Quail Eating Chicken Food???

[EvieChickenGirl]

I have 4 quail currently. And 11 chickens. They are neighbors but completely seperated. I was out of town for 10 days and had a pet-sitter take care of them. She accidently gave the quail chicken food and now they refuse to eat their own food? The quail all look fine..Is it okay for them to be on chicken food?

 

[GodLovesU]

Here’s an article on quail food nutrients: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/what-to-feed-your-quail.79205/

 

[Nabiki]

They can live on chicken food for a while, but they won't thrive on it long term. Quail have different dietary needs than chickens do. The article that @GodLovesU linked to will give you an idea of what they need, and when you compare it to the nutrition information on your chicken feed, you will see that they are different.

 

[EvieChickenGirl]

Thank you...I'm just hoping that they will go back to eating their quail food.

 

[007Sean]

Thank you...I'm just hoping that they will go back to eating their quail food.

Just feed them their food, no treats, etc....they will eat if they are hungry enough.

 

[pac]

A pretty big youtube presence says he moves his quail from starter over to chicken layer. Said he's been doing it for three years and the only effect is it takes the males maybe a week to finish growing out.

Thoughts?

That's a ways down the road for me, but hopefully not that far away.
I'm more of a play by the rules person and if gamebird is available that's what I'll buy. But he says the adult game bird isn't available in his area.

I know we have it here. I saw it yesterday at TSC. But in a pinch...

 

[Nabiki]

Like I said, they can live on it, but they won't thrive on it. They will have a shorter lifespan and are more likely to have health problems.

 

[Birds4Eli]

You can use starter feed, but most chicken feeds don’t have enough protien.