Quail eat ants vs Ants Eat Quail

[DanielleInUro]

I live in Dallas, which means stinging ants. When I decided to start raising quail for meat, I had something of an aversion to wire cages for my guys--I want to cram as much happy-living into the eight weeks they'll be on earth before they're in my freezer as possible, and that to me means bugs, scratching, digging, plants for cover, and tiny handfuls of seed scattered on the ground. However, there are a LOT of people who say that Texas ants will eat quail, and other people who say no, quail will eat ants, though the ants will swarm a quail that's already dead, and others still who say they all ignore each other.

So if anyone is searching and searching and looking for information and finding arguments for both to consider--my guys are at seven weeks old, they're on the ground, and they appear to be ant eating machines. I'm out there sitting with them in the evenings, seeing them scratch and scratch til they find an anthill, then two or three come running over and they all just stand there, staring and hoovering up any evacuees.

 

[barred2rock]

I know nothing about quail, but I do know that the fire ants we have here in Colorado don't seem to bother the chickens. The chickens will peck the fire ants but won't eat them. They will eat the slightly smaller black ants we have.

 

[JaeG]

If exposed as chicks I think they'd eat any creepy crawlies. I've seen my button quail eat huge big bugs! My Japanese quail don't seem interested in ants (I've found little ant nests hiding in their enclosures under wood before) but they love woodlice/slaters.

I bet your quail will taste sensational after all that 'wild' food they've been dining out on!