Please help me figure out the feed!

[Quailmom870]

I have been researching quail for many moons now. I feel I have a good "idea" about what to feed my quail and how to supplement their diet, but I am wanting to go all organic, and there's only the mannapro option at our local Tractor Supply Co. I might try going to an actual farm near by and checking out what they've got in stock but my goal here is to begin feeding them my own mix and a fully organic diet. Currently, I feed them chick starter[egg laying age but no eggs yet] I feed them chick grit, and oyster shells. I feed them meal worms, which I am colonizing on my own. I am also feeding them millet which I am bulk ordering from a local co-op. Is there anything else I may be able to find on this co-op order, so when the chick starter is gone, I can switch them to the organic diet. Thank you all very much!!! Oh and they receive kale or spinach other greens etc apple and fruits finely cut up and they love it! Basically want to supplementing their diet with meal worms and millet seed instead of the chick starter. I just want to be sure all their dietary needs are met!!

 

[TwoCrows]

It is very difficult to mix your own feed to make it a good balanced food. You will always be lacking in something. So it is probably better to stick with a basic gamebird food. However one of the main ingredients in gamebird food is legumes, the plants, leaves and roots of such plants. In the wild, legumes are a big part of their diet. So you might want to experiment with these types of plants. I have found that quail go nuts over raw sugar snap peas! They eat the entire thing, pod and all. Meal worms are a great source of protein along with dried crickets. But you might need to add soybean meal to the feed to boost the proteins.

Millet is good along with other wild bird seeds...finch seeds, parrot foods, etc...

But you might want to do more research on what wild quail eat and work from there. You should probably wait until the quail are 6 to 8 weeks old before you begin changing the diet, depending on what type of quail you have. If you are raising a slow growing quail like Bobwhites, you might want to wait until they are 3 months old before a change of diet. You want your birds to get as much nutrients as they can to fully mature properly and don't develop internal issues. Quail demand a very high protein, vitamin rich diet, more so than other poultry.

Good luck and

 

[Quailmom870]

It has been difficult finding legitimate resources on what to feed quail as a raw organic diet. It might be quite daunting but I wanted to take a stab at it, to be more sustainable, and eat birds and eggs that I would want to eat..I will definitely try the snap peas, I'm sure they'll love it, they gobble up all the greens and fruits I give them, so I should probably try giving them a bit more...Soybean meal can possibly be aquired over this co-op my church does. Right now these birds are 9 weeks old going on 10. They are coturnix quails. 4 of them, in 6 sq feet, one male definitely am hearing a terrible call late at night sometimes lol. Is it hard to provide home raised meal worms for four of them? Thanks for the help ever so much!!

 

[Stellar]

You can feed your quail a good gamebird starter along with finch seeds, oyster shell, and mealworms. Plant some mustard greens and give them treats. You can keep them as healthy this way.

 

[The Critter Place]

Hi Quailmom!

Raising your own mealworms is easy! And in the long run... will save you time and $$....

A simple shallow plastic box.. Like a shoe box... some wheat bran.. a few meal worms to get you started, feed them greens and such , and before you know it .. your have mealworms started.

Here is a link to a thread here at BYC on raising your own. Lots of info in it! It is long, i'll warn you...lol!

Take a look and if you have questions...myself or others here will be glad to help you!


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7930137#p7930137

 

[Quailmom870]

You're right that is a LOT of information!! I am trying to bulk order food for the house through a co-op at my church and am looking up all types of supplements and things to feed myself, my rodents and my birds [no worries, the birds and rodents are in separate rooms, and we are very careful!!] so I'm also looking for bulk items to feed the mealworms, if not just a calcium supplement to powder the mealworms with. Along with calcium and vitamin D is there anything else that may be useful in raising mealworms/gut loading them? A lot of the stuff is organic which is great! I can't wait to shop once a month and skip the middle man, and I'm already planning how to do this all with only one fridge and a mini fridge! Will figure it out!

 

[chickbird]

I Think Trying To Fed A Good Quality Food Is Important And That Has Been Raised As Healthy As Possible Is Commendable But I Think There Is Some Mis Understanding Of Organic Feed, Most Animal Feed And This Includes Millet Is Raised On Fertilized Land, Weed Killer Or Topical Land Application To Keep Weeds Down, Pesticides To Keep Bugs Or Worms Off The Crop. To Grow Enough Food For Animals And Humans This Is Necessary. We Have A Dealer Here That Sells Chickens That He Says Is Organically Fed, He Buys His Feed From The Same Place I Do And The Grains That Is In This Food Is Raised As Above, He Thinks Because The Feed Has No Antibiotics That He Can Claim The Chickens Are Being Raised Organically. Only Limited, Very Expensive Feed Or Food Can Be Produced Organically. You Can Try Growing Your Own Grains If You Truly Want To Fed Organic Feed, But Most Of What You Buy Is Going To Come From Fertilized Land With Pesticide Use. Good Luck To You In Your Endeavors.

 

[Quailmom870]

That really sucks about the organic but not really quite thing. I spend a lot of money buying foods that only say they're organic. I kinda figured it was a bad gimmick [for not all but most] seeing as one brand puts out non organic as well as organic product. I thought I was being paranoid but apparently it is just another fishy consumerist market. Too bad I live in the city and don't have much land for planting/farming...also considering much of the land here is infected with PCBs. Well it's not a perfect world, I guess.

 

[7L Farm]

I have a fall garden & I'm growing mustard greens, collards & more. The Bob Whites go bonkers for anything green.

 

[MamaManda]

Quailmom, I am in EXACTLY the same boat as you. Currently feeding gamebird starter, as it has the least amount of corn and is the most non-gmo that I can find, and supplementing with dark veggies, apples, flaxseed, and getting ready to start my own mealworms. I would be VERY interested to know what your final ingredient list is when you get everything figured out.

I feel like I can improve on the gamebird starter somehow.......