Feed for quail...

[Hope Hughes]

Have them order it for you. At least my local tsc will do it with a 4 bag minimum order.

Thanks i will see if they can keep a min in stock.
I finally got them to contact the suppliers to order it in... getting to talk to someone that would do it was impossible. Still waiting on the call to say they did order it. -_-
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[JurassicBawk]

I have a Stockdales near me and a Tractor Supply in the town about 20 minutes away where my parents live. I've tried to get both stores to order it for me before with no luck. The only thing they have in store is a game bird starter that's in a tiny bag, or medicated starter game bird feed that is only for the first 6 weeks of life. Per the info on the link, that feed you are looking for is also only for 0-6 weeks.

Since I have large chickens, bantams, and quail that I have as pets and for eggs (therefore all older than 6 weeks), I've just started feeding everyone Flock Raiser. It's small crumble, 20% protein, and I don't have to special order it because TSC has it in stock. Everyone has been fine on it for over a year now, I just put out oyster shells free choice, and we've got rock hard eggshells from everyone. They get veggie treats, mealworms, and flock blocks regularly just for fun, but have no issues with the crumble food and all seem to really like it.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...ser-crumbles-premium-poultry-feed-50-lb?rfk=1

 

[Hope Hughes]

I have a Stockdales near me and a Tractor Supply in the town about 20 minutes away where my parents live. I've tried to get both stores to order it for me before with no luck. The only thing they have in store is a game bird starter that's in a tiny bag, or medicated starter game bird feed that is only for the first 6 weeks of life. Per the info on the link, that feed you are looking for is also only for 0-6 weeks.

Since I have large chickens, bantams, and quail that I have as pets and for eggs (therefore all older than 6 weeks), I've just started feeding everyone Flock Raiser. It's small crumble, 20% protein, and I don't have to special order it because TSC has it in stock. Everyone has been fine on it for over a year now, I just put out oyster shells free choice, and we've got rock hard eggshells from everyone. They get veggie treats, mealworms, and flock blocks regularly just for fun, but have no issues with the crumble food and all seem to really like it.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...ser-crumbles-premium-poultry-feed-50-lb?rfk=1

I will look and see if this TSC has it, So far i have only been able to find the 24% for the chicks, that workss great so far because I always have Quail chicks(my husband got a little crazy with ordering eggs on my fourth batch of 100 eggs in the bator). But i would like the starter game feed that is 30% if they can order it in. They also have a Game Bird Finisher that is 20% i ordered for my older batches. They have 4 Types of the game bird feed: Starter, Grower, Finisher and a Layer.
But i will defiantly take another look to see if they carry the 20% you are talking about thanks!
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[Timothy Menezes]

I would stick with 24 to 30 percent protein, every single knowledge source of information I have found on Quail says 24 percent is the minimum. Just because someone is raising theirs on something less than that doesn't mean it's good for them. I have a friend that lives on Coke, donuts, and tv dinners. Just because he doesn't have any visible signs of sickness from his unhealthy diet does not mean it is in any way a good way to eat. Just my 2 cents...

 

[Hope Hughes]

I would stick with 24 to 30 percent protein, every single knowledge source of information I have found on Quail says 24 percent is the minimum. Just because someone is raising theirs on something less than that doesn't mean it's good for them. I have a friend that lives on Coke, donuts, and tv dinners. Just because he doesn't have any visible signs of sickness from his unhealthy diet does not mean it is in any way a good way to eat. Just my 2 cents...

I ordered the 30% for the chicks the starter game bird. ​

So hopefully they can get that in ​

 

[JurassicBawk]

I was just giving her another option and real life experience example, as my local stores literally REFUSE to order it for me. They cannot/will not get it in stock, so my options are Flock Raiser or paying $7 for a 5 pound bag of medicated gamebird starter that is only supposed to be fed their first 6 weeks of life. Since I have quail that are 5 years old and still laying with no issues, I'm going to assume that the 4% less plus supplemental oyster shell is better for them than trying to live off medicated chick feed their whole life.

If they can/will order something for her, then more power to her.

 

[Hope Hughes]

With all the research my husband and i have done, the higher protine is for the chicks and then if you are going to release them or use them for training you dont need such high proteins.
And i agree if you give them shell and treats that suplaments for the 4% not in the food.
So for my youngins i will stick to my high protein %(hopefully the 30%) and my adults i dont think need it as high as 30... they are on the 24% chick feed because i cant get anything else at the moment and i think it is hindering them a little bit. My older ones are almost 2 months old and still no eggs they i have shell to supplement and treats.
I think it cpuld also be the fact that i have to many males in the pin(working on finding them a home)
But thank you everyone for you input and experiences i dont think there is really a wrong way to do it if they are getting what they need at the end of the day. Just likin life we all do things different that work best for us. ​

 

[JurassicBawk]

Correct. The higher protein and medications are needed for chicks, then different requirements are needed depending on if you are going to be releasing/hunting them or keeping as egglayers/breeders. There's good info here if you haven't seen it: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/473/feeding-quail/

I hatched mine this May and had everyone together in a brooder until 4 weeks of age, then they all went outside into different hutches. I put the males all together in a very large coop that had enough hiding spots that they could get away from each other, and they've been together ever since as a nice bachelor group with no bickering. I couldn't stand to eat them and there is basically nobody else around here with quail (hence the lack of quail food anywhere) that could use them, so they're just pets. My girls started laying at 6 weeks on the dot and are still going strong right now, with the older ones taking a winter break. Good luck with finding your males a home and getting eggs. It's winter solstice today so the days will slowly start getting longer, so that will help too.

 

[Hope Hughes]

Correct. The higher protein and medications are needed for chicks, then different requirements are needed depending on if you are going to be releasing/hunting them or keeping as egglayers/breeders. There's good info here if you haven't seen it: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/473/feeding-quail/

I hatched mine this May and had everyone together in a brooder until 4 weeks of age, then they all went outside into different hutches. I put the males all together in a very large coop that had enough hiding spots that they could get away from each other, and they've been together ever since as a nice bachelor group with no bickering. I couldn't stand to eat them and there is basically nobody else around here with quail (hence the lack of quail food anywhere) that could use them, so they're just pets. My girls started laying at 6 weeks on the dot and are still going strong right now, with the older ones taking a winter break. Good luck with finding your males a home and getting eggs. It's winter solstice today so the days will slowly start getting longer, so that will help too.

Thank you! I have thought about putting th males all together just have to figure put the Texas A&M apart lol.
I have 3 sets of quail right now all at dfferent ages and another 100 in the bator so i have alot of moving and selling to do.
We train our bird dog on them too and my husband eats them at the moment, being pregnant meat doesnt sound good lol
Maybe i can talk the guys into making a bachelor pad
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[Hope Hughes]

very large coop that had enough hiding spots

What do you use as hiding spots? I herd people putting pine trees and such in there but would like to plant bushes and stuff that wont hurt them and that they like.
I know rock caves amd such just curious on plants. ​