Gave me an idea....

[shelleyd2008]

I was reading Niki's post on the 'egg laying has begun' thread, which reminded me of what the breeder I got a lot of my eggs from told me.

He said that he had been having problems with fertility in his eggs, until he went to a high protein feed. My feed store carries gamebird starter (24% protein), turkey starter (28% protein), and can order gamebird layena (19%).

Originally, I was feeding mine flock raiser, which is 20% protein. It works as a starter/grower/maintenance feed, for all birds except turkeys. Turkeys, though, can have it after either 6 or 8 weeks, can't remember which.

My jumbo browns were kind of hit-and-miss on egg laying. Out of 10 females, I would get 7 or 8 eggs daily, where the tuxedos and A&Ms were laying daily, each bird. So I decided to get the layena. This has to be special ordered, which is no biggie, unless I run out. Then I'd have to wait for it. The jumbos are now giving me 9-10 eggs a day, but still not as good as I'd like

So, do you think it would be okay to feed the quail the turkey starter/grower? I should probably have some anyway, since I have baby game birds, but I don't have the space to keep umpteen million bags of feed!! So would the starter/grower and some oyster shell be all right?

Any opinions welcome!!

 

[Boyd]

curious also

Bump bump

 

[shawnkfl]

heres my plan. buy a bag of each that i want. dump them in a plastic garbage can and mix them together. when i get low, order more and keep mixing them. i'm going to keep it right in the coop. nice and handy with a scoop inside.

 

[monarc23]

Starter grower on your adults?


Yep. I am. Working wonderfully so far. I don't feed any of my quail adult feed anymore. I switched them over about 2 weeks ago and egg production is at an all time high. The adult feeds protien is too low and it shows in the birds. I still suppliment atleast once a week boiled eggs (focusing on feeding them mostly the yolk) and Im really happy with the results.

I had thought about making a post on this but never got around to it. so here it is! LOL!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Yeah, that's what I kind of figured. And my baby guineas, turkey, chukars, and quail would all appreciate the higher protein as well, I'm sure!! I believe it's about the same price as the layena, and I always have oyster shells on hand, so it would 'almost' cut me down on types of feed. I still need the flock raiser for my babies, but at least I won't have a whole ton of different bags!!

And I keep my feed in the metal garbage cans, to keep the mice out. But we have 2 cans on the porch (one dog food, one baby bird food) and another 6 or 7 in the barn, there are only so many other places I could put it!!

 

[tbone]

i have fattened cotunix all the way out on 30 percent gamebird startena (purina) think it came out to 30 cents a bird from start to finish...prolly would be more like 40-45 now....

 

[sfoelee]

starter grower is the way to go. last year my feed store only had starter for three months and i used it on the adults and all of a sudden my hens started to go into overdrive in egg production. they also get plump and their feathers really seem to glow. the best part is the feed bill is not too much higher and keeps the different feed bags to a minimum. i also grind up some kitty food that is 33-36% protein and put in a small amount for supplement once a week. i have since quit using the kitty food and have not seen a change.

 

[simplyscrambled]

Which starter/grower are y'all using? The turkey or the gamebird starter? I've held off buying a bag (my eggs are due July1) but it would be great to just worry about one kind of feed throughout!

 

[NotTheMomma]

I haven't been able to find ANY game bird feed! I'm worried about my quail. I'm feeding them the non medicated chick starter/grower from Southern States. I don't think the protein is high enough though, so I've been giving them one egg twice a week. I'm going to talk to the feed store and see if they won't start ordering me something higher in protein!

 

[NancyDz]

I've been feeding mine a 27% Turkey starter all along, their egg laying and fertility are great.