Meat bird feed and dual purpose breeds.

[cupman]

I was thinking of hatching a bunch of mutts and raising them up to slaughter and eat. Do I feed them the chick starter or do you guys recommend I just go straight into the meat bird feed? Also, bonus question, what would happen if I fed meat bird feed to jumbo coturnix quail?

Thanks

 

[Oregon Blues]

Since I've never raised mutts, I have no idea whether or not you would benefit by feeding a better quality feed. I don't think you can get them to grow any faster than they are genetically programed to grow.

The quail are normally fed game bird feed, or pheasant/turkey feed. The game bird feed is about 28% and the meat bird is probably 20%.

 

[cupman]

I was wondering if the higher protein feed would make them fatter when I slaughtered them. Like more meat to eat. The time it takes to raise them doesn't bother me much.

 

[Beekissed]

Each bird will develop the meat they are genetically predisposed to develop. You might have birds that develop more fat and only minimally more muscle tissue than a typical DP bird but you will never yield the meat from a DP that you can from a CX or FR by feeding high pro feeds.

If you are going to feed high pro feeds anyway, why not just feed those same feeds at the same amounts you would use for a DP to a bird that has a high meat yield and get twice the meat in less time?