Feed for Chinese Painted Quail in the UK

[ButtonBag]

I've been raising my button/Chinese painted quail chicks on Allen & Page's turkey starter crumb supplemented with boiled egg, but they've been acting a little odd (walking backwards after eating) and I want to swap out the food to see if it's a problem.

I'm guessing 5 weeks is old enough to provide grit, mix in some finch seed and change the crumb to an adult one, but I don't know what to get. Any game bird feed I find is in pellet form, which seems like it could be too big for them. Does anyone know a good product that I can get hold of in the UK? Or any advice on what type of feed would be best for the rest of their lives (protein % etc.)?

 

[FloorCandy]

I've been raising my button/Chinese painted quail chicks on Allen & Page's turkey starter crumb supplemented with boiled egg, but they've been acting a little odd (walking backwards after eating) and I want to swap out the food to see if it's a problem.

I'm guessing 5 weeks is old enough to provide grit, mix in some finch seed and change the crumb to an adult one, but I don't know what to get. Any game bird feed I find is in pellet form, which seems like it could be too big for them. Does anyone know a good product that I can get hold of in the UK? Or any advice on what type of feed would be best for the rest of their lives (protein % etc.)?

You can put the pellets in a blender or coffee grinder. I grind my crumble for the chicks for a couple weeks. I use an old nutrabullet, but I’m pretty sure any grinding appliance is good enough. I’m not sure if buttons would eventually get large enough to eat it plain.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I would probably wait until they're at least 6-8 weeks old for adult feed.

 

[ButtonBag]

Oh really? That's good to know, I'd been going off the Dos & Don'ts thread about adding finch seed, oyster shell and (I'm assuming) grit at 4–6 weeks. Is it still okay to do that but keep the bulk of the feed as their current turkey starter? Or should they be eating nothing but the starter until 6–8 weeks? They're all housed together for now and I was hoping some variety might distract from any potential fighting.

My other slight concern is this weird backwards walk they do, I was thinking of phasing out their starter feed to make sure it's not some hidden mould or something.

Is it okay to add a dust bath at this age? I'm assuming they'll eat some of it so I got bird sand. Sorry for the barrage of questions!

 

[Quailobsessed]

Oh really? That's good to know, I'd been going off the Dos & Don'ts thread about adding finch seed, oyster shell and (I'm assuming) grit at 4–6 weeks. Is it still okay to do that but keep the bulk of the feed as their current turkey starter? Or should they be eating nothing but the starter until 6–8 weeks? They're all housed together for now and I was hoping some variety might distract from any potential fighting.

My other slight concern is this weird backwards walk they do, I was thinking of phasing out their starter feed to make sure it's not some hidden mould or something.

Is it okay to add a dust bath at this age? I'm assuming they'll eat some of it so I got bird sand. Sorry for the barrage of questions!

I'd definitely give them a dust bath! They'll probably love it.

 

[ButtonBag]

What should I be looking for in their feed if I'll be mixing with finch seed and giving eggshells? i.e. protein percent, calcium etc. Will too much calcium in the feed be harmful to males?