feeding quail for free

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bfishy

bfishy

Hatching
6 Years
Aug 4, 2013
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Hello everyone. I am thinking about raising quail and/or rabbits. I have been researching quail on the web for a while now. Found lots of great info here so I decided this is where I will ask my question. I love the idea of raising quail for eggs and meat. I would like to know if I can grow my own food and not buy commercial food at all. I live in florida and what I currently grow or have available to me are as follows.

Moringa Oleifera: leaves contain 7 times the vitamin C of oranges, 4 times the vitamin A of carrots, 4 times the calcium of milk, 3 times the potassium of bananas, 2 times the protein of yogurt. All parts of the plant are edible, grows 15 feet a year.

Katuk: another green, rich in nutrients

Pigeon peas
Winged beans
Velvet beans
Worms: composting worms and I could raise mealworms too
Sri lanka weevils: a leaf notching pest I battle.
organic plant based kitchen scraps
many different tropical fruits I grow
seeds from cranberry hibiscus and roselle
a few other tropical vegetables: chaya, okinawa spinach, cranberry hibiscus, basket vine etc.
several weeds including plantain and purslane

I would also be willing to use a portion of my yard to raise seed for them. I am considering a quail tractor for my birds. Probably 2 or 3 actually. I want to eliminate the need for outside sources to keep my birds alive. Independance is what I am looking for in every sense of the word. If its not possible, maybe I will research rabbits more since I have a ton of nutrient rich greens. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I suggest also setting up a black soldier fly bin to grow animal protein for them. This is a small compost bin where you allow the black soldier fly larva to compost kitchen scraps, animal droppings, and anything else organic. The larva then crawl out and you harvest them and feed to your birds. In Florida, you should be able to produce the edible grubs year round.
 
Hmmm, I think those are the guys I see in my friends rabbit dropping compost. This very well could be a great idea for breaking down rabbit poop AND feeding quail. Making keeping rabbits AND quail, rather then OR quail, a good idea. Are you saying I could get by with what I grow, and those flys?
 
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You still want to have some sort of grains or greens to have a balanced diet. But you can definitely save a lot of money on food with them. They are extremely high in protein and calcium
 
I would try to grow both. When making homemade foods, the more diverse diet is better. There are grains that you can grow in limited space. Grains are a better source of natural fiber and greens have more vitamins.

Mealworms, like you said, are easy to raise too, but I suggest using a non-medicated chick starter instead of bran as mealworm bedding. This helps raise the nutritional value of the worms.
 
I am aiming to feed my Japanese quail for free but I have got away to go, mealworm farm on the go and plenty of greenery and crushed egg shells but my four still manage to eat a cup of Game bird feed every two days. The issue I have is the grain aspect not having enough space to grow it. Let us know how you go if you go for the quail over the rabbits.
 
I am not familiar with those grains. You might also check into proso millet seed. Which ever grain you choose, try finding the nutritional composition on the internet. Be sure to look for the composition by weight and not human dietary needs.
 

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