Food Scraps that are good for quail/that quail enjoy?

[speng5]

Wondering what scraps can be fed safely to quail, and what ones they enjoy? I saw somewhere that they like cucumber but I tried that and they had almost zero interest in it....I also know that as a general rule they are not quite the garbage disposals that chickens are, but I am looking for things I can give them to make their diet more interesting and to avoid throwing scraps away when possible.

 

[Nabiki]

Any scraps that you feed them should be considered treats, so should not be more than 10% of their diets.

You can try various vegetables such as zucchini, cucumber, or pretty much any fruit. They do have individual tastes, so some may be a hit with your quail, some may not. Avoid onions, and garlic.

They do enjoy the occasional mealworm or black soldier fly larva as well.

 

[speng5]

Any scraps that you feed them should be considered treats, so should not be more than 10% of their diets.

You can try various vegetables such as zucchini, cucumber, or pretty much any fruit. They do have individual tastes, so some may be a hit with your quail, some may not. Avoid onions, and garlic.

They do enjoy the occasional mealworm or black soldier fly larva as well.

Thanks for the reply. What about crickets? The pet store kind? The pet store near me has "dusted" and regular.

 

[Barbours]

Wondering what scraps can be fed safely to quail, and what ones they enjoy? I saw somewhere that they like cucumber but I tried that and they had almost zero interest in it....I also know that as a general rule they are not quite the garbage disposals that chickens are, but I am looking for things I can give them to make their diet more interesting and to avoid throwing scraps away when possible.

Mine love mealworms and wild bird treet mix from your local store. They really like the seeds and raisins in the mix. Just don't get anything to big, cause they'll still try to swallow it. I have Bobwhite Quail btw.

 

[Nabiki]

Thanks for the reply. What about crickets? The pet store kind? The pet store near me has "dusted" and regular.

The crickets might be okay if they are small enough. I've had quail pick apart a grasshopper, though, so that might not matter.

 

[scyllarus]

My covey likes these things:
Edible weeds from the yard (No one sprays anything + I check and make sure the species is edible)
Fresh herbs like cilantro or parsley
Cucumbers (cut open, they won't peck through the peel)
Bananas (peeled open)
Apples (cut open, remove seeds as they contain cyanide - not an issue if they're eaten whole, I believe, but better to avoid)
Any sort of dried insect like crickets, mealworms, or BSFL

Sometimes I'll plant the weeds in a flowerpot and the birds strip the whole thing bare in two days. They also enjoy live crickets, but sometimes aren't very quick about killing them so they escape - the bigger ones they'll definitely rip apart if they can manage it.

 

[CliftonQuail]

Avoid onions, and garlic.

Too bad. I'd love to be able to pre-season the meat

 

[Whraith]

Mine will pick apart anything.

Cucumbers (split they will clean it down to the skin)
Any and all sprouts no mater what they are
Any insects be it alive or dried
Pretty much any leafy green gets picked to bits (butterhead lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, radish tops)
Any herb (I have tossed dill and basil in and they are gone, they really love the little leaves on dill though)
Bermuda grass and whatever weeds came up in my yard
Kitchen scraps (yes including onion and garlic, I have never had an egg taste bad due to this)
Chicken scratch (small cracked corn or they wont eat it and no sunflower seeds)

Things my birds won't touch
sunflower seeds (they will eat them sprouted but not not in the shell or shelled hearts)
tomato's (they keep trying to bury them)
any woody stems or harder bits they can't pick apart.

My birds are in an outdoor aviary and it goes out in the morning for them (and yes they all know what the silver platter is, it contains treats and will stand around waiting for me to put it down), anything they don't eat gets scrapped up and tossed in the compost pile. When I do yard work I rake out the Bermuda clippings and let it air dry for a day then it goes in their enclosed section, they love digging through that and eating it as well as making nests.

 

[potatoyay]

Thanks for the reply. What about crickets? The pet store kind? The pet store near me has "dusted" and regular.

my quail love crickets. dusted means they've got calcium dust, while usually used for reptiles, is probably good for quail too.