birdmandan
Songster
Hi everyone.
I am trying to keep my quail raising costs as low as possible.
It seems it takes about a kg of feed or 2lb to grow a quail to slaughter size.
Yes, they are greedy and wasteful feeders.
Game bird starter is $25 for a 20kg bag.
It is costing me over $1 in feed to grow a bird not to mention all the fixed costs and utilities.
A quail at the supermarket sells for around $3 each and the labour of slaughtering and cleaning is already covered.
I have thought about stretching out the food. Feed with game bird starter for 3 weeks, then change to a chicken layer than sells at nearly half the price. Game bird maintenance has only 15% protein, same as chicken layer but at a higher price.
It seems logical for me to feed chicken layers to adult birds and supplement with a bit of game bird starter for extra protein. A handful of mealworms will give a 20% protein boost and earthworms will give a whopping 60%-70%.
Anyone here tried stretching their feed?
Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
I am trying to keep my quail raising costs as low as possible.
It seems it takes about a kg of feed or 2lb to grow a quail to slaughter size.
Yes, they are greedy and wasteful feeders.
Game bird starter is $25 for a 20kg bag.
It is costing me over $1 in feed to grow a bird not to mention all the fixed costs and utilities.
A quail at the supermarket sells for around $3 each and the labour of slaughtering and cleaning is already covered.
I have thought about stretching out the food. Feed with game bird starter for 3 weeks, then change to a chicken layer than sells at nearly half the price. Game bird maintenance has only 15% protein, same as chicken layer but at a higher price.
It seems logical for me to feed chicken layers to adult birds and supplement with a bit of game bird starter for extra protein. A handful of mealworms will give a 20% protein boost and earthworms will give a whopping 60%-70%.
Anyone here tried stretching their feed?
Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.