Category Archives: Quail – Feeding

LISTEN TO YOUR QUAILS

2014-02-17 - Eggs Quality 3

One egg was purchased from a customer claiming to feed a commercial All Mash to her quails plus the odd bit of table scraps, the other is from my layer unit where my birds are eating All Mash specially formulated for Quails. Not only is the yolk color vastly different pointing to a probable difference in vitamin and mineral absorption of the birds, but the albumin is also more firm and of better quality (this is where most of the protein in the egg is). The message is that the Quail receiving the correct nutrition that allows her to produce a better quality egg is most likely more happy, healthy and will live longer, producing more and healthier eggs for her Master.

QUAIL FEED – SPECIALLY FORMULATED FOR QUAILS – See –  https://backyardfarmer.co.nz/for-sale/ 

Inside the mind of a Quail

QUAIL WATER DRINKERS

I am a minimalist and like to use whatever is on hand, but won’t compromise on efficiency and quality of the end product. Plastic is definitely not my favorite material, but in today’s life you cannot avoid it, so why not use it and save it from landing in the garbage bin and become part of the world wastage problem.  I use an old plastic milk and peanut butter bottle to make a very effective quail water drinker FOR FREE and in the process drastically reduced my carbon footprint.

Knowing quail babies love to climb on and into everything and during the first few days are very clumsy and petite,  I used this knowledge to make a quail water drinker that encourages the little quails in the beginning to climb into the drinker to make water consumption easy, without being able to drown, get wet  or get stuck in a corner. When they are a few weeks old and know their way around the brooder and eat and drink freely, I switch to a drinker that they cannot get into and spoil or soil the water.

2014-01-06 - Juvinlile Water Feeder 1

Use a milk bottle and cut a large enough hole into both sides so the baby quails can freely enter and exit. Place a piece of wire netting (leftover from the last cage you built) inside to fit well with the sides turned slightly down so the netting is about 5 mm off the bottom of the bottle. Fill with water until the water touches the netting and you are ready. Cut the top off the milk bottle to make cleaning easy.

2014-01-06 - Juvinlile Water Feeder 2

This will encourage the little quails to enter without any risk of drowning or getting wet.

2014-01-06 - Juvinlile Water Feeder 3

Drinking made easy

When the quails are about two weeks old, I switch to adult Drinkers

2014-01-06 - Adult Water Feeder 1

Take used Milk and Peanut Butter Bottles. Any other bottle will work as long as it fits tightly inside the milk bottle. Cut off the top of the milk bottle. Cut a oval hole in the side small enough so a quail cannot enter it’s body, but large enough it can poke it’s head through – about a 30 mm opening and about 50 mm off the bottom.

2014-01-06 - Adult Water Feeder 2

Now drill four holes (opposite side) into the peanut butter bottle

2014-01-06 - Adult Water Feeder 3

The hole in the peanut butter bottle must be lower than the bottom edge of the hole in the milk bottle

2014-01-06 - Adult Water Feeder 4

Fill the Peanut bottle with water replace the lid and turn upside down and insert into the milk bottle.

2014-01-06 - Adult Water Feeder 5

Here you have 1 Liter of water that the quails cannot soil, but have easy access to

2014-01-06 - Adult Water Feeder 6

Happy Quails and Happy Farmer !!

Rearing Baby Quails

Yes you can put the quail eggs under the hen – just remember they start flying at two weeks of age when you will have to have them in an enclosure to prevent them from taking off and never return. If you have an incubator, that is good, but I would say the hen is better. They take 17 days to hatch and do require a heat lamp for the first three weeks if they do not have a Mamma. Keep them out of drafts, but with good ventilation, keep them dry and keep them warm. Feed and water available at all times. I think the only person in New Zealand that sells Quail Food on a small scale is myself. Feeding the babies require a Commercial Poultry Starter Mash or preferably a Commercial Quail Starter Mash to which you mix two boiled eggs per 500 g of feed for the first three weeks, thereafter just Quail Starter Mash until six weeks of age when they get a Commercial Quail Laying Mash. They do not require anything else, but you are welcome to give them table scraps and treats (eg. meal worms) if you like
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http://www.backyardfarmer.co.nz2013-10-05 002

Quail Feed – Mature Birds

The question again is what to feed my mature quails? The answer is simple again – only Quail Laying Mash (Specially formulated for mature Quails) and nothing else. The problem is that the nutritional requirement of quails, as for any animal, are specific for that specie and that is what nutritionists study at university for years to master. Nutritionists see that all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc are there and available in the correct ratio for the animal.  As I look at my quails as highly efficient converters of food into meat and eggs, I want them to have only the best so they can make money for me whilst being healthy and happy. The same principle applies for my Quail Housing – I give them only the best!

Should you keep Quails for a hobby or as a pet, still feed them quail food (that will keep them healthy) but you can also feed them other products from time to time like table scraps, but do not expect maximum production.

See my mature Quail Hens eating Laying Mash from a trough (again made from gutter downpipe)2013-10-09 - Mature Hen eating from Trough