Quail food

[julie]

Hi everyone!


Just trying to get some advice on quail food.

I've been told that there is a variety of food available for quails. It's called game bird food.It comes in 3 different formulations so it is suitable for feeding quail from birth to maturity.

I know it's readily available in Victoria, but l'm having problems with getting it up here in Qld.

Can anyone who has used the product please email me and let me know what they think of the food?

Is it more expensive than other types? Is it easier to use? Did you find it worked well or not?


I would REALLY appreciate some input into this please.

Many thanks - look forward to some speedy replies!!!!!


Julie

[Bidadisndat]

Not really knowing what to give my quail after the bag of feed supplied with them ran out faster than I'd anticipated, I fed them with the chicken starter crumbles that we had on hand. Asking around, I found that a local who raises quail for meat uses the same and has done so for years without any problems. One person did tell me that medicated starter was no good if you intended to eat the quail, but the guy who raises them for the meat said "bulldust - no harm at all". I now add some chicken scratch mixture and some lindseed, and the quail seem to be happy and healthy.

[fishfood]

I asked this in another thread [probley the wrong one ] how much in dollars does it cost to put a bird on the table
I know in aquaponics fish are not that cheap but you get nice fresh veg as well

[Bidadisndat]

At the moment I'd hate to put a dollar figure on my efforts as I'd probably be forced to give it up! Then again, I've had to spend a bit to replace birds lost to goannas (9), eagles (3), 2 unexplained, and one that was flattened when my brother stood on a piece of ply that it was sheltering under. Of course, it should become more economical when my birds start breeding.
......Bid...

[GaryD]

Hi,

I asked this in another thread [probley the wrong one ] how much in dollars does it cost to put a bird on the table

If you ignore the cost of the equipment that you use to house, incubate and brood quail, you are really only left with the electricity for incubation and brooding and the cost of the feed.

You are limited in your incubation options since, these days, incubators are almost exclusively electric. Even the kerosene incubators of yesteryear would require you to buy kerosene.....and they could be a bugger to settle down.

While you can use a variety of heat sources for brooding, most small-holders use electric brooders.

Quail have a feed conversion ratio of about 3:1.

Short answer......it all depends on how much food you buy and how much you grow yourself. I'm about to start our quail unit back up again so I'll do up some feed consumption cost.......assuming that someone hasn't already done the math.

Gary

[fishfood]

Thanks Gary thats the info i want i would like to have a go at chooks and quail but i remember when we had the hobby farm even when the chooks free ranged eggs were still costing $4.00 a doz
Try taking them to work and asking $4.00 and people wanted them for nothing
and then there was the holidays you had to get the neighbours to get the eggs [ Thats 1\2 bag of food lost ] otherwise you had clucky chooks when you returned
yes if i have a go now it will be different all auto and all that stuff
probley shed in middle and scratching pens all round so you can open and close them
Ah dreams got to get the shed and yard cleaned up first

[GaryD]

Hi FF,

.....even when the chooks free ranged eggs were still costing $4.00 a doz

We have four laying hens and we get an egg per day from each. They free range and we feed them BSF larvae and a bit of cracked scratch grain.....and the cat food whenever she leaves any behind.

Recently, we've noticed that we hardly ever seem to be topping up their pellet feeder. The eggs are excellent in colour and taste. While I couldn't quantify it exactly, I'd say our eggs are pretty cheap at the moment (particularly if I can continue to keep our Maltese Terriers away from the hens).

GaryD