mealworms for day old bobwhite ?

[angrybird]

i dont have any gamebird starter feed. i gave them mealworms since day one.(3 days old now)..they love it. are meal worms providing enough nutrition for them ? btw hatched 9 out of 10 eggs

 

[joe125]

Get yourself some good quality high protein GBS. Lay off the meal worms for a few months. 7 months for bobs 6 weeks for coturnix. You will be glad you did, because your quails toes will be intact.

My spider sense is tingling! I forecast another thread where a person is wondering why their quail are eating toes.

This is just my opinion....and I feel that I am entailed to it, but meal worms should never be a part of any "QUAIL" diet! Get some good GBS, and save the meal worms for your Gecko, frog, hermit crab, or what ever.

Just my opinion once again, but if one can't get GAME BIRD FEED, then fold up your game birds. Feeding meal worms to supplement higher protein GBS, or even rotgut high protein chicken feed is folly. Just MHO!

 

[JJMR794]

Meal Worms Are Not Adequate Nutrition Alone, As Joe States Get Some Gamebird Starter And Be Ready For The Masacre... Standard Issue In The Bob Whites Agressive Behavior Arsenal Is Toe/ Foot Pecking Or "the Ankle Attack" Since They Are Not The Smartest Lil Guys They Have Difficulty Enough Being Able To Distinquish Another Birds Body Parts To Start With... You've Now Taught Them To Look For Thin Moving Objects As Food.... This Will Greatly Increase Your Toe Pecking Problems Which Were Already Inherent In The Speces

 

[_Randall_]

I fully agree with Joe and JJ. My youngsters get nothing but the highest protien for the first several weeks. Because it takes a very long time for them to mature to butchering size, I say that's what it takes to get them there. No junk food for my chicks during that time.

 

[Tony K T]

It helps to paint your light source red so they can't see if there is blood present.Everything will look red to them and they will not notice if someone is bleeding.They are aggressive little buggers,aren't they?
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[TwoCrows]

If you CANNOT find any gamebird starter food, you can use turkey starter. If all else fails, you could use chicken starter, however that is not nearly enough protein and other nutrients they need for growth. I do not recommend meal worms at all at that age. As has been stated above, that will start them in on the toe picking. Even right now I am dealing with an adult 2 year male that all of a sudden has developed the bad habit of biting his mates feet, all because I feed them mealworms. Needless to say, he is not getting any more worms! (switched to dried crickets).

But you can hard boil up some eggs and offer the egg yolks. They are quite high in protein and if fed several times a day would add a lot of protein. However clean up what they don't eat immediately as the yolk will spoil after time.

 

[angrybird]

thanks all for the reply..bought some gamebird stater today.