Non-GMO quail feed

[quailmann]

I used a jar and a sieve cloth on top but I put in too many seeds. Some sprouted, others just went bad. Putting in a new lot today.

A glass jar does it I hear.

Btw just fed my layer quails fresh Moringa leaves. They seemed to like it

I'm no expert at these things am a web designer by profession.

 

[Sill]

I used a jar and a sieve cloth on top but I put in too many seeds. Some sprouted, others just went bad. Putting in a new lot today.

A glass jar does it I hear.

Btw just fed my layer quails fresh Moringa leaves. They seemed to like it

I'm no expert at these things

am a web designer by profession.

I had the same sort of experience. It was a bit frustrating and I hate to waste good seed. I ended up throwing it in the compost pile.

I just found this thread so will be there reading what others have done.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/713334/growing-fodder-for-chickens

I'm on a tight budget so I can't go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a fodder system. It's got to be cheap and above all, work!
I found this http://brinkoffreedom.net/homesteading/dead-simple-fodder-system/ which looks do-able. It might not be enough since I have quite a few critters that would eat it, might need to do two systems. I'll go do a lot of reading and see what looks promising.

Glad your birds are liking the fresh morninga! Make sure to change it up and give them a variety of greens. That's another reason I want to try fodder, just one more good thing to feed them.

 

[quailmann]

Just started on a new batch of sprouts. Let's see what happens. Would it be better if I rinse with EM water when rinsing?

Will check the links above.


What are the other greens I can give them? My plan is to now buy from the market and slowly learn to grow these myself.

Btw have you ever raised a batch purely on stuff other than commercial feeds?

 

[Sill]

Just started on a new batch of sprouts. Let's see what happens. Would it be better if I rinse with EM water when rinsing?

Will check the links above.


What are the other greens I can give them? My plan is to now buy from the market and slowly learn to grow these myself.

Btw have you ever raised a batch purely on stuff other than commercial feeds?

I've given and they have liked to various degrees kale, collard, duck weed, turnip tops, moringa, mulberry & grape leaves, clipped grass, spinach, finely shredded carrots and carrot tops, radish tops, broccoli leaves and flowers, dandelion, escarole, endive, fennel, basil, maybe others I can't remember right now.

Apparently they don't like Swiss chard or beet greens (but they like finely shredded beets). They just tear them up without eating any.

They will eat any fruit I've offered. I keep sweet fruit to a minimum, but vegetable type fruit they get often, especially in summer. Cucumber is a favorite as is shredded summer squashes (and they love squash blossoms)! When it's super hot out they seem to like food with lots of moisture.

Since I'm trying to breed for size I've not tried going totally non-commercial, but more than half the commercial feed I give them is fermented/soaked, it might be closer to 2/3-3/4. They get their wet feeds in the morning, and dry feed before sun down. They will finish up the remaining wet and dry feed by morning. I get very little wastage that way. I try to gauge it so their dishes are almost totally empty when I change them out.

 

[Sill]

What's EM water?

 

[quailmann]

EM - effective micro organisms. Lacto bacillus and some 2 other beneficial bacteria. First day it keeps smell down. I tried spraying activated EM to litter but it just goes over the poop and not much effect.

Have you measured how much feed your saving? Mine are eating roughly 25g and less now and they have feed all the time. Eggs weight between 11 and 13g

Interesting to note you are breeding for size. You follow the Tatanka thread method or you have your own? What sizes have you come up with?

 

[Sill]

EM - effective micro organisms. Lacto bacillus and some 2 other beneficial bacteria. First day it keeps smell down. I tried spraying activated EM to litter but it just goes over the poop and not much effect.

Have you measured how much feed your saving? Mine are eating roughly 25g and less now and they have feed all the time. Eggs weight between 11 and 13g

Interesting to note you are breeding for size. You follow the Tatanka thread method or you have your own? What sizes have you come up with?

Where do you get EM water or do you make it?

I've not calculated my feed savings. Of course I have many more quail now than when I started feeding fermented!

I want a bigger meat bird. Bigger eggs are nice too, but the larger carcass will be nice. I've read through the Tatanka thread. I'm just breeding the biggest to the same and setting the biggest eggs.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/935183/increasing-coturnix-egg-sizes
I'm only starting my third generation. I'll see how they hatch out, grow and compare egg sizes and size at butcher time.

 

[quailmann]

I get it here locally. There's a government department that manufactures it with Japanese collaboration. It costs less than $4 per litre.

They say mix 1ml per litre of drinking water and to activate add 2 teaspoons to 2 teaspoons of molasses and add to 1 litre of water a nd let it remain for 3 days before using.

Lasts a long time for me - 1 litre

I'm trying to breed for size too. Waiting for my. incubator. But might take many generations asthe biggest bird around here doesn't go beyond 200g at 2 month's

 

[Sill]

I've never heard of it, but it sounds a lot like water kefir which I've made in the past.

My biggest coturnix are just under 300g, that is my second generation. They are bigger than the birds I started with which were only 240g. The egg sizes have also gone up. It will be interesting to see what happens after a few more generations. That's the amazing thing about working with cots, the generations are so short it's easy to work on size or whatever.

 

[quailmann]

There's lots of info on it online. It's supposed to enhance gut flora, increase fred conversion too.

That's a good start, in a few generations you'd have a good sized bird.