Help! Quail feed (would this be a good feed for my quails?)

[Danny_tb]

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Yes.

 

[007Sean]

It's only 22% protein but if that's all that's available then it will work. A feed of 24% protein would be better.

 

[Ebony Rose]

At 22% protein in this feed, you can bump it to 23% by mixing 3 parts gamebird with 1 part ground up dry cat food (30% protein). Math: (22/4)*3=15.5% plus (30/4)=7.5 for a grand total of 23% protein. You can get 26% protein by mixing it at 50/50 ratio with ground up dry cat food (30% protein). Math: 22% protein in gamebird feed + 30% protein cat food, divided by 2.

I live in Panama and the absolute best feed available here is ground for quail specifically, but it's ONLY 21% protein. That's fine if you're going to EAT YOUR BIRDS, with no thought about breeding or keeping them for eggs, but my birds would starve to death slowly on such a low protein diet day in and day out. Of the eggs gathered from malnourished birds, I would eventually see low hatch rates, failure to thrive issues, diseases and deformities. For my time and money, I'll do the blend I cannot even buy a protein supplement at the feed store, when I asked, they looked at me as if I'd arrived from the planet Mars. I do the 50/50 mix with the dry catfood and grind it (dry) in my blender, brings my protein up to 25.5%.

Hope this helps.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Yeah, you'll definitely want to add protein. Feeding them treats of mealworms or other insects would also help a little, but doesn't substitute for adding to the food itself.

 

[Nabiki]

Just out of curiosity, is it okay if their feed is a bit low on protein if they have access to bugs in a run?

 

[Ebony Rose]

That's depending upon God to replenish the bugs in a regular fashion... If it's the best you can do, then it's the best you can do... but if you can do better then I think ya should.

I used to have a mouse problem when I moved here, which was fine... my chickens will chase down, kill AND eat mice, no problems. So fun to watch them play "keep away" from each other when they bag a mouse Sadly though, my mouse problem was resolved within a couple weeks of their efforts and I no longer have a mouse problem. That source of added protein is gone. I don't expect that a quail could kill a mouse, but a few bugs yeah... but the source could dry up.

 

[el dorado quail]

Just out of curiosity, is it okay if their feed is a bit low on protein if they have access to bugs in a run?

If you have a living ecosystem where decomp is happening then the bugs should come. Deep litter/compost piles would attract buggies for sure

 

[Nabiki]

If you have a living ecosystem where decomp is happening then the bugs should come. Deep litter/compost piles would attract buggies for sure

I have a compost bin and three garden beds. I plan to have my quail in a mobile hutch/run that can fit over the garden beds so they can be the pest control. I don't plan on having them in one place for more than 2-3 days at a time. I also plan to put them in other parts of my yard than the garden beds so their waste doesn't burn the roots of my garden.

 

[el dorado quail]

I have a compost bin and three garden beds. I plan to have my quail in a mobile hutch/run that can fit over the garden beds so they can be the pest control. I don't plan on having them in one place for more than 2-3 days at a time. I also plan to put them in other parts of my yard than the garden beds so their waste doesn't burn the roots of my garden.

Should be totally fine