What do I feed my quail?

[HannahKline14]

So a couple days ago I got 10 Coturnix quail that are 3-4 weeks old have have been feeding them Dumor Chick Starter/Grower that I do believe is 20% protein and I think quail need more(even though on the back it says quail can eat it). Tomorrow I'm going to Tractor Supply and wondering what feed I should get them, I know Coturnix quail will start laying as early as 6 weeks so not sure if I should get a quail layer if they have that. I do plan on giving them oyster and egg shells in a separate container so would I still need layer feed. Just let me know what feed I should buy.

 

[andi-bird-girl-080]

So a couple days ago I got 10 Coturnix quail that are 3-4 weeks old have have been feeding them Dumor Chick Starter/Grower that I do believe is 20% protein and I think quail need more(even though on the back it says quail can eat it). Tomorrow I'm going to Tractor Supply and wondering what feed I should get them, I know Coturnix quail will start laying as early as 6 weeks so not sure if I should get a quail layer if they have that. I do plan on giving them oyster and egg shells in a separate container so would I still need layer feed. Just let me know what feed I should buy.

i give my quail about 20% protein food and i also put a pot of spinach with a dusting of oyster shell on it ive been giving them that along with their regular feed since they hatched about two and a half months ago and they seem to really enjoy it!

 

[HannahKline14]

i give my quail about 20% protein food and i also put a pot of spinach with a dusting of oyster shell on it ive been giving them that along with their regular feed since they hatched about two and a half months ago and they seem to really enjoy it!

So do you give them chick starter or 20% game feed? Are they laying good? it's just a lot of websites say they need layer yet they also say males can get kidney failer from layer so I'm not sure what to do, also what brand of food do you use and is there a difference in the brand, say like Dumor or Purina.

 

[andi-bird-girl-080]

So do you give them chick starter or 20% game feed? Are they laying good? it's just a lot of websites say they need layer yet they also say males can get kidney failer from layer so I'm not sure what to do, also what brand of food do you use and is there a difference in the brand, say like Dumor or Purina.

i gave them 20% chick starter and have been slowly adding just a normal quail feed pellets into it to get them used to the pellets, my female is laying well, her first couple eggs didnt turn out the best but that was expected as it was her first time laying but now shes laying just fine and i havent noticed a difference between brands i just get which ever one is at the supply store.

 

[HannahKline14]

i gave them 20% chick starter and have been slowly adding just a normal quail feed pellets into it to get them used to the pellets, my female is laying well, her first couple eggs didnt turn out the best but that was expected as it was her first time laying but now shes laying just fine and i havent noticed a difference between brands i just get which ever one is at the supply store.

Ok thanks!

 

[Nabiki]

20% protein is low for chicks. It's fine for adult birds, and if you're giving oyster shell or some sort of calcium on the side, you shouldn't need to get layer feed.

For chicks you want at least 24% protein, better if it's around 28%.

 

[HannahKline14]

When do the coturnix quail become adults if they start laying at 6 weeks is that when their adults they're almost 4 weeks old now so could they eat the higher protein as adults aswell I just don't want to buy a big bag of feed and not be able to use it all you know

 

[Nabiki]

When do the coturnix quail become adults if they start laying at 6 weeks is that when their adults they're almost 4 weeks old now so could they eat the higher protein as adults aswell I just don't want to buy a big bag of feed and not be able to use it all you know

10 weeks is about right for most. Jumbos are more like 12 weeks.

 

[HannahKline14]

10 weeks is about right for most. Jumbos are more like 12 weeks.

Ok thanks

 

[FloorCandy]

I recently made a thread looking for feed suggestions, but it didn’t get a lot of replies. I think many people have locally provided foods that you can’t get in places like TSC.

Here’s my thread with my feelings on the ones I’ve tried, as well as some alternatives I looked at. I have just ordered the Hudson feeds game bird feed, which is one of the link’s in that post, it hasn’t arrived so I don’t know how it is yet.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/opinions-for-new-feed.1395679/

I don’t feel Purina makes quality food, and I just don’t like them from experiences with their various foods in the past so I don’t consider them an option for me so I have no idea if it is better or worse than the other brand you mentioned.