Giving the quail "treats"

[Campine]

I bought 1000 mealworms on ebay for $14 and started a "mealworm farm". When I treat them, I cut up some broccoli tops and throw a bunch of mealworms on top, looks like a fancy salad and they gobble it up instantly.

 

[Peacerose]

YUM! Your quail are livin' the high life! LOL!

 

[Beckey2054]

I bought 1000 mealworms on ebay for $14 and started a "mealworm farm".

I wanted to do that.. but had heard that mealworms were hard to raise and super smelly... lol I guess they couldn't be more smelly than quail though.. How did you set up to raise them, and are they reproducing well?? Are they easy to clean up after? How often do you clean their container? Guess I am still thinking about doing this, if I can set things up in my garage instead of inside.. I already raise crickets and flightless fruit flies, so why not mealworms too.. What are you feeding them? (had read you could feed them darn near anything, but would like to know if that is a fact..before I try it and kill them all.. lol) and how quickly do they reproduce? LOL.. Get me started I will ask 1000 questions..

 

[TTeddy]

I hadn't even thought to check the label of their feed for gluten - thanks for that! (I am Celiac, husband is G-intolerant.)
The general assumption everyone makes when they start having reflux problems is that they have too much acid, and take a Rx acid suppressor/OTC antacid, etc. Turns out for a lot of people though, the opposite is the real problem. If your stomach doesn't have enough at the beginning of your meal, you get into trouble fast. One Tbsp of ACV in half a cup of water about 10 mins before a meal 'primes' your stomach for your meal. DH is good about doing that before lunch and dinner, and is now completely off the prescription meds with scary long term side effects.

(That is, of course, after eliminating an H. Pilori infection he had apparently had for years, and dropping foods from his diet he has dietary sensitivities to.)
As people get older, we stop producing adequate stomach acid. My 83 y/o grandmother has that problem pretty bad, but again, the ACV is all she needs to manage it completely.

Okay, can someone please tell me what does ACV stand for, and also DH? I have seen them a lot lately.
I have suffered from reflux for as long as I can remember and been on meds. I'll be having a laparoscopic fundoplication op to eliminate it this year. I'm looking forward to it as I have forgotten what it's like NOT to have it!
Thank you in advance

 

[TwoCrows]

Okay, can someone please tell me what does ACV stand for, and also DH? I have seen them a lot lately.
I have suffered from reflux for as long as I can remember and been on meds. I'll be having a laparoscopic fundoplication op to eliminate it this year. I'm looking forward to it as I have forgotten what it's like NOT to have it!
Thank you in advance

Ok...ACV stands for apple cider vinegar. DH can stand for Darling Husband, Dang Husband and any other good or offensive language you might need to use. LOL

Now, about your acid reflux....Let me tell you that ACV tablets ARE the way to go!!! Don't bother gagging down the real thing, unless you want to go that route. My hubby has the WORST case of acid reflux on the planet. He has tried every drug on the market, elevated the head of the bed, everything he could possibly think of to stay off these potent drugs that only make your heartburn worse. He started taking one tablet twice a day of ACV on an empty stomach every day. And about a month later, his heartburn is COMPLETELY gone. He says he has not had a single case of it in months and only RARELY does he need to take a few tums. It has done wonders for his heart burn. He has backed off the ACV now and only takes it about 2 or 3 times a week. These tablets are not instant relief but work over time to get the acid balance back in order in the body.

 

[Campine]

I wanted to do that.. but had heard that mealworms were hard to raise and super smelly... lol I guess they couldn't be more smelly than quail though.. How did you set up to raise them, and are they reproducing well?? Are they easy to clean up after? How often do you clean their container? Guess I am still thinking about doing this, if I can set things up in my garage instead of inside.. I already raise crickets and flightless fruit flies, so why not mealworms too.. What are you feeding them? (had read you could feed them darn near anything, but would like to know if that is a fact..before I try it and kill them all.. lol) and how quickly do they reproduce? LOL.. Get me started I will ask 1000 questions..

It's super easy and they don't really smell (my wife hasn't complained so I can say this with some confidence, she's got a dog's nose). Get a large plastic storage container with a lid from a Dollar store. Poke holes in the lid so they can get some oxygen. Buy a big thing of regular oats, dump it in the plastic container and spread it around. Add a few pieces of cardboard or a cardboard egg carton for them to hide under and chew on. Add a big carrot cut in half long-ways for moisture and add the mealworms. After a few weeks they will start to pupate and then will turn into beetles (they don't fly and can't crawl up the plastic), they will lay eggs and then you get a new batch of worms. I checked out a few Youtube videos on the subject, but really that's all there is to it. I also threw in a and full of gamebird feed to be sure they had enough protein.Good Luck!

 

[Sians quails]

I'm trying to breed mealworms in a 3 drawer system.. pretty easy (although i forgot to give the ONE beetle i had a piece of potato and it died)
none of them are pupating... how can i get them to .. or how long do i need to wait?
I have the worms and eggs (when they turn to beetles and lay some) in Bran and the beetles in oats.

 

[Campine]

I'm trying to breed mealworms in a 3 drawer system.. pretty easy (although i forgot to give the ONE beetle i had a piece of potato and it died)
none of them are pupating... how can i get them to .. or how long do i need to wait?
I have the worms and eggs (when they turn to beetles and lay some) in Bran and the beetles in oats.

Mine started to pupate after about two weeks, beetles about 5-7 days after that. I have been using carrots for mositure, but it seems that it's gotten too moist and I started to get mold in the oats, so go easy on the moisture source.

 

[TTeddy]

Ok...ACV stands for apple cider vinegar. DH can stand for Darling Husband, Dang Husband and any other good or offensive language you might need to use. LOL

Now, about your acid reflux....Let me tell you that ACV tablets ARE the way to go!!! Don't bother gagging down the real thing, unless you want to go that route. My hubby has the WORST case of acid reflux on the planet. He has tried every drug on the market, elevated the head of the bed, everything he could possibly think of to stay off these potent drugs that only make your heartburn worse. He started taking one tablet twice a day of ACV on an empty stomach every day. And about a month later, his heartburn is COMPLETELY gone. He says he has not had a single case of it in months and only RARELY does he need to take a few tums. It has done wonders for his heart burn. He has backed off the ACV now and only takes it about 2 or 3 times a week. These tablets are not instant relief but work over time to get the acid balance back in order in the body.

Cool. I did work out the ACV after I posted and the DH?, yep, got that now, that's what my ex is..lol
With my reflux, my problem is a bit more severe. My esophagus is permanently open. There is only one cure and that's with surgery (which I'm having this year). But that is interesting to know as I inherited it from my father and my son gets heartburn occasionally, so I will keep that in mind. Thank you for your input, appreciate it.

 

[Beckey2054]

apparently once the Bob White quail are 16 weeks old, they no longer like treats..

all the treats we give them they refuse, even their favorite- scrambled eggs... (well all treats except crickets and mealworms..those they still like) Anyone else have their birds decide they no longer like the "treats"?
Our Cots are now starting to lay eggs and we find it cute that some of the males will actually FEED the females if there is a treat they like

. ok. wait.. they like everything.. especially scrambled eggs (which they wait patiently for every morning, as that is what my husband eats every morning so shares with them). Last night we had hashbrown potatoes with cream of chicken soup, cheese and spam in them.. gave the leftovers to everyone and the Cots went NUTS! Couldn't get enough of the potatoes. All the quail enjoyed them, but the 16 week old bobs wouldn't even try. Gave them one look and walked away, to go snuggle in their hutch..

what loonies.. Guess they are done putting on weight.. and I really doubt they will lay before spring too just because they seem just that stubborn... silly quail.. Looks like our other Bob Whites (we call them the teenager bobs- as they are just over 10 weeks old now) are still growing and growing, and eating like mad. They now outweigh the 16 week bobs. So we are pretty sure now that we were misled on the Georgia Giant label they had on the original quail. Thats ok though, they are still a nice weight of 8 3/4oz and very pretty. In the 10 week old group we have a couple of what look like males (we hope some are just not, as there are what appear to be 9 male 2 female at this point..) that weigh in at 10oz.
Today we get our starter group for a mealworm farm.. 2200 mealworms that I paid just under $18 for on Ebay.. The seller had a great reputation and so I am hopeful for some beautiful mealworms. We normally have just bought a hundred or so for a special treat for the quail, but at almost $5 for 100 they get expensive and we can only give them once every few weeks. Now we will be able to give them more often, although I read that mealworms can cause calcium deficiency in birds(?)

if so I will have to make sure hubby does not go too crazy.. Has anyone that feeds their quail mealworms tried dusting them with calcium? I know this is done for reptiles, wonder if it would work for quail. I dust my crickets and fruitflies for my frogs - but with a calcium/multivitamin powder. Would just regular calcium ground up to dust the mealworms work for the quail? Or could I just throw them into the cup where I put their oyster shell? I am also wondering about vitamins for the quail.. Our last group of babies (105 Cots- started as 111 but lost a few) did not seem very healthy.. I put a little sugar in their water, and also some Vita-sol for birds I found at petco. I had read that you could give them Poly-vi-sol without Iron, but couldn't find without iron, and they were $15 for a 50 ml bottle. I got the bird Vita-sol 29ml for $4. Anyone else ever use these?? I gave the sugar water and some of the vitamins for the first week, and what a difference! They went from being a bit sluggish and skinny, not acting "right", to great within a couple days. Did this for a week then went to our regular water acv mix. They are all healthy and growing. Just wondering if I should continue to give vitamins, and if so if there is a better type of vitamin to use.