One of the most important tasks for quail breeders is to properly feed the birds. It is because of the wrong attitude to the diet that most diseases occur.
Quails are not particularly whimsical in food. When choosing a feed for them, the main criterion is its quality. The food must be chosen fresh, it should not contain any harmful impurities - if you strictly adhere to these rules, there are no problems with feeding the birds.
What can be added to quail feed
It is recommended to mix liquid feed intended for quails with cereals. This is done so that the feed has a more crumbly consistency, otherwise liquid food can clog the nostrils and beak of the quail, and stain the feathers.
The food can be bought ready-made or prepared on your own - for this, crushed cereals, ground crackers made from white bread are mixed, vitamins and protein products are added. They should be contained in the feed for about a fifth of the total. As a protein supplement, you can use boiled fish or meat, meat and bone meal and even fish food containing fly larvae, maggots, dried hamarus.
What can be added to the diet of quails in addition to feed
To provide quails with a more nutritious diet, it is recommended to add vitamins to their diet. For this, ready-made vitamin mixtures are best suited for quail or for laying hens. They are sold in pet stores, the packaging contains instructions for use, in the absence of it, ask the seller for all the information you are interested in.
In extreme cases, simple multivitamins are suitable, which are available in a large assortment at the pharmacy. They must be ground to a state of fine crumbs or flour, and then added to the feed at the rate of one pellet for 10 quails per day. In addition to multivitamins, birds should be given vitamin D, also mixed with feed. Eggshells can be poured into a separate feeder, after grinding.
Quails can also be additionally given greens, finely chopped whitewash, wood lice, grated vegetables - carrots, apples. Quail also willingly eat such additives, but it is not necessary to abuse such feeding. If fed to birds in excessive quantities, they may begin to lay small eggs, or even stop laying eggs altogether.
In order for the quails to fly well and the eggs to be large, protein should be added to the compound feed in the amount of two grams per bird per day. It can be cottage cheese, fish, minced meat. It is recommended that quails be given a larger amount of feed at night, the bird digests grain slowly, and during the night the quails, thanks to the increased portion of feed, will not get hungry.
