Cat & dog food

[SandraMort]

Is cat food always bad for quail? Or is it okay in small quantities, and if so, how do you define small? I ask because I'm clipping coupons and there are TONS of coupons for pet food which, when combined with sales, make it cheap or free.

 

[redhen]

I fed my quails cat food as a treat...
I have heard that the extra protein is good for them...

 

[SandraMort]

Yeah, I'm all mixed up about it. I hear cat food is good because it's high in protein but I hear it's bad for other reasons. What do the professional quail breeders think? Any idea? Quaillady?

 

[SandraMort]

In case it wasn't clear, I meant that I wanted to know what percent of their total diet can be cat or dog food (presuming the rest is game bird feed).

 

[xchairity_casex]

i personally wouldnt even bother even as a treat take it from a person who has older cats and has spent the last 4 years reading cat food labels. theres so much salts and sugars that i can imagine would not be good for birds at all what may not seem like al rge amount of sugars or salt to a cat could be a huge dose to a bird especielly a quail it isnt often in the wild these birds would be getting salt or sugars in the diet if you want a good free treat for them go out into the middle of the woods away from people and dig up a few worms and chop them up i can imagien that would be much better sorce of protien then cat food plus without the sugars adn salts

 

[JJMR794]

Cat Food And Dog Food Should Be Avoided. They Contain Way Too Much Salt And Salt Toxicity Is Lethal In A Matter Of Minutes Once It Strikes. Also Both Contain Way Too Much Fat And Other Useless Ingredients To Your Birds.


In All Honesty And With The Utmost Respect Intended... If You Want To Save Money And Properly Care For Your Birds Then Feed And Care For Them Properly... Most Cost Saving Things Will Have A Very Negative And Usually Costly Outcome In The End. I Have Yet To See Or Find Cat Food As Cheap Per Pound As Gbs. Nor Have I Seen Any Quail With Eliptical Pupils, Retractable Claws, Or That Can Effectly Eliminate A Barn Rodent Problem

( However Many Ring Neck Pheasants Are Better Mousers Than Anything You'd Find At The Spca

)

Now For Actually Saving Money And Providing Proper Care Look For Local Feed Mills.... Find Them And See What It Takes To Get Feed From Them, Often They Will Have Minimum Orders That Can Be Excessive To Backyard Breeders... In This Case Try And Find Locals That You Could Split Orders With?

Personally I Get Mill Direct Feed And The Quality Is Superb And It Cut Costs By 1/2+ I Also Have A Another Byc'er Nearby That "piggy Backs" In On My Order And He Too Gets The Benefits Of Saving Greatly On Feed... Whereas By Himself Could Not Use The Minimum Order.. In Our Case Its 1000lbs At A Time

My Fear Is That By "over Economizing" This Project You Will Be Adversely Affecting Your Outcomes... Sometimes The Old Addage "you Get What You Pay For" Really Does Ring True... This Is Often The Case Here