Crumbles

[VickieB57]

I've been feeding my quail the Purina layena for game bird crumbles. They throw a lot out into the tray, where it is promptly pooped on, and then attracts thousands of flies. Does anyone feed anything besides crumble to their birds? Am I the only one having problems with the flies this year?

 

[LavLady]

I feed crumbles, but I soak mine thoroughly with water and they waste a lot less. I also read (here in BYC somewhere) that they absorb the nutrients better from wet feed than from dry. (Even better if the feed is fermented but I just can't bring myself to start that project!) Try soaking your feed. The flies may land on it but if your quail are like mine they will be happy for some bug-snacks.

 

[Quail Jailer]

Lav, I mix water in my feed too, except the mixing takes place inside the bird...

 

[LavLady]

QJ

 

[COsteveo]

There are also a lot of DIY feeder modfications around the forum. I use a paper towel tube in the standard galvanized steel feeder to keep the level of feed very low. It still adds more feed as they eat it, but it's not deep enough for them to really flick around.

I recently modified this further by adding 24oz soda bottles instead of the mason jar. I just cut the top and bottom off and use hot glue to secure it to the feeder. Now that the top is open, I can just pour more feed into it rather than deal with inverting either the mason jar or the feeder. This way I'm not wasting feed, either.