Mealworms for protein?

[le_bwah]

Hello all! I'll be needing a way to boost my 24% protein gamebird starter up towards 28%. I've read it's crucial for quail to get enough while they're growing, and I've looked into other sources (fish food, cat food, yeast flakes, etc.), and mealworms are the most accessable right now. Is ground meal worm too much "bird candy" to be feeding chicks? Thanks.

 

[all chickens]

Mealworms are a good protein source.limit to small amounts to feed them. I worked in a zoo and we were told to watch the limit we fed birds. We gave 1 cup a week.Hope this helps.

 

[ashlierami]

Hello all! I'll be needing a way to boost my 24% protein gamebird starter up towards 28%. I've read it's crucial for quail to get enough while they're growing, and I've looked into other sources (fish food, cat food, yeast flakes, etc.), and mealworms are the most accessable right now. Is ground meal worm too much "bird candy" to be feeding chicks? Thanks.

I give my quails mealworms or I give them boiled eggs which they love.

 

[le_bwah]

I give my quails mealworms or I give them boiled eggs which they love.

I hadn't thought of eggs, but that totally makes sense. I have plenty of those. I'll give it a try, too. Thanks!

 

[ashlierami]

I hadn't thought of eggs, but that totally makes sense. I have plenty of those. I'll give it a try, too. Thanks!

If you have older quail that lay eggs and have to many you could feed them to with those. My girls lay more than I eat and can do something with so I boil and feed those to them they love those better than chicken eggs.

 

[le_bwah]

If you have older quail that lay eggs and have to many you could feed them to with those. My girls lay more than I eat and can do something with so I boil and feed those to them they love those better than chicken eggs.

Thanks for the tip, I have enough chicken eggs to not miss a few.

 

[centrarchid]

Where in Hades does the "factoid" about any insect being an inferior protein source come from? I am trained as a an animal nutritionist and strive to find / create sources that approach the quality of such as a feed or feed stuff for animals like chickens that under natural conditions preferentially consume insects more than anything else.

 

[le_bwah]

Where in Hades does the "factoid" about any insect being an inferior protein source come from? I am trained as a an animal nutritionist and strive to find / create sources that approach the quality of such as a feed or feed stuff for animals like chickens that under natural conditions preferentially consume insects more than anything else.

That's something I'd thought about. Mealworms are the closest thing to what these animals would be eating on their own in the wild; all the insects they can catch. I don't think they're an inferior protein, in fact they're protein packed. But I've also heard they contain more fat than a little bird can process in bulk, so it's best to feed in moderation.

Regardless, I'll be trying them on a blend of their normal crumb + eggs + dehydrated mealworms at about a week old to keep up with their growth rate. I'll update with my complications and/or successes if I have many.

 

[Kiki]

Hello all! I'll be needing a way to boost my 24% protein gamebird starter up towards 28%. I've read it's crucial for quail to get enough while they're growing, and I've looked into other sources (fish food, cat food, yeast flakes, etc.), and mealworms are the most accessable right now. Is ground meal worm too much "bird candy" to be feeding chicks? Thanks.

How young are your quail?

AND what type of quail are you raising?

 

[Kiki]

Notice the breed names at the top of the charts:

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1343/ANR-1343.pdf