How to feed quails at home to rush well for beginners

Quails are unpretentious in nutrition, but in order to maintain the he alth of birds, it is important to properly compose a menu for them. From the first days to adulthood, the diet is complicated by roughage and saturated with minerals. But for successful breeding, you need to study the age characteristics of quails and how to feed them to maintain productivity. After all, fortified food, useful for chicks, can bring down the laying cycle in young layers.

How to feed quails at home to rush well

In order for the yolk and shell to form properly, and he althy offspring to appear, birds need to choose a balanced diet. Traditionally, the diet of domestic birds consists of five types of food.

Cereals and leguminous feeds, cereals and seeds

In the wild, quails forage on their own - looking for edible plants and seeds. Therefore, captive feeding should also include grains. Grains contain the protein necessary for the formation of eggs. With a lack of protein components, quails peck at their own masonry.

To increase egg production in quail nutrition include:

• corn - a source of energy, carbohydrates, starch. Due to the lack of amino acids in the composition, it is combined with legumes;
• oats - saturates the body of birds with vitamins of group B. Quails are given peeled grains so that the husk does not clog the esophagus;
• wheat groats - the main component in the nutrition of laying hens;
• beans - rich in amino acids, vegetable proteins and fat;
• rice - a nutritious product increases the productivity of laying hens, replenishes their energy costs during the laying period.

The share of leguminous feed should not exceed 40 percent of the total diet of quails. Excess protein will lead to obesity. Well-fed quails have reduced egg production.

Flour turns into a sticky mass and stagnates in the stomach, so quails can only eat coarse and medium grinding.

Feed of animal origin

Quails get iron, potassium, magnesium from animal products. Substances support the nervous and endocrine systems of birds. In nature, quail feed on insects, larvae. In captivity, the following foods serve as sources of trace elements and amino acids:

• feed fat - added to vegetable fats, replenishes energy, the allowable share in the diet is 5 percent;
• quail blood - a protein supplement extracted from bird carcasses after slaughter;
• blood meal - a product of cattle blood processing, mixed with cereals;
• bloodworm, mealworm, maggot - sources of animal protein, quails are happy to eat them after dandelion leaves and vegetables;
• meat and bone, fishmeal is the main supplier of calcium and phosphorus, but unpleasant for birds because of the smell;
• fish waste - boiled pieces of fish, tripe, crushed caviar also contain a lot of phosphorus and protein. The proportion of fish products should be increased during molting and laying;
• fish oil is a source of vitamin D, mixed with skim milk and used as a base for wet mashes.

Quails love to eat earthworms. Birds that eat them regularly gain weight faster. 2 weeks before slaughter, quails are no longer given fish products, otherwise the meat will smell like fish.

Vitamin food

Root vegetables are given to poultry as natural sources of vitamins:

• carrots - contains vitamin A, useful for chicks during the formation of feathers and for the prevention of visual impairment;
• beets are a source of glucose, vitamins C and B;
• Beijing cabbage - a natural vitamin complex and source of fiber, a soft product for digestion, unlike white cabbage;
• potatoes are the main supplier of starch;
• herbs - vitamin C is found in the leaves of nettle, dandelion, clover, alfalfa are also useful for birds.

Vegetables, except for cabbage, are boiled and chopped before serving. Cabbage leaves and grass are finely chopped, and nettles are scalded with boiling water.

Production waste

Quails willingly eat processed grains and legumes:

• soybean meal, oilcake - vegetable waste serves as a source of amino acids, lysine and vitamin E;
• bran - useful only for adult birds.

Instead of soy, hemp, flax, sunflower waste is used.

Mineral feed

When laying eggs, quails need shelling additives:

• chalk - contains calcium;
• s alt - compensates for the lack of sodium;
• crushed shells - help digest food.

To prevent laying hens from pecking eggs, they are mixed with crushed shells.

Cooking compound feed

Homemade quails are bought specially designed mixtures. But due to the high cost of production, farmers often make their own feed.

The approximate composition is shown in the table:

One to two monthsGrains, beans4555Shrot2030 Animal Products108Yeast63 Herbal Meal Mineral supplements Fat

Ingredients	Percentage by bird age
	From two weeks to a month
3	5
1	6
	2

For beginner poultry farmers there are ready-made feed recipes.

Preparing feed for young birds:

• grind and mix a kilogram of wheat, 200 grams of barley and 0.5 kilograms of corn kernels;
• add 4 milliliters of sunflower oil;
• inject half a teaspoon of bone meal and the same amount of s alt.

Recipe mix for adult quail:

• mix and crush 800 grams of corn, 500 grams of wheat grains and 200 grams of peas;
• add 6 milliliters of vegetable oil;
• pour in a tablespoon of s alt, shells and chalk;
• mix thoroughly.

One quail of the mixture is enough for 40-50 days. To calculate the amount of ingredients for a flock, you need to multiply the weight in grams by the number of birds.

Food supplements

Special vitamin complexes are added to compound feed prepared according to our own recipe, stimulating weight gain in chicks and increasing the productivity of laying hens.

Premixes for chickens or vitamins "Undevit", "Kvadevit" can be introduced into the diet of quails. One dragee is dissolved in an amount of drinking water designed for ten quails.

Features of seasonal feeding

A balanced diet is required for quails all year round. But in winter, you have to look for a replacement for fresh grass.

How to feed the birds according to the season:

• give soybean meal, oat and wheat sprouts, dried nettle, clover, alfalfa hay in winter;
• add spinach, boiled root vegetables in summer.

With the advent of cold weather, the quail feeding schedule changes. Birds eat twice a day. Until noon they are given wet vegetable and herbal food, and in the afternoon - grain concentrates, beans.

Normal daily feed intake

Representatives of meat breeds by the third month are gaining 160 grams - half the weight required for slaughter. The frequency of feeding affects the growth of quail mass at different ages.

For an adult bird

Normals and features of quail nutrition:

• from two months birds are fed 3 times a day;
• proportion of protein products should be 40 percent. Small deviations up or down will not affect the he alth of the birds. But it is not recommended to significantly increase the amount of protein. Instead of weight gain in quails, the liver grows and fails;
• daily portion of food for one individual - 30 grams. Serving must include herbs and offal;
• it is useful to add low-fat cottage cheese to the feed;
• during the egg-laying period, quails are given more fish;
• fed with yeast between laying eggs. They are added to the feed of laying hens throughout the week with an interval of one day.

In the diet of fattened quails, the proportion of protein components and fat is gradually increased. Fattening for meat lasts a month. In the fifth week, the daily portion of food is increased by 8 percent.

For quail

Norms and rules for feeding chicks:

• in the first week after hatching, quails are fed 7-10 times a day and watered with manganese water;
• for birds to grow quickly, the daily diet should consist of 26 percent protein;
• The first food of newborn chicks is crushed boiled eggs;
• from the third day they give fat-free cottage cheese;
• from the eighth day the chicks are fed 6 times a day;
• grown up quails are able to digest wheat groats, ground root crops and herbs;
• food is kneaded with fish oil, broth, adding bone meal;
• start the third week with four meals a day, crushed shells are introduced instead of eggs.

From the fifth week, quail babies eat like adult birds.

What mistakes should be taken into account?

Basic rules for feeding quails:

• control protein levels - if it is difficult to calculate the proportion of protein feed, it is better to switch to ready-made mixtures;
• use fresh food - damp or moldy grain, rotten vegetables cause fungal diseases and poisoning;
• gather herbs on the plains or in the foothills - in marshy areas, plants are infected with helminths;
• respect the shelf life of animal products - no more than six months at a temperature of -3 degrees;
• mix the ingredients thoroughly - crush whole grains in a grinder, turn meat waste in a meat grinder along with vegetables and chopped herbs.

Often, poultry farmers carefully work out nutrition, but forget about the drinking regimen. Quails are allowed to drink settled tap or boiled river water. Once a week, manganese is added to the drink, and ascorbic acid is added every ten days, two tablets per liter. Week-old chicks are given shallow drinkers, otherwise they may choke.

Quails are shy birds. In order not to disturb their presence in the aviary, it is better to fix the feeders and drinkers on the door or place it near it. Water should be changed 1-2 times a day, and uneaten food should be removed immediately. Mixtures with cottage cheese, offal quickly deteriorate. It is just as important to follow the rules of hygiene in feeding quails as to choose a balanced diet.

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