Highest protein feed I can find is 22%

[007Sean]

Not really. I did find some research that I was using to go by (sort of)
http://www.worldscientificnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WSN-492-2016-223-235.pdf

I have seen 007seans posts recommending 24% protein, so I was thinking of trying to increase the protein to around that amount

Table 1. Shows the percent protein required for quail. Looking at it you can see why I choose 24% protein.
Table 1. Recommended levels of crude protein (%) for domestic quail.
Starter/grower Finisher Adult/breeder Author
24 20 - Wilson et al. 1959
20 - 18 Murakami et al. 1993
21.6 - - Hyankova et al. 1997
- - 22.4 Pinto et al. 1998
- 24 20 NRC, 1994
24 - 18 Musa, et al. 2008
24 20 - Lee et al. 1977a and b

 

[threeepeat]

Mealworms are too high in fat to be a good addition to a regular feed

I didn't know that. I use black solider fly larvae. How does that compare?

 

[SpotTheCat]

22% protein isn't that far off the mark, they would most likely do fine on that feed.
Another way to raise the protein levels is with cat kibble, it runs ~30% protein, at least here in the USA. Ground up and added to the 22% feed would probably be a better option, if you can not find any higher protein feed in you're area.

How much cat food do you think I need to add to the second feed? better to mix it in their feed or give it to them separate?

they don’t seem to be doing to well on the feed but it might be because I have to switch to the second for a few months

 

[Huntmaster]

How much cat food do you think I need to add to the second feed? better to mix it in their feed or give it to them separate?

they don’t seem to be doing to well on the feed but it might be because I have to switch to the second for a few months

To figure out protein % you need to know the protein % of the cat food and the feed you are mixing it with. If your feed is 22% and the cat food is say 30% mixed half and half. You add the 2 percentages together which is 52 divided by 2 because you have 2 components added together, that would give you a 26% protein mix.

 

[Huntmaster]

How much cat food do you think I need to add to the second feed?

That feed is 19% and cat feed 30% mixed half and half. 49 divided by 2 makes a 24.50% feed. Hope this helps you.

 

[SpotTheCat]

That feed is 19% and cat feed 30% mixed half and half. 49 divided by 2 makes a 24.50% feed. Hope this helps you.

That does help thank you!



half seems like a lot of cat food to add though, it also a lot more expensive

 

[Huntmaster]

That does help thank you!



half seems like a lot of cat food to add though, it also a lot more expensive

I was just giving you process for figuring out protein percentages. I was using the cat food because that's what was recommended by others and was using those percentages to calculate % for you. Me not knowing all nutritional values of the cat feed I myself can't give you a recommendation of how much to add. I usually only mixed other Poultry/Game bird feeds to get desired targeted values but that doesn't seem to be an option for you. Hopefully others can answer what other alternatives you may have for boosting your protein% and keep the nutritional value for your Quail. @007Sean @U_Stormcrow may have some better advice on that than myself.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Table 1. Shows the percent protein required for quail. Looking at it you can see why I choose 24% protein.
Table 1. Recommended levels of crude protein (%) for domestic quail.
Starter/grower Finisher Adult/breeder Author
24 20 - Wilson et al. 1959
20 - 18 Murakami et al. 1993
21.6 - - Hyankova et al. 1997
- - 22.4 Pinto et al. 1998
- 24 20 NRC, 1994
24 - 18 Musa, et al. 2008
24 20 - Lee et al. 1977a and b

and here's the thing. 24% isn't wrong - but its not right, either. In the US, higher protein feed is relatively cheap - we have a lot of farmland producing grains, so we tend to feed higher protein feed because, typically, higher protein = higher key amino acids.

Modern feed science has started looking very carefully at the amino acid requirements to figure out what the "perfect" protein is, and it turns out you can have a lower total protein %, as long as the levels of certain key aminos is higher - that's what the EU does, lower total protein % with higher %s of certain aminos that make up that protein.

As I think @007Sean said (maybe another poster), the Lyine and Met levels in that feed (the two most important limiting AAs) are relatively low in those feeds. I'll look later, see if I can't find some more modern numbers for quail.

For (Chicken reference) I don't feed anything under .4% met, and I look for at least 1.1% lys - the two are resonsible for connective tissue development and muscle growth primarily, and are absolutely critical to developing birds. As they age, and growth slows, becoming maintenance, their needs drop. My current feed that I raise my dual purpose chickens on for the first 8 weeks +/- is 1.4% Lys, 0.5% Met (used to be 1.6 / 0.6% - they reduced it to save costs.)

 

[007Sean]

How much cat food do you think I need to add to the second feed? better to mix it in their feed or give it to them separate?

they don’t seem to be doing to well on the feed but it might be because I have to switch to the second for a few months

Not necessarily, both feed may not have other essential vitamins and minerals in the correct ratio to provide optimal nutritional efficiency.
The only way to know, is to have a lab perform an analysis on the feed, (very $$$$) or if you can get a complete ingredient list from the manufacturer.

 

[Huntmaster]

My Game Bird feed has Lysine, min of 1.60% and Methionine, min is 0.58%