How and What to Feed Coturnix Quail
Inside: Learn what to feed coturnix quail and you will have happy and healthy birds whether you are raising them for their eggs or for meat.
I love my quail, I was so excited to learn about them and then finally get my hands on some last spring. They are zippy, small little birds that are actually what got us started on our homestead journey. Learning what to feed Coturnix quail was just one of the many things we have learned over the past year.
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How and What to Feed Coturnix Quail
Feeding your Coturnix quail a balanced diet is crucial for their overall health and well-being. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced quail farmer, let's talk about some practical tips to ensure your quail are healthy and productive for your homestead.
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Feeding Baby Quail
Quail require a very high level of protein. They are very small birds so you need to make sure that you have crumbles and you even need to grind them down a little with something like a coffee grinder for a few weeks until they are bigger.
You also need to make sure that you are providing them with water.
Both water and food need to be in feeders that are safe for small birds. Water dishes that your quail cannot fall into.
I remove the top of my feeder while they are really small as I have seen baby quail get stuck in them and die, not something we want to see happening again.
Feeding Adult Quail
You should continue to feed your adult quail a feed that is higher in protein if you are raising your quail for eggs. And don't forget to look and make sure it has a good calcium level.
Quail also love to eat bugs that fly into their cages. And they really enjoy mealworms, though you may want to limit those as they are high in fat.
We also give them a handful of scratch grains when we give it to our chickens and they seem to love it as much as the chickens do.
Plants. Quail not only love plants in their cages to hide in, but they also enjoy eating them. Just make to choose plants that are safe for them.
Quail, like chickens, love fresh vegetables from your garden. If you slice a cucumber lengthwise they will eat the center out of it. They also enjoy lettuce and other leafy greens.
We'll also feed them hard-boiled eggs mashed up as a little treat for them. we hold the egg in our hands and they'll eat it from our hands. Starting this when they are young is great for building trust and the ability to handle your birds without them being terrified.
We give our quail just about everything that we give our chickens, though they seem to prefer softer fruits like a slice of peach to a slice of apple. Try different treats with them, like people, they seem to have different tastes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you let Coturnix quail free range? You cannot let Coturnix quail free range like chickens they aren't a bird to bed down or return to their coop at night. They just hunker down in place.
How big of a coop do I need for Coturnix quail? 0.5 to 1.0 square foot per bird
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