What to feed day-old quails at home, diet from the first days

Raising quail is labor-intensive, as females do not hatch eggs in captivity. To raise chicks, the clutches are transferred to an incubator, and the hatched quails are transferred to a brooder. In addition to the microclimate, birds must be provided with proper nutrition every day. How to create a daily diet and what to feed week-old quails depends on the experience of the farmer and the preferences of the birds. But, in general, feeding patterns and menu composition are typical for farm birds.

What to feed quails from the first days of life

The development of chicks after hatching is divided into four periods:

• first week or 7 days;
• 14-28 days;
• 35-42 days;
• 43rd day and older.

The first day after the quails are freed from the shell is highlighted separately.

Nutrition after hatching

The hatched chicks are transferred from the incubator to a preheated brooder. They weigh 6-8 grams and need warmth. Therefore, the temperature in a closed cage should not be lower than 37 degrees.

How to feed newborn chicks:

• in the first two hours the brood gets used to the new conditions, so there is no need to rush into feeding;
• finely chop and mash boiled quail or chicken eggs;
• Sprinkle on the floor of the brooder or on a sheet of paper so that the remains can be easily removed.

The quail are fed every two hours. In the next serving, you can add wheat porridge and finely ground corn kernels to the eggs.

Adherents of intensive rearing recommend immediately accustoming hatched quail to starter feed. Expensive specialized mixtures can be replaced with prestarters for chickens. But on the first day, it will be easier for the quails to digest the soft egg white and yolk. It is advisable to introduce combined feeds on the second or third day.

What to feed day-old quails

Feeding features of chicks after hatching:

• The basis of the food remains boiled eggs, wheat porridge or corn;
• new ingredients - low-fat cottage cheese, soybean meal;
• components should be added one by one, after 1-2 feedings, and watch how the chicks eat them;
• if the new mixture is poorly eaten, replace the ingredients with similar nutritional values: cottage cheese - with skimmed milk, soybeans - with dandelion leaves;
• additional ingredients for the winter - boiled carrots and white bread crackers.

Chicks eat 5 grams of food per day. Feeding frequency is every two hours. The diet includes the main types of food that adult quails eat - protein grains, greens and animal products.

If quail eggs are added to the mixture, they are mashed unpeeled. The shell serves as a mineral supplement. But the particles must be very small. This technique is not used with chicken eggs due to their hard shell. To bring the food into a homogeneous mass, grind it through a strainer or mesh from a baby nibbler.

Feeding from 2nd to 7th day

The difficulty in preparing the quail’s diet on the second day is maintaining the proportions of some ingredients:

• weight of cottage cheese per chick - 2 grams;
• on the third day, add variety to the green food - scalded nettle leaves, onion feathers;
• 4th day - add fish oil;
• Day 5 - add pieces of boiled fish, mix the ingredients in fish broth.

Feeding frequency is 6 times a day at equal intervals, even if meals are taken early in the morning or late at night. The food should be warmed to room temperature, but not cold. The ground shells are placed in a cage in a separate container. Chicks should also be given crushed chalk and shells.

In practice, poultry farmers are faced with the fact that quails do not eat natural foods well, they choose the pieces they like and ignore the rest. The problem is solved with the help of mixed feed. The granules are crushed and softened in zero-fat milk or broth.Thanks to the flavoring additives, the chicks willingly eat the prepared mixture, and it is difficult to accustom them back to natural food.

Feeding two-week-old chicks

Starting from the fifteenth day, the proportion of protein in the diet of quails should not be lower than 25 percent. In order not to make a mistake with the proportions, it is easier to combine feed with natural herbs, vegetables and mineral supplements. Compound feed for quail PK-5-41 is suitable for young animals aged from one to three weeks and weighing 8-80 grams. It contains 27 percent crude protein. One chick needs 4-13 grams per day. The number of feedings is reduced to four. If preference is given to natural feeding, the mixture is made up independently, but a vitamin premix must be included.

Sample list of ingredients:

New components:

• bone meal is a product of processing fish and beef bones, contains amino acids and calcium;
• yeast - prevents the development of vitamin deficiency, strengthens the immune system and promotes weight gain.

Yeasting of the feed is carried out from the end of November to March, when the need for vitamins increases, but there is no fresh herbs to replenish them. In summer, yeast is not included in the diet of birds, as it causes fermentation of herbs in the stomach and diarrhea. For better digestion, chicks are given feeders with fine gravel.

Nutrition of 5-6 week old quails

In one month, birds eat 30 grams of feed per day. Their diet is almost identical to that of adult quails. In the fifth week, the number of feedings is reduced to three, and the quails are divided according to productivity into broilers and layers.In accordance with the “specialization”, the birds’ diet is changed. For fattening, the ready-made mixture PK-6-6 is used. Compound feed PK-1-24 increases egg production.

The requirement for a homemade mixture is less protein (15 percent), more crushed cereals. Quails intended for fattening are fed with bran, beans, and alfalfa. Laying hens are given dairy, fish products, and bone meal. Within two months after hatching, the weight of chicks on a balanced diet increases 20 times.

Weakened chicks

If the quails are born weak, in the first week they are fed according to the following scheme:

• first day - boiled quail eggs with shell;
• second day - eggs and 2 grams of low-fat cottage cheese per individual;
• third day - egg-curd mixture with soybean meal, herbs;
• fourth day - put fewer eggs and more cottage cheese;
• fifth day - add wheat porridge and chopped boiled fish fillet.

The source of protein for healthy and weak quails are insects: bloodworms, maggots, mealworms and earthworms. The key ingredients for quail recovery are meal and herbs. In addition to nettles and dandelions, birds are given lettuce leaves. They contain iron, zinc, manganese, selenium and essential vitamins that promote the growth and normal development of chicks.

What should you not give?

Prohibited products for quail:

• sprouted raw potatoes;
• sausages;
• whole, unrefined grains;
• sauerkraut, pickles.

Green potatoes contain toxins. When feeding quails, only meat production waste is used - bone meal, sometimes the blood of quail carcasses. Sausage contains food additives and dyes that are harmful to birds.Instead of broth, you cannot use water after cooking vegetables - the soup also absorbs toxic substances.

Quails are suitable for feed for chickens and turkeys, but not ready-made mixtures for pigs or cattle. They contain a higher concentration of protein and vitamins. Instead of well-fed birds in a short time, on such food you can get sick livestock.

Watering rules

How to water chicks at different stages of development:

• during the first three days, give a weak solution of manganese as a drink;
• in subsequent periods, boiled or settled tap water is poured into the drinking bowls, adding manganese once every ten days;
• Do not give cold water, only room temperature.

Quails need a lot of water. But deep drinking bowls cause the death of small chicks - they fall into them and choke. Shallow plastic or stainless steel containers are suitable for drinking bowls. Change the water twice a day, and more often if necessary.

Use of vitamins and other supplements

Grains, greens and vegetables contain essential microelements necessary for the health and normal development of quail. If birds are raised for decorative purposes, they need enough vitamins in their daily diet.

If the goal of quail breeding is to sell meat and eggs, high productivity cannot be achieved in a short time without special premixes. Vitamin concentrates stimulate appetite and growth in chicks, weight gain and high egg production in young quails.

Compound feeds already contain vitamins, stimulants and antibiotics. To independently strengthen the immune system in winter, small quails add ascorbic acid to the water - one tablet per liter.

Natural mineral and vitamin supplements - chalk, shell rock, eggshells, fruit.

Supplements you can buy at the pharmacy:

• fish fat;
• oil solution of vitamin D2, D3;
• multivitamins "Undevit".

Ready-made premixes must be carefully measured. Overdose causes behavioral changes, liver enlargement, loss of feathers and lack of egg production.

Rules for caring for chicks

How to feed and care for quails at home:

• in the first week of life, chicks are given feeders without sides, food is placed on paper napkins, in plastic lids;
• from the second week, plasterboard trays with sides and a protective mesh with large cells are installed. Quails eat by sticking their heads through the holes and do not scatter food on the floor of the cage;
• feeders are removed after 2 hours, even with uneaten portions. Fresh food is provided at each feeding;
• to measure a 10 gram portion, use a matchbox;
• the grown-up quails are given apples and pears - raw pieces are inserted between the bars of the cage;
• If the chicks do not notice the food, they develop a conditioned reflex - they knock on the feeder.

Proper nutrition and care increases the survival rate of young animals by up to 98 percent.