Help, quail flock won’t eat

[Eonflux]

Ok ok I’ve got to admit the post title is very click baity. But I just started to fermented their feed. Added 2 cups of feeds to 2 cups of water, after a few hours it all expanded. So what I did was put another half cup of water and let it sit for a day and a half. Today it has a light sour smell, a little runny so I put some dry feed in and mixed it. I also mixed some canary seeds in it to entice them to eat but my whole cortix flock just ignore it even though there are no other food, they won’t even try. A few of them picked at it but not really eating. So my questions are: Is my feed too fermented where it tastes bad to them? And how can I start to get them to accept the new food?

 

[sourland]

Birds hate change of any sort, and it may take time for them to adapt to the new feed. Or it may be too sour for them.

 

[FloorCandy]

It sounds like the food is fine. They probably don’t like change. When I got a huge bag of Homestead Harvest, the quail hated it, it gave them diarrhea, it clogged my feeder, so I started fermenting. They hated the dry feed so much they were happy for the fermented version, but were always on the lookout for something better. I found it was a good way to use the food I had without wasting money, but for quail happiness I bought a new brand when it was almost done and I didn’t ferment. It took them a while to even want to look into the bowl I I used to put fermented food in, they just assumed they wouldn’t like what was inside, even if it was millet.

 

[FortCluck]

I tried fermented feed and no one would eat it. I think it is an acquired taste to birds. I would go back to what you were feeding before, but it is up to you on what you want to do.

When mine wouldn't eat the fermented feed, I dumped it in the compost pile and gave them dry food and told them that they won LOL.

Good luck with everything

 

[Eonflux]

Thanks all for your inputs t, I think you’re correct with them having an acquired taste for it. I’m starting all my newly hatched babies with fermented mix in with powder feed and they seems to be eating it. I’m going to do the same for the adults, hopefully I can transitioning them over.

 

[MDBird]

It sounds like the food is fine. They probably don’t like change. When I got a huge bag of Homestead Harvest, the quail hated it, it gave them diarrhea, it clogged my feeder, so I started fermenting. They hated the dry feed so much they were happy for the fermented version, but were always on the lookout for something better. I found it was a good way to use the food I had without wasting money, but for quail happiness I bought a new brand when it was almost done and I didn’t ferment. It took them a while to even want to look into the bowl I I used to put fermented food in, they just assumed they wouldn’t like what was inside, even if it was millet.

Do you remember which kind of Homestead Harvest feed you tried? I just picked up a bag wanting to try something non-gmo. I think I got the turkey/ game bird starter crumble.