Dumor chick starter VS Nutrena game bird feed

[beakmaster]

I have been feeding my quail Nutrena premium game bird feed as its what I have had access to in this area. When I lived in another city I was buying the Dumor chick starter (which I have read previously is good to feed them for their whole lives). Recently a store that offers the Dumor has opened in my area. Does anyone have any input on which is better?

 

[chrishw]

They usually have the labels on the bottom of the bag that you can compare side by side. Unless there is a major difference in the labels I go with Dumor, I have found my Bobs do like the grains in the Purina but at 50% price premium I've been mixing 33% Purina with 67% Dumor.

If I recall correctly the Dumor chick starter is 24% protein, and the bag says feed um this 6 weeks, then the starter grower til mostly grown. The Dumor Starter/grower is 20% protein, and the Nutrena doesn't have the starter, just the starter grower at 18% protein.

So, it kinda depends on which products your looking at, Purina recommends 30% protein for the first 6 weeks, then a 19 or 20% protein depending on layers or flight conditioner. Based upon this I'd say that the Dumor is best for the first 6 weeks (after the Purina starter), then it becomes a bit more confusing but the Dumor starter/grower is my choice (but i've been looking at the purina personally too).

Do you remember if it was the starter or starter grower you used before?

 

[beakmaster]

When I used the Dumor it was chick starter. The flock I have now has been on Nutrena "quail starter/grower crumbles (bmd) (mg) Medicated". Will the medicated make a difference in meat or eating eggs?

 

[chrishw]

Gosh, there are 1000 versions of everything. I don't have nutria quail starter here nor could I find it on the web. So I don't know how the level of the protein in you starter/grower compares to the Dumar/Purina starters but its probably on the tag on the bottom of the bag. Whether a grower decides to feed a 24-30% the first 6 weeks is most likely for people like me who try to maximize growth, a 20% will fill their stomachs, it might stunt their final growth by a few percent not enough to notice unless you weigh them on a scientific scale (yea, I may have too much time on my hands)



I personally don't use medicated feed, and while that I don't have any firsthand knowledge about it many people have strong opinions. From what I can gather there are 2 or 3 types of medicated feed, one for chickens and other "domesticated" poultry that might destroy the liver and male reproductive ability. The next is for pheasants only, and the 3rd, contains small doses of antibiotics for the large scale quail farms. if it says quail on the bag and label its probably a small dose of antibiotics. To me, I'd stay away from as much of this as I can but most of our grocery store meat or resturant meat has this in it. So, I personally would likely use up the rest of the bag and eat them but I would try to get the non-medicated next time. ( here is a good post,, and likely a lot more- https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/387023/what-will-happen-if-quail-chicks-eat-medicated-feed )

What you choose to do is up to you! Before having some spinal cord/brain injuries I was a teacher, It drives my soulmate crazy cause I'll never say what's best, just the facts and perhaps what I would do. So to summarize, I would always feed non-medicated and dumor starter for 6 weeks then starter/grower til I eat um. I'd like to try the purina starter for 6.weeks and then the layena for the breeders/layers and flight conditioner for the culls... I just don't know or can't find anything about the nutrena quail food so I just can't say how it compares.

 

[beakmaster]

This is a great help. I will be making the change to the dumor (24%) as the protein levels are not a big difference from the nutrena (which is 27%). The birds have gotten fat fast on the nutrena but I don't wanna risk infertility in the males. The dumor is several dollars cheaper than the nutrena, this will help because the dumor is 10 miles further down the road. Thanks for your input. I am glad to get just facts instead of biast opinions some may offer. Thanks much.

 

[Crazy QuailLady]

Good info, Thanks! I'm building a quail flock and dealing with these questions too.