What should I feed my female Bobwhite 14wk old?

[JKav]

Yes, thanks. I have grit & oyster shell.

 

[UncleFrank]

The Mannapro game bird show bird is perfect for her. That's what I feed my bobs. It's 24% protein. Give her some canary seed for treats and also some chopped snow peas, spinach, kale or romaine....chop it in her size pieces. Also they love oven baked meal worms "Kaytee" brand that is very high in protein and not as high in fat as the live ones.

Be sure to give her a dust bath bowl. They love dust baths! I simply put playground sand, grit, oyster shell and a mite preventive dust in a square Rubbermaid container. We call it their jacuzzi

I wouldn't worry about the calcium until April when she will start getting ready to lay. If you keep oyster shell in her dust bath...the calcium part is taken care of.

Some folks put Apple cider vinegar in their water too. A tablespoon per gallon to help with digestive, worms, feathers, etc. google ACV in quail water...good read

 

[JKav]

Thank you! I ordered the Manna Pro today. I read about the ACV. I will put it in her bottle when I change it out tomorrow.

She loves her dust baths. I had it in her home but she was using it every day. I was afraid that was too often so I was only putting it in once a week. I'm using Blue Velvet with some used coffee grounds. Do you think every day is too much?

And funny you mentioned chopping up kale. I just put a leaf in whole and she hasn't touched it. Now I know why.

 

[UncleFrank]

I leave their bath in their pin 24/7, when I refresh the sand, they all have a jacuzzi party Lol ! They stay in it all day...6 at a time when I refresh. Happy spoiled quail! She might not like the kale at first...lil stinky Lol , but I always chop/dice up a paper plate of kale, snow peas, romaine and sprinkle some canary seed and meal worms on top. They go to town on it! Now I do have some other bobs that didn't grow up with these that are more finicky and Dont eat some stuff they do. She'll let u know what her favorite is and what's she's craving. Oh and the regular lettuce is pretty much useless, no protein in it like the kale, spinach and fancier lettuce.

 

[JKav]

Would you believe I just walked into my hair salon and they had two huge bags of playsand from an event (used for weight)? I'm going to take it home. I think the Chinchilla dust is to fine and, well, dusty. Can't wait to switch it out now

 

[UncleFrank]

Lucky you
you could mix some chinchilla dust in with the sand, I've thought about doing that. Usually in the wild they dust bath in dirt that's a lot finer than sand. I had a chinchilla once...great lil pet, and yes the dust got everywhere! He chewed up a lot of daddy's molding in the house too, lil rascal, but wow he was soft to hold. Good luck with your lil gal...and maybe find her a fella in the spring...that's the tamest lil Bob I've ever seen! Our bobs are tamer than most because we spend soooo much time outside with them spoiling them with treats, but only a couple will come get a meal worm from my hand. They trust me but just enough to get their food from the "food monster" and that's it Lol . They do covey up and purr for us after a good treat.