering if a little of the bran would be O.K. to give them too.

 

[diggerduck]

OK....That is probably going to fall to one of the experts....JJMR794, shelleyd2008, quailladyoffortmyers, to name a few...There are many other on here that can help, I am just a bit too new.

 

[joe125]

I'm no feed expert by any stretch of the imagination, however I will say this. If you are feeding a real game bird starter (Not the big box high protean chicken feed), then you are feeding your coturnix chicks the best thing available! Sorry, I don't know about buttons.

Personally, I would not throw anything into the mix with coturnix chicks, however, there is nothing that I can see as unhealthy with adding a bit of wheat bran to an adult coturnix feed mix, as long as you do not over saturate the professionally formulated feed.

Just out of curiosity...Why are you diverting the wheat bran from growing meal worms, to feeding quail?

 

[The Critter Place]

Hi Joe,
Thank you .

What do you mean by "Big Box High protean Chicken Feed"? Not sure what that is, it's been a few years since I've had quail.
The feed I'm using came from one of the biggest feed stores in Arizona. I know it's a good feed.

Just out of curiosity...Why are you diverting the wheat bran from growing meal worms, to feeding quail?

Well, I'm not really diverting the wheat. I just thought it seems healthy, and is the right "size" for them to eat, and was wondering if it would hurt to give them a little.

I raised pet birds (parakeets and such) for years and always gave them a huge variety, so was just wondering if there was anything else we could give the baby quail to get them off to a good start.

On a sad note, one of the button didn't make it through the night.

But being so tiny, I'm not surprised.​

 

[joe125]

Quote:
Well, I'm not really diverting the wheat. I just thought it seems healthy, and is the right "size" for them to eat, and was wondering if it would hurt to give them a little.

I raised pet birds (parakeets and such) for years and always gave them a huge variety, so was just wondering if there was anything else we could give the baby quail to get them off to a good start.

On a sad note, one of the button didn't make it through the night.

But being so tiny, I'm not surprised.

Ok, you are going to make me say this....The Big box store starts with the word Tractor, has a middle word Supply, and actually calls it's self a company. They sell an inappropriately labeled high protein chicken feed as game bird feed. It's suitable for raising game birds....yeah...right!

Sorry you lost a button. I lost a coturnix in the brooder tonight as well, and that's darn strange. Let me introduce you to 4 words that coturnix swear by...Lover Of Perpetual Sameness. They have a very large vocabulary as far as birds go, but VARITY, isn't in there.

I don't throw things at chicks, sameness rules, but I don't see anything bad about mixing some wheat bran with adult coturnix feed. As long as it's not over saturated.