quail feed?

[MO_GSP]

got my johnny house built and will be picking up some birds this weekend. what do you all feed your quail? chick starter?

also right now im just using some cheap feeders and waterers that i bought. but that means i have constant contact with the birds refilling what do you use or have seen used to keep from feeding and watering daily?

[topher40]

Go to your local feed store and ask them for some game bird starter/grower. If your planning on keeping these birds for awhile feed them well, bad feed=bad birds. Dont cut corners or try and go the cheap way or you will be disappointed. As long as they have good clean water it doesnt matter what you spent on the waterers.

[DonF]

Feed and water them in the dark. When I had quail here the bottom of the pen was boarded up about 4', so they couldn't see out of it unless the flew up th a ledge in back of the pen. I built the feeder into that wall and filled it from outside and sent water in thru a funnel and hose thru the wall. Want to keep them so they don't get used to people when you do in and suspecious of you? I caught some wild quail and put them in with them. Those Bob Whites turned plenty crazy, the wild birds taught them. In this state I needed a permit to raise game birds and it allowed me to trap them also.

[Sharon]

I used chick starter - cheap, does the job. We are no longer allowed to raise quail or buy quail for training purposes in ON. ( Game farms can.) The reason is ridiculous....

[MO_GSP]

I caught some wild quail and put them in with them. Those Bob Whites turned plenty crazy, the wild birds taught them. In this state I needed a permit to raise game birds and it allowed me to trap them also.

how did you trap them? i buy them for 3 dollars each not too expensive but would love to trap the little boogers

[topher40]

You should check with your local laws, I know in Kansas it is VERY ILLEGAL to trap em. I am surprised it is legal even in Or.

[birddog1968]

Feed chicks chick starter, feed older birds flight conditioner or a 20 % grower feed.....I have fed 16 % chicken feed before out of necessity but you can notice a difference between 16% and 20% feed.

[Cajun Casey]

You should check with your local laws, I know in Kansas it is VERY ILLEGAL to trap em. I am surprised it is legal even in Or.

Same in Oklahoma.

[crazyboy]

I only keep them for a week or two if I have some left over from training, so I just toss them some pigeon feed. I hate them though, they fly and smell like crap.

[RoostersMom]

I Missouri, you have to be permitted to have bobwhites at all - it is definitely not legal to trap wild birds to put in your Johnny house. There are several different permits that you can buy to work dogs on birds - I have a bird dog training permit, but there are other options in MO. I'm sure MO GSP knows this one - I just wanted to chime in for the others.

I feed our training quail chick starter without antibiotics and scratch grain mixed together. Sometimes I'll go to the grain elevator and just get a garbage can full of bin run milo.

[birddog1968]

I only keep them for a week or two if I have some left over from training, so I just toss them some pigeon feed. I hate them though, they fly and smell like crap.

Try keeping them longer and feeding a good feed, also good to keep them in a low light situation. They will get wilder if kept in the dark.

[CHJIII]

Three choices in Mo. Bird dog taining permit. Let's you keep as many as you want.

Hobby permit. Lets you keep up to 50 birds.

Breeders permit....As many as you want.


Definitely illegal to trap wild birds.


Chick starter grower Purina makes the best 30% protein. When they are fully feathered. I switch to layer feed mixed with scratch grains.

If you can find someone to make Turkey starter. That is the best for young chicks....32% protein.

[RoostersMom]

[quote="CHJIII"]Three choices in Mo. Bird dog taining permit. Let's you keep as many as you want.

Hobby permit. Lets you keep up to 50 birds.

Breeders permit....As many as you want.


Definitely illegal to trap wild birds.

quote]


Exactly - however, you can only RELEASE birds in MO under the dog training or "hunt farm" permit - and they are supposed to be harvested - not released into the wild. Some really interesting new research on "surrogator" type units from Oklahoma just coming out. Pretty much states the same as most research does - that pen reared birds die when released into the wild at a really high rate.

[CHJIII]

I should have mentioned too that with the dog training permit, you have to have a site posted as a dog training area and yes, Elsah, you have to harvest those birds.

I have read those reports as well. Pen-raised birds will not survive long enough to establish breeding populations.

[DonF]

You should check with your local laws, I know in Kansas it is VERY ILLEGAL to trap em. I am surprised it is legal even in Or.

It is illegal in Oregon too unless you have a Game bird probagation license. That's what I had. I set out a pigeon like trap with a door that would fall down. Held the door up with a stick and had a string tied to the stick. Birds went in, I pulled the string and they were traped. Got the idea from catching "bleep" birds with a crab trap when I was a kid. The four sides laid flat on the ground and closed when you pulled on the rope.

[MO_GSP]

figured it was illegal dangit lol. ya i have the hobby permit only allowed 50 birds, i have 20. should be plenty untill november