Supplement calcium?

[cherrynberry]

Hello I am reaching out to fellow quail owners. I have researched and found out that quail, after 2 years of age start to get weak in the bones due to loss of calcium. Do any people supplement their quail with some extra calcium, like mealworms, or eggshells to help with that? And if so how much? I am asking because I powdered some baked eggshells and am wondering if I should at a tablespoon or so into their feed once they turn 1-2 years old.

 

[007Sean]

A complete and balanced feed ration is all that is required, check the ingredients tag and check for the %, amount of calcium that is in the feed. A quality gamebird feed will have the proper amount of calcium.

Crushed egg shells, or chick grit is also acceptable for supplication.

 

[cherrynberry]

A complete and balanced feed ration is all that is required, check the ingredients tag and check for the %, amount of calcium that is in the feed. A quality gamebird feed will have the proper amount of calcium.

Crushed egg shells, or chick grit is also acceptable for supplication.

Can quail servive on chicken layer feed? How much calcium and protein do laying hens need?

 

[cherrynberry]

Does this mean than eggshells are hard enough to be grit?

Crushed egg shells, or chick grit is also acceptable for supplication.

 

[Mellowmalt]

egg shells are considered soluble grit, they also need insoluble grit in the form of hard stones. Never mix grit into their main food, have a separate dish where they can help themselves to grit, egg and oyster shells are soluble, contain about 30% calcium and if they need calcium they will eat it but don't mix it in the main food or they might eat too much of it.
The insoluble grit is needed to crush seeds before digesting.

 

[FloorCandy]

egg shells are considered soluble grit, they also need insoluble grit in the form of hard stones. Never mix grit into their main food, have a separate dish where they can help themselves to grit, egg and oyster shells are soluble, contain about 30% calcium and if they need calcium they will eat it but don't mix it in the main food or they might eat too much of it.
The insoluble grit is needed to crush seeds before digesting.

Quail don’t require grit.

 

[HillGuy]

Mine get their egg shells back in a separate feeder. They go crazy over them. I also give them crushed oyster shell in a separate feeder too. I crush the bigger pieces with a mortar & pestle.

Meal worms & BSF larva from time to time also.

 

[007Sean]

Can quail servive on chicken layer feed? How much calcium and protein do laying hens need?

Here are a couple of tables (Starter, Breeder) I use when I have my feed custom milled. Yeah, I know, not everyone can have their feed custom milled but this will give you an idea of the nutritional and vitamin/ mineral requirements and what should be in a quality commercial feed.
Only difference between this list and what I feed, is that I feed 24% protien from hatch till death to all my birds, Quail and Pheasants. Feeding high protien feed ( 26 - 30%) for an extended period can cause digestive problems.

This is based on a kcal ME/kg diet for Bobwhite quail.

Crude protien (%) Starter 26 - 30
Breeding 24
Methionine + cystine (%) Starter 1.0
Breeder 0.90
Linoleic acid (%) Starter 1.0
Breeder 1.0
Calcium (%) Starter 0.65
Breeder 2.4
Available Phosphorus (%) Starter 0.45
Breeder 0.7
Sodium (%) Starter 0.15
Breeder 0.15
Chlorine (%) Starter .011
Breeder .011
Iodine (mg) Starter 0.3
Breeder 0.3
Riboflavin (mg) Starter 3.8
Breeder 4.0
Pantothenic acid (mg) Starter 12
Breeder 15
Niacin (mg) Starter 30
Breeder 20
Choline (mg) Starter 1,500
Breeder 1,000
I also have a 'trace mineral' package added to my feed, that list is too long to post here.
A good quality commercial feed should have as a minimal these percentages.
HTH

ETA - Methionine + cystine and Lysine have been deleted from commercial feeds in the past 10 years or so, due to cost!