The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: omnipeasant on May 31, 2012, 10:12:59 am
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I bought some quail at the smallholder show. I am feeding them on a mixture of wild bird seed and layers pellets. They love both. Fresh water is always available and I put some grass in for them to peck at. As these are my first quailees am I doing anything wrong? do they need grit?
We are making them a run so that they can browse on the garden, but it will be covered to deter cats and buzzards.
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I would be inclined to give them mash rather than pellets, the mash should have grit in it. Run will need to be covered anyway otherwise you wont see them again.
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My Quail live in a converted B&Q wooden box with attatched run, covered in strong wire mesh (I lost my first few quail to a pinemartin attack, it bit through the chicken wire)
They get moved around the orchard (dont seem to like full sun) and have a bowl of water and a bowl of layers pellets in the box (so I can get to it!)
I get an egg each per hen daily, so they must be happy. One pen has the older dad and two hens, the other box has last summers offspring two boys (one gets battered and has escaped as I write!) with three hens.
Im going to move/kill some soon as this years chicks will need a box.
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;D Yep Fowlman and open doors cautiously, you dont want to know how often my daughter ends up chasing a fly-away. Most times they do actually fly a couple of fields away but then return and hang about outside the pen waiting to be let in or wander into an open hen pen. Tend to try and escape when we are doing occasional deep cleans of the pen and having to move them around.
I feed layers mash and occasionally some millet. You can buy Layers Quail Pellets - Marriages and these are good (higher in protein, I think). I would have thought Layers Pellets were a bit big for them ??? . They like to eat grass and some greens eg. spinach.
They really love a dust bath and conifer branches to hide in. This also helps to prevent fighting.
The males are very aggressive - watch out for fighting. Much worse than cockerels.
Have fun. ;D
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I no longer keep Quail but i fed mine layers mash. I then discovered marriages micro Quail pellets, WOW they laid like mad and eggs much bigger.
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Mine mainly get layers pellets which they are very happy with. They get the occasional meal worms and veg treats. Amazing how quickly they can demolish an overgrown courgette if you just cut it in half for them.
Be careful with the grass though. I gave mine grass that I hadn't cut up short enough for them and one of them died when it impacted in her gut and caused obstruction.
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Thanks for the advice so far, especially the flying!! I am okay at the moment as they are in a large dog cage inside the cattle trailer, but they certainly do know when the cage door is open. Will get mash next time as we are only buying small quantities. Also good advice about the grass, I hadn't thought of them gulping down long bits.
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I agree with what has been said already, have to have a roof on the run.They are on grass so they pick there own. I feed my girls the marriages layer pellets, they have fine git/oyster shell available to them all the time. they get millet spray once a week. they get meal worms for breakfast every day. lettuce or cucumber every evening when I collect there eggs. Dust bath once a week. think that covers it ;D
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Here in Germany the layers pellets are smaller and have slightly different ingredients, They are sold for game birds chicks and layers, I find they are better than mash as they stand up to being scratched out of the feeder!