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[Perris]

this was the most recent thing I saw about the change coming
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ban-on-animal-remains-in-chicken-and-pig-feed

 

[kattabelly]

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.

I hadn't realised that because I'm not that careful about sticking to the rules. Good to know - it would be good if the review means dried meal worms are also allowed in future though, for anyone who doesn't want to go to the trouble of farming their own or buying live.

this was the most recent thing I saw about the change coming
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ban-on-animal-remains-in-chicken-and-pig-feed

England & Wales proposals were published when the consultant opened in Feb - hopefully attaching the pdf here will work...

 

[Esc_Quaily]

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.

Sorry @Perris I should have specified dried mealworm is prohibited. I don't have space to cultivate my own worms or black fly but, fortunately the cabbage white butterflies visited my trap crop so I have plenty of free-range, organic and fresh caterpillars to keep the quail going.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

Hello lovely, British knowledgeable BYCers.

My son (16) has started to incubate 31 quail eggs. Please join the fun by helping name a quail or 2. As there are 24 in one incubator we're going with alphabet themed names. The other 7 eggs are in a separate incubator and can be included in the alphabet themed name game.

The eggs are from 3 different suppliers. 2 sets of eggs were shipped and the others came from our own little hens. We have a mix of sub-types.
10 Italians,
6 b&w Tuxedos,
3 Celadons,
2 Sparkly
2 Pearl Fees
2 Jumbo's
2 Mystery eggs (extra eggs from one supplier)
4 Hoose eggs (mix of Sparkly, Italian and Tux hens. With Rosetta and Italian males).

He let all the eggs sit for 24 hours, tipping them occassionally. The eggs have been numbered 1-31 with a sharpie marker. He didn't weigh the eggs before incubating.

We are using cheap incubators so not expecting a 100% hatch rate. One incubator is automatic. Temps are set at 37.5°c/99.5. Humidity is 25-40%. Wish my boy luck and please offer some name suggestions.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

Anyone tried these from B&M? Would you recommend for birds?

A bag was open. This is what the pellets look like. Could I add these to my deep litter?

 

[kattabelly]

View attachment 4225940
Anyone tried these from B&M? Would you recommend for birds?
View attachment 4225941
A bag was open. This is what the pellets look like. Could I add these to my deep litter?

I haven't tried the B&M one specifically but I use wooden cat litter for chick bedding and find it works well. Is your deep litter under some kind of cover (again, I know nothing about quail!) or out in the rain?

 

[Esc_Quaily]

@kattabelly Thanks for your quick reply. The quail are under cover in my greenhouse. How often do you change the litter? Does it disintegrate quickly?

 

[kattabelly]

@kattabelly Thanks for your quick reply. The quail are under cover in my greenhouse. How often do you change the litter? Does it disintegrate quickly?

Honestly, I've only ever changed the litter between batches of chicks. I wouldn't necessarily even bother then if I was hatching smaller groups back-to-back without the pen sitting empty for any length of time, though I'd probably dump a thin layer of new pellets on top.

How quickly it disintegrates will depend on how wet it gets, but if you're doing deep litter it should just compost down eventually rather than needing to be replaced often. The way it soaks up the moisture from poo etc means that even when it's started to disintegrate, you just end up with dry sawdust with little bits of dried up poo in it which is less gross than wet poopy bedding. Even with enough moisture to compost down well, the poo should kind of disappear into it to an extent. Only thing I'd say is it could potentially be a good substrate for mould - depending on humidity and whether it gets scratched up much or just left to sit- if your greenhouse can tend to get foosty anyway.

I'd recommend getting a bag just to try it out, but if you decide to go ahead and use it you can often find bigger & better value bags at either the kind of pet shop that serves people buying in bulk for multiple animals or a proper feed/farm type shop.