Can I feed them dried mealworms?

[SkyWarrior]

I'm in a situation where I can only feed my blue scale quail 22% turkey/pheasant/meatbird food. (All we have out here!) The guy I bought them from fed his quail that.

Anyway, I've been adding quinoa and fresh fruit. I've been thinking about feeding them dried mealworms. Would they eat those?

 

[joe125]

Well, I don't know much about blue scale quail, but they would most likely eat dried meal worms. It's an expensive and not so protein laden boost(only about 24% if that is all you feed), but they should eat it.
Personally, as long as they are not in egg laying mode, the 22% should be fine. I recommend 28-30% protein GBS for anything one calls a quail. It may take some time to find it, but any good Purina dealer should be able to get it for you. Except for TCS.

Sorry for the edit!
I mean TSC.

 

[Bear Bayou]

Quote:
The Scaled,Gambles,Valley's and even Bobs actually do better on a 20% protein once they are grown, anything over that and it goes directly on the ground

 

[TwoCrows]

I am in the same boat you are all the time. Only during chick raising season can I find any turkey starter or gamebird starter and must live with 20% or 22% protein foods. So, on that note, YES you can feed dried mealworms! OMG, they are going to bowl you over to get at them, especially during breeding season when their needs of protein goes up. They will love you forever!

 

[PondCreekRoad]

MEAL WORMS ARE EASILY GROWN AT HOME BUT DRIED IS GREAT ALSO,ANY BIRD CAN AND WILL EAT THEM ITS GREAT SOURCE OF PROTEIN AND YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR QUAIL ARE GETTING INTO ITS SYSTEM...I GIVE IT TO ALL MY BIRDIES BUT AGAIN I ARISE MEAL WORMS THEY ENJOY CATCHING THE LIL BOOGARS...

 

[mochicken]

If you were to grow your own you can take your excess and put them in the fridge and it slows their growth down to almost 0, this allows you to store them for long periods of time but when you take them out of the fridge and they get warmed up they squirm just like the birds like and in my opinion they have to have more nutritional value than freeze dried, I have nothing to base that on lol just my thinking

I "gut load" my worms by giving them water crystals and high protein snacks before I give them to my birds, they LOVE them. I use three shoe box sized plastic containers to keep my "worm farm" in and they are under my kitchen sink out of view of anyone and they do their own thing as long as they have food as bedding and potato or carrot for moisture you are set. If you start out with 1000 worms and just let them do their thing you will have 10k+ worms in only a couple to three months.

 

[TedJan92_in_Idaho]

Analysis of a Mealworm
Moisture 62.62%
Fat 10.01%
Protein 10.63%
Fiber 3.1%
Calcium 420 ppm

 

[mochicken]

Thanks TJ, I had that info somewhere and couldn't find it

 

[PondCreekRoad]

Yes But Get Your Nutrition Right With The Worms An Also Dont Go Spending $$ On Something You Dont Need To!! If Your Gonna Do That Might As Well Buy The Worms....meal Worms Are For A Alternative Feding To Cut Cost To Be More Self Suff....not Something Thats Gonna Cost...moisture Is In The Veggies You Give Them, Corn Meal An Grains Are Also Great!! Thats A Normal Base At Home Non Costly Things Your Able To Do An Keep Doing

 

[quailgal]

Yes, I have fed some dried mealworms in the past and they did eat them. No reason for me to feed mealworms now because I am able to get 28-30% starter feed.