What calcium do you give your quail?

[Lady_Bat]

We bought oyster shell but it seems terribly big for our Coturnix quail. I don't want to do layer feed because we plan to keep a few boys. What calcium supplement do you guys use? Or do they not need it?

 

[le_bwah]

Mature hens should have supplemental calcium if they aren't on layer feed; they'll only take as much as they need, and the boys should leave it alone for the most part. I have bagged, chipped oyster shell and my girls have no problem eating it (nothing bigger than a pea). If yours won't take that, there's also cuttlebone; you can usually find some wherever parrot supplies are sold.

 

[DK newbie]

I have some very small oyster shell - I think there is something called 'chick size'?

 

[007Sean]

I have some very small oyster shell - I think there is something called 'chick size'?

Yep, It's called "Chick Grit".

 

[Erkenstein]

You can also buy a cheap-o grinder secondhand and try grinding the oyster shell you have.

From what I've read, quail are better at using calcium than chickens, so if there is some calcium in their feed they do fine. I use Startena for the first couple of months, and it only has 1% calcium and the birds start laying just fine. I then switch over to a milled feed that has a bit more calcium than that. So IMO supplemental calcium for hens certainly won't hurt but may not be necessary. I've had no problems with shells for both eating and hatching eggs.

The main problem with calcium is giving it to chicks. Conventional wisdom is that chicken roosters shouldn't have it, and because we've bred birds to lay more, the hens do need more calcium than they would if they were still jungle fowl. However, I don't see the 1 or 2% calcium that we give to quail causing organ failure in males, and their life cycle is pretty short to develop problems like that IMO.