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[kattabelly]

Hemp seed has 30% protein, 100g has 30g protein, give or take a gram.

I've never kept quail and don't know much about their dietary needs but would the high fat content of hemp seed be an issue if someone was planning to use more than a small amount to increase the protein content of a feed slightly?

 

[Esc_Quaily]

I've never kept quail and don't know much about their dietary needs but would the high fat content of hemp seed be an issue if someone was planning to use more than a small amount to increase the protein content of a feed slightly?

Hello @kattabelly hemp contains a lot of the good fats and lots of omega-3 and omega-6 oils. I mix the hemp in with the crumb to make it up to 28% for the chicks and use less hemp in the grower feed ratio for the bigger birds. I add a few tablespoons to the crumbs and mix it up. Not terribly scientific I know.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

Ali T, where do you source your quail feed? I am having difficulty finding some.

Hi @Ali T Tesco delivery Heygates quail and partridge food. It costs £18.99 for 20kg

 

[Ali T]

Hi @Ali T Tesco delivery Heygates quail and partridge food. It costs £18.99 for 20kg

That's good to know, they seem to have a "market place" delivery now, which is handy! My quail and hens like the Heygates food, it seems good quality, I will try this out, thanks.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

That's good to know, they seem to have a "market place" delivery now, which is handy! My quail and hens like the Heygates food, it seems good quality, I will try this out, thanks.

I ordered 2 bags on Saturday because it was free P&P and they were delivered on Monday afternoon, really can't complain about that. It only has 19.5% protein though. So you might want to mix some hemp or sunflower seeds in to up the protein

 

[Esc_Quaily]

Can someone answer me this question please? DEFRA says we can't give quail bagged mealworm OR kitchen scraps. Can we give them defrosted broccoli/veg or is that a no-no too? @Perris

 

[Perris]

Can someone answer me this question please? DEFRA says we can't give quail bagged mealworm OR kitchen scraps. Can we give them defrosted broccoli/veg or is that a no-no too? @Perris

Here's the official guidance. It's worth reading carefully. (It's intended mainly for people planning on making a business of it; obviously you don't need to register and get approval if you are just feeding your own stock.)

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supplyi...products-as-farm-animal-feed#abps-you-can-use

 

[Esc_Quaily]

Thanks so much for your quick and informative reply @Perris. The info isn't clear on freshly defrosted products. They aren’t mouldy or contaminated. So perhaps it's alright to feed them defrosted veg. More of a treat than a feed. It's clear I can feed them doughnuts but not veggies. I'm going to see if we have any further quidance/requirements in Scotland. I'll hold off on the treat at the moment until I can go through the legislation in detail.

 

[kattabelly]

Yeah I've read through that guidance before and iirc it doesn't really cover situations like buying non animal-based foods meant for human consumption and using them as feed immediately, fresh out of the packaging rather than as scraps or waste. Makes sense because the guidance is really aimed more at larger scale operations and it generally makes no sense financially to be feeding supermarket veg to livestock.

I think if you wanted to be super careful, using veg only from a previously unopened packet or that has been stored in a way that prevents even minimal & accidental contamination would be ok (e.g. keeping opened frozen veg bags inside a sealed tupperware just in case there are any stray chicken nugget crumbs knocking around in the freezer drawer that might get into the veg bag). Any kind of preparation like defrosting or chopping should also be done in a separate area outside the kitchen.

Honestly though, pretty much everyone I know - including small scale farms - feeds scraps of some kind and just uses a bit of common sense. Not that I recommend breaking the law, of course...

I know there have been consultations in both England & Wales and (separately) Scotland on changing livestock feed controls to allow the feeding of processed animal protein, including insect PAP, to both pigs and poultry - presumably that could mean things like meal worms would be allowed if they were suitably "processed". The consultations have ended now but I've not seen anything about a decision being made.

 

[Perris]

You can feed live mealworms - they have never been swept up in this OTT legislation, because they are not a by product or waste stream from anything else.