This article is based on Poultry Science from Mississippi State University regarding what is the Best Nutrient Supplements, Quail.
It is very important to control factors such as temperature, humidity. ventilation, and egg turning for incubation.
Best Nutrient Supplements Quail Incubation Factors
- Feeding Programs
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Water
- Medicated Feeds
- Dietary Formulations
Most commercial feeds are designed to provide all the protein, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients necessary for quail growth as fast as possible. If you decided to mix the feed with a separate fee, it will upset the balance of the fee and not recommend it.
Young Quail raise for meat production and hunting purposes are fed very differently than quail for egg production.
Meat Quail such as Bobwhite quail have a much bigger body and will gain weight faster than sport hunting purpose quail.
Quail Feeding Programs
First, feed the baby chicks with a starter diet as soon as they hatch from the incubator. Until they reach six to eight weeks old, feeding the starter die gives them the highest level of protein to develop the size. As the chicks age, their protein requirements will decline but need more seed or grain for the energy.
After six or eight weeks old, now the grower has to decide how going to use quail as poultry. Give a bird finisher diet or meat quail and give a developer diet for egg production quail.
The best specie for meat and egg production is Coturnix or Pharaoh Quail. They mature very fast and start laying eggs at six to eight weeks of age.
- Coturnix Quail for Meat - Give them Starter Feed and Fisher Diets
- Coturnix Quail for Egg and Breeder - Give them Starter and Breeder Diets
Vitamins
To ensures that quail receive plenty of vitamins, most the feed has vitamins added to feeds in a minimum dietary requirement. Excessive vitamin supplementation is not a necessity, but it is expensive.
When quail is a juvenile stage, they are highly vulnerable to disease, shipping, or sudden changes in the environments and they need extra vitamins to strengthen the immune system.
Minerals
Among all of these requirements, minerals in breeder feeds are the most important factor, because laying quail require consistent levels of minerals to produce eggshell formation. Also, baby chicks require high levels of the mineral to form strong bone development.
But make sure to feed the breeder formula to egg-laying quail, because if breeder formula is fed to the baby chicks, it may reduce the growth of quail.
Most of the feed contains trace minerals added to diets for better performance. It is not a requirement for the quail feed, but it is an extra boost for the quail to build up the immune system. If you have decided to purchase commercial vitamin premixes feed, they have already added to the feed, The most of premix added a trace of two pounds per ton of poultry feed.
Best Medicated Feeds with Nutrient Supplements Quail
Quail birds are still considered as wild birds. So when you are giving them any drug, carefully follow the instructions and comply with all requirements that the medication withdrawal period before slaughtering them for human consumption. Also, it will affect the government’s requirement for selling eggs from the medicated bird.
The most common medications for poultry are coccidiostats and antibiotics.
Coccidiostats
It is a parasitic disease of the digestive system caused by organisms called coccidia. It can not prevent the coccidiostats by the sanitation of flock alone. The best practices to control this disease is by added to the feed at low levels and fed them continuously until symptoms disappear. Since this will increase the toxicity of the meat, consult a pathologist before using the drug.
This medication should be fed to the bird until the last week before slaughter. During the last week till the harvest, give them normal feed to push out drug residues from their tissues of the birds.
Two of Approved Medication for Quail Feeds
Monensin Sodium (Coban) and Amprolium
Those two medications are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for quail feeds usages.
Any birds feed the medication will develop a resistance to the coccidia. After 16 weeks of age, the medicated feed can be replaced with normal feed.
Antibiotics
Two of Approved Antibiotics for Quail Feeds
Bacitracin and Penicillin
Examples of FDA approved antibiotics for quail diets are bacitracin and penicillin.
It can be added to feeds to improve and maintain the health of birds. It also prevents moor disease outbreaks.
The recommended or permitted dosages to prevent ulcerative enteritis is 50-200 grams per ton of Bacitracin or 20-50 grams per ton of Penicillin.
Higher levels are not permitted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for quail feeds usages.
Always comply and check with the State of Federal agency for more detail regarding drug usage for animals.
Water
Providing clean water to quail is very important. Many growers overlook drinking water for the flocks. Though it is not considered a nutrient for quail, providing them a freshwater without droppings, litter, soil and other contaminants is super vital to the health of quail.