IFA Turkey Mash for quail. What age can I switch them? Something better? (In Utah)

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

My quail are 2 weeks old and I'm curious when I switch them to "adult" feed. IFA sells a 26% protein turkey feed that I was told is often used for quail. Does anyone else use it? I can't find anything else local for quail.

I assume they'll need to stay on chick feed for a bit but I'm just trying to plan ahead for when I'll need to buy different food.

Is there a different feed you'd suggest? (that I can find locally.)

 

[SpotTheCat]

My quail are 2 weeks old and I'm curious when I switch them to "adult" feed. IFA sells a 26% protein turkey feed that I was told is often used for quail. Does anyone else use it? I can't find anything else local for quail.

I assume they'll need to stay on chick feed for a bit but I'm just trying to plan ahead for when I'll need to buy different food.

Is there a different feed you'd suggest? (that I can find locally.)

I don’t know about feed you can get, but I feed the same feed to my chicks and adults (highest protein I can find is 21%). I would switch them to lower protein feed at 6 weeks or when they start laying if I could find higher protein feed.

I can’t find the IFA turkey feed, do you know the nutritional content of the feed?

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

I don’t know about feed you can get, but I feed the same feed to my chicks and adults (highest protein I can find is 21%). I would switch them to lower protein feed at 6 weeks or when they start laying if I could find higher protein feed.

I can’t find the IFA turkey feed, do you know the nutritional content of the feed?

I haven't purchased any yet but the tag just said 26% protein. I'm headed there tomorrow to buy more chick feed so I'll take a picture of the label while I'm there.

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

I don’t know about feed you can get, but I feed the same feed to my chicks and adults (highest protein I can find is 21%). I would switch them to lower protein feed at 6 weeks or when they start laying if I could find higher protein feed.

I can’t find the IFA turkey feed, do you know the nutritional content of the feed?

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

I don’t know about feed you can get, but I feed the same feed to my chicks and adults (highest protein I can find is 21%). I would switch them to lower protein feed at 6 weeks or when they start laying if I could find higher protein feed.

I can’t find the IFA turkey feed, do you know the nutritional content of the feed?

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

I don’t know about feed you can get, but I feed the same feed to my chicks and adults (highest protein I can find is 21%). I would switch them to lower protein feed at 6 weeks or when they start laying if I could find higher protein feed.

I can’t find the IFA turkey feed, do you know the nutritional content of the feed?

Can I feed the game bird starter now (2.5 weeks old) and then the turkey starter as adults?

 

[NY Coturnix]

For quail if you switch to adult food you're going to have to grind it. They will never be able to eat turkey sized food. Mine eat a game bird/turkey started and unless they don't have it at Tractor Supply that's all I get. In a pinch I use a meat bird crumble that's 22%. I've been told after 8 to 10 weeks the meat bird would be fine as they only need the 28% until they hit full size then anything in the 20% range is fine. Its just easier for me to get the same stuff.

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

The turkey starter is a "mash", so it should be hard to eat, right?

I'll get the game bird starter mash for now and look more into the turkey mash for adults. (Or another option)

 

[SpotTheCat]

Can I feed the game bird starter now (2.5 weeks old) and then the turkey starter as adults?

You can do that, I personally would just feed the turkey starter (you could get which ever is cheapest) to all ages because I don’t think the small protein difference will change much, but it is a lot easier to just have one type of feed rather then two different feeds.

The turkey starter is a "mash", so it should be hard to eat, right?

I'll get the game bird starter mash for now and look more into the turkey mash for adults. (Or another option)

The mash should be fine for them to eat.

heres a interesting thing on the protein needs of quail, it has a lot more information then just protein but I only really read the protein bit
http://www.worldscientificnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WSN-492-2016-223-235.pdf

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

You can do that, I personally would just feed the turkey starter (you could get which ever is cheapest) to all ages because I don’t think the small protein difference will change much, but it is a lot easier to just have one type of feed rather then two different feeds.

The mash should be fine for them to eat.

heres a interesting thing on the protein needs of quail, it has a lot more information then just protein but I only really read the protein bit
http://www.worldscientificnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WSN-492-2016-223-235.pdf

Thank you. The game bird starter is cheaper, so I bought that. I'll plan on just using that from now on. Thank you!