How to feed quail at home

Breeding quails is quite a profitable business, but not as developed as the maintenance of chickens or turkeys, that's why not so much is known about these birds.

How to raise young quails, and will be discussed in our article.

What to feed quail

For full growth quails need proper, balanced nutrition and care. Particular attention should be paid to the diet of birds in the first weeks of their lives. This will further affect the health and egg production. Small quails need to be given food in accordance with their needs, which change with age. The diet of daily chicks differs from weekly and even more monthly.

It will also be useful for you to learn what should be included in the proper nutrition of quails and how to make feeders for quails with your own hands.

In the first days of life (daily allowance)

The rules for feeding newly hatched chicks are as follows:

1. The very first thing you need to pay attention to is the presence of pure water in chicks. She should be well off around the clock. It is better to water quail with purified or boiled water. It can be diluted with several manganese crystals. Drinking bowls should be very small, it is possible to use capron caps.
2. The main component in the daily ration quail is protein. It is given in the form of ground eggs. Use quail (with shell), but possibly chicken, avoiding the shell. You can add boiled millet porridge, finely ground oatmeal or wheat to a squirrel. Four parts of protein add one part of the cereal.
3. Food should be unlimited. Of course, quails will not eat much. Meals - at least six times a day at approximately equal intervals. After the birds eat, the feeder should be cleaned of food residue.
4. You can also feed quail with special feed for chickens and poults. This option is suitable for those who do not want to mess with cooking. In this case, there will be no need to add additional minerals and vitamins - the complexes fully provide the growing birds with everything they need.

Weekly

A week later, the frequency of feeding is reduced to five times a day. Protein is still a significant part of the diet, but the main emphasis is shifted from eggs to cottage cheese. Grown up chicks can be given porridge (oatmeal, wheat, barley) and just crushed grain. You can also add bone powder and herbs.

You will be interested to know what breeds of quail are among the best, as well as get acquainted with the peculiarities of the content of such breeds of quail as Manchurian, Estonian, Pharaoh, Chinese painted, ordinary.

Two weeks

With age, the diet is adjusted:

1. At the age of two weeks to a month, the number of feedings is reduced to four times a day.
2. The amount of protein in the diet decreases (but not less than 25% of the total mass). The easiest way to use ready-made feed. When choosing to pay attention to the amount of protein and carbohydrates. Preferably the presence of crushed corn, oats, wheat. Of those offered on the market, the most popular are “Sun”, “Golden Cockerel”, “Starter”.
3. If there is no opportunity to buy ready-made mix, then do not forget to add cottage cheese, eggs, boiled fish, in usual porridges, in general, any available sources of protein or use protein supplements.
4. In addition to eggs and cottage cheese, chicks should receive carbohydrates and vitamins. Chopped greens (clover, nettle, spinach, tops), grated beets and carrots, cabbage are excellent.
5. Another important point is the introduction to the diet of mineral supplements. They may consist of chalk, crushed shell rock or gravel. Such supplements not only saturate the body with minerals, but also help cleanse the stomach.

Monthly and older

After reaching a month, meals are made thrice a day. From four weeks quail transferred to an adult diet. This should happen gradually, over 5-6 days. The protein content in the diet is reduced to 15%.

Did you know? Quail eggs do not contain cholesterol.

Otherwise, they give all the same as the chicks:

• cereals (rice, millet, corn, bran, oats);
• grated vegetables (beets, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, zucchini);
• greens (grass);
• fermented milk products (yogurt, cottage cheese).

If the diet consists entirely of feed, it is desirable to take into account the type of quail. For example, broilers are best served with PC-6 feed, and layers are suitable for PC-1.

Important! The amount of protein should be gradually reduced, since its high content can accelerate the puberty of quails. And this will negatively affect egg production..

Feeding rates quail

Below are the tables on the norms of feeding quail for industrial feed and conventional products.

The rate for production feed per day (weight in grams):

Did you know? There are breeds of quail completely white. And also there is as if dressed in a tuxedo (the breed is called Tuxedos).

Consumption for the diet of the products available to the usual owner:

What can not feed

It may seem that the quail is omnivorous, but there are some products that should not be given to these birds:

• sprouted potatoes (it contains a toxic substance - solanine);
• water in which the potatoes are boiled;
• products from the table (sausage, bread, leftover food);
• unpeeled oats and barley.

Important! Do not use a heating pad to prevent fire.

Untreated cereals can injure the chick's stomach and lead to tragic consequences.

Conditions of detention

The diet is very important for the development and growth of young quails, but no less important are the conditions of detention:

1. The feeder should be slightly larger in volume than the volume of feed, so less food will wake up on the floor. It should be convenient for birds and accessible for timely cleaning.

For the proper maintenance of quails, it is also important for you to know how to keep quails in the winter in a shed, how to make a brooder for quails, how to breed quails, when quails start rushing, how many eggs a quail carries per day and on which the egg production depends.

2. The drinking bowl should be designed to provide water for all chicks at the same time. It should also be easy to clean, and ideally it should also be of such a design to minimize the ingress of dirt (some quails can climb into it completely, carrying dirt from the cage on their paws), so it is not advisable for chicks to put open drinkers.
3. Temperature condition - the first few days the temperature should not fall below the mark of + 35 ... +40 ° C. Then it gradually decreases, and by the second week it should be at the level of +25 ° С.
4. The room should be dry and without drafts. Humidity - no more than 50%. In very wet areas, chicks often get sick.
5. Daily chicks are best placed in a box or brooder, the bottom of which is covered with a fine mesh. This will help the quails to keep their feet steady. Instead of a metal mesh suitable mosquito or towel. Also, the net can simply be covered with a tarp. Change litter daily. It’s convenient for a farmer to use a newspaper, as it’s easy to change, but for birds it’s rather slippery and limping is possible.
6. An ordinary electric lamp is excellent for heating. It needs to be fixed above the box at 10 cm. If the box is very large, then it is better to place two. So the heat will be distributed evenly.

Quails need a balanced diet that includes all the minerals and vitamins. Provide the birds with everything you need, using special food or thinking through the diet on their own. So quail grow healthy and benefit and profit owner.

Watch the video: What & How I feed CoturnixJapanese Quail (December 2024).