@@smilingdog54 leaf mould, if we're talking about wigglers, black soldier fly larvae are amazing composters of manures mealworms like starchy potatoes stuff and wheat germ
Great video, because the standard advice is they only eat grains and nothing else, which is weird because presumably in the wild they don't have a never ending source of milled grain.
Things I plan to grow to feed my birds (and rabbits): (Note: Quail diet should be 80% seed and 20% protein) Dandelions Clover Wheat grass for hay/seeds (& flour for me) Duckweed Millet Sunflowers Peas/beans Dubia Roaches Black Soldier Fly larvae They can eat their own eggs (scrambled in non-stick pan, no oil) Crush the shells for calcium Mix greensand in their dust bath for minerals/grit Can soak/ferment regular bird seed (which might be more available) Can make fodder with cheap grain Baby quail should be able to eat tiny seeds (dandelion, soaked millet, strawberry), fresh peas, cooked/mashed eggs, small bugs I agree it has been really hard to find info on this and had me scratching quail off my list. But I have compiled the above items through research and think it would work. Just have to hope the power stays on since it is hard to get them to successfully hatch and raise their own chicks. But I also plan to try to keep some in my big garden area along with lots of natural hiding places and hope they go broody.
If you get cochins batams or silkies they can hatch Quail for you. Just takes them a bit to realize they have to be more gentle with smaller eggs. But I had a few hens hatch quail successfully for me.
Black soldier fly larvae are pretty awesome. I shot an opossum that was in my black soldier fly bin and just let the larvae eat it then fed them to my birds lol
I put a screen over the top of my bin now and have the collectors inside. This keeps house flies from laying their eggs in the bin. House flies won’t get in your bin if you don’t put any meat in it. If you ever put meat in a black soldier fly bin that is open to house flies you’ll inevitably get house fly maggots. You can put a screen over it and the BSF will lay their eggs in the top and houseflies will only lay their eggs on top of the food. You can transfer the eggs the BSF lay on top into mason jars with coffee filters instead of the top mason jar piece. Let’s the larvae grow for a bit and put them in the bin. I use chicken feed and water to grow them for a couple days and then put them in the bin
Few ideas: 1) seeds from kitchen vegetables such as squash/pumpkin and peppers. 2) Algae and aquatic from ponds, lakes, rivers, and ocean. 3) Funnel traps for flies, wasps, and roaches.
I LIVE ABOUT 1 CITY BLOCK FROM A CATTLE FEEDING OPERATION. biting flies are a real bad problem. i collect bottles and cans for the 5 cent deposit. i also collect empty water bottles. i use a rack from an old dishwasher sitting on a sloped cookie pan to drain out old beer and sodapop.(NO SUGAR FREE ARTIFICIALLY SWEETENED) TO THEN PUT ABOUT 3 INCHES WORTH IN THE EMPTY WATER BOTTLES. when the weather is warm enough for the flies to be out, they will fly into these bottles i have to put lids on them after just 1 week (they are really full) and throw into the garbage. roadkill can be hung in wire baskets for the flies to lay eggs on, the maggots will fall off so if you put a bucket underneath you could collect maggots to feed. hang over a body of water and the fish will hangout underneath to get a free meal(old poachers trick).
For those of us in northern climates, I think we’d need to grow crops like amaranth and corn, as well as raising worms. Mealworms would be eaten really quickly so I’m looking into raising earthworms or red worms.
@@nictnt8197 I am in WA and amaranth grows easily as soon as we get summer heat. Very very easy. Also seed saving is very easy. Many grains can be difficult to collect but this really is like a weed. Can wait to harvest when dry but I harvest when seeds fall easily, then dry in boxes.
The reason they eat mealworms quickly and avoid red wigglers, is probably because red wigglers don't taste to their liking. Try it and see, but not many animals like the compost worms--you can't fish with em. Black soldier fly, on the other hand, is LOVED by poultry and just as easy to do.
I think the easiest thing would be a black soldier fly bin. They separate themselves automatically and fall out into a bucket, so you can just dump some to your quail each day
Good video. When I had my quails, I stop buying sand and started using regular yard dirt. I got a shifter and shifted the dirt. The very fine particles is what I gave them. They loved it for bathing.
Oh jeez. Never thought of snails! I had a pond snail infestation in my fish tank (hitch hikers from plants) and i couldn't keep up with them. That was before i had quails though so i never made the connection... i fought that infestation for like 2 yrs before finally tearing down the tank, sanitizing and restarting it free of snails... now i may want to get a tank going with them again if quail actually like them! You actually feed yours snails or is it just an idea?
I'm new to quails but I was thinking of cooking and drying excess offal from my rabbitry to feed the quails. I've also found that putting rabbit manure in a bucket produces a lot of insects. Great video with lots of practical ideas, thanks
I wonder if they're suspicious like chickens? I've given offal to my chickens, and then those entrails dry out before they touched them! It just laid there for three days (it's super dry here, it basically just dehydrated)
A quail tractor allows them to forage on their own just like they would in the wild. They will eat whatever bugs, seeds and plants they need. Just need to make sure you are moving it enough. Also need to have a very diverse and fertile plot to move them on with lots of good heathy plants that will attract the bugs.
Thank you, I can’t wait to pick my quail some butterfly needles and poor man’s pepper from my yard tomorrow! I didn’t realize I was sitting on all these free greens for them to eat just growing in my yard, I hope they like them!
Great content and tips! We have a small lake adjacent to our property in N. Fla., and you flipped my switch on emergency feed for our chickens. Small minnows, crayfish, bug larvae, frogs, and all sorts of duck weed and veggie matter are available here year round! Thanks for the tips!!
How about getting a bug zapper or two, depending on the size of your flock. Put it out at night (dusk to dawn) with some type of collection reciprocal underneath to catch the zapped bugs as they fall to the ground. Then feed these dead bugs to the quail.
newbie here. hi. I plan on feeding mealy worms, earth worms and black fly larvae. I am still in research stage but all three of these can be grown fairly easy and they basically reproduce and self-sustain themselves. Also grow buckwheat, corn etc... it is hard to figure the amounts needed for good quail health. More research needed for me. really good video and commentors. Look forward to the next one.
I agree with these three supplements whole heartedly. I grow all of those plus roaches. And you could even use the quail waste and eggs and such to grow them. I haven't started quail yet. But I expect growing those 3 in conjunction is going to be very interesting. (I have heard of people using quail droppings for mealworms and I am hesitant, but I will probably at least try it, right? But the other 2 for sure especially worms. They would love it after a but of composting)
@@mikesolns1364 can be. But this video is in Florida right? Fair to meddling chance that was what he had when he said fly larva. Plenty of folks do it. And the only thing that he would need to add here would be the self sorter so he wouldn't have to dig them out.
Microgreens: amaranth& Broccoli because I easily can keep the seeds going long term. Whatever comes out of the kiddie pool weekly (tadpoles, duckweed, larvae). Maggot bucket & BFL. Silage from corn stalks (store in 55 gallon sealed barrel). Acorns crushed in jeans. I plant more beans than we will ever eat on every climbing surface available to share with chickens, quail, rabbits, turkey, and sheep. Cooked eggs and kitchen scraps. Weeds, garden trimmings, dropped fruit, sunflowers, etc. Grow out tractors instead of cages (there's a cheap, simple, light pvc tractor build on utube built by kids primarily). Grow clover instead of grass. Possibilities are endless...as is the work involved. Feed them now like you're in grid down and cut your cost to zero. Find a use for everything. Grow excess to accommodate your animals without any waste. Amaranth and Broccoli can both be grown all over your yard and produce tons of seeds and will meet your protein levels. Remember they need grit; Justin Rhodes consistently shows going to the creek to get grit for his poultry. I think I'm on the raising my own crickets bandwagon too. My biggest issue is having enough for us, the animals, and the compost pile. So little ends up in compost.
Commercial feed for any animal is generally pretty bad as far as food goes. I keep chickens and ferment whole grains for mine. In the process of setting up to grow more and more varieties of grain on my property. They also free range 3 season. I would research what quail eat in the wild and grow those things myself. Most birds eat seeds, nuts, fruit veggies and bugs. Looks like you are well on your way to being self sufficient with your birds. Thanks for sharing.
I grow them a small garden of lettuce, and couple squash for seeds, sun flowers, peas, stuff that is fast and easy to grow, doesn't take much room, just spread the seeds for veggies, and it grows just fine, hagd..
@@quailsnest8354 comfrey grows kinda like a green. It is grown for medicinal purposes or for compost or for feed. Oddly, it is not actually legal for human consumption (I think that is a federal law)
@@quailsnest8354 what kind of squash do you grow for them? This is pretty genius, I would have thought the seeds would be too big for them, so glad I saw that.
I have tons of hackberry trees that drop the sugar berry and birds love them I can take up enough daily for them to eat if need be plus I have a worm bed n can grow my own grains
@TheFloridaprepper but need a Ballance of minerals and nutrients or can cause health issues. I been doing it way I do over 35 years now never lost one to malnutrition. Bugs r good protein but so is my worms n oats .
You will have to grow crops like corn, wheat, sunflower seeds. Same goes for any livestock, that is why when survival prepping crops should always come first before livestock, the two go hand in hand, but without crops you can’t raise most livestock. ALTHOUGH, there are some livestock I consider better for prepping because they can feed themselves on grass in natural pastures or forage in the forest. These animals would include geese, some ducks like Muscovy ducks, goats, sheep, pigs, cows, and rabbits. Most other livestock(and sometimes pigs) are only useful for prepping if you can grow the crops necessary to fodder them.
@@Whiskeyshotglass It sounds ridiculous, but no doubt it would work. What a great TH-cam video That would make. I’ve thought about that problem quite a bit and this came to mind mind years ago. No need to test it as of yet.
Maybe a bsfl bin fed with manure and unsuitable food scraps and weeds. This is similar to just getting the maggots, but you would specifically be growing black soldier fly larvae due to decreased risk of disease transmission. Also I hear some people with ponds have a problem with duckweed overgrowth. It's supposed to be high in protein and grows super fast, and also often needs to be removed anyway for the health / visual appeal of the pond. For more calcium and other nutrients, you could crush the bones of whatever you eat and feed them that too. Boiling first would make it easier but leaches out lots of the nutrients, but would also give you bone broth. If you grow vegetables and save seeds, then you could feed them extra seeds or seeds that you've kept too long and aren't germinating. i don't know if this would be worth it, but having a worm or other compost bin, and then transfer handful's of the compost with the worms in it to a small container in their cage. They forage for the worms giving food and entertainment, and your compost gets extra nutrients from the manure. Feeding dead quail (possibly only ones that didn't die of disease), back to the quail. Might be too far for some people and I would cook them first. I haven't tried any of these and only have a limited knowledge of quail. Just generating ideas here.
buy a literal ton of feed and use food grade 55 gallon barrels to store it , you save almost 50% on the cost. I just started with quail for emergency feed and I'm ordering my ton of starter crumbles and egg layer next week
@@markdandeneau2904 well I posted this when I was planning my quail situation ,, now I'm getting out of the quail game as the feed went from 15 a 50lb bag to 24 for 40 lb bag and the deal on a ton went from 450 to 1050 and I get queesy after eating quail so its a nogo for me,, good luck
@@acpatriot2347 Sorry it didn't work out. If it isn't possible to raise quail without having to buy feed then I doubt the economics will work out for me either, at least without selling quail eggs or something. That they make you feel unwell makes the whole endeavor kind of pointless.
I've never had quail. My parents fed milk & cottage cheese to chickens(if you have cow or goat you milk). Also table scraps. Sprouted or fermented seed & or grain may be an option. Also scraps from butchering.
In a shtf environment... A chicken tractor type apiary... All spring, summer and fall. In the winter we would have to utilize stored grain / protein. Caned meat and milled grain
Don't forget most flies are f crazy high protein in maggot form ... All of your trash will grow magots to feed and a simple hanging bucket with holes will feed for you
Surprisingly I have found that beer is the answer! Not the actual beer, but the byproducts from production. The used hops still have SO MUCH protein to offer. Now it's going to smell like hops. It's kind of a sour smell, but where I live I can get a barrel of spent hops for $25 plus a $10 refundable deposit for the barrel. It weighs about 300lbs so I can only get a few barrels each trip with my trailer. Obviously this won't be available if a nuke drops or something like that, but it's a cheap form of stinky protein for the birds. Call a brewery near you!
This is the exact question I was thinking the other day as I was sitting in the middle of my property looking at all these birds I have … like seriously… My quail are more picky than my chickens though. I haven’t had them long but they turn their nose up at any food that isn’t bought from the produce store…
Thanks for mentioning the tadpoles and fish from the river. I hadn't even considered that. I raise guppies so maybe I can give them the fry?? Its surprisingly hard to find information on what they like to eat besides some veggies. It'd be nice to know what greens like tree leaves and weeds they would like but I can't find much at all. I grow lettuce and comfrey and sometimes a tray of buckwheat or millet (only a few inches tall though, not full grown) for mine but I should look for a local area to forage weeds and wild greens, I don't have many in my yard. You can also feed them bread in a pinch but it doesn't do much for them and you shouldn't do it often. Itll at least make them full for a lil bit. It just isn't great nutritionally and i think it might affect blood sugars. So only do a bit and rarely.
You feed comfrey? What backing? This would be great for me to know if any comfrey would be ok!! I can grow that. You can also grow duckweed pretty easy. This has been what I have been thinking lately. I think about this kind of thing a lot. If you get a container of water. You can grow duckweed and gambushia pretty easily. Both would be food sources for a bunch if things. Your birds, your birds food like bsfl. Your compost and plants. My biggest worry with these so far. Is if I don't have electricity or chickens.... reproduction becomes my problem since they don't really brood as I understand it.
@@nictnt8197 sorry i didn't get a notification for this. Yea i feed comfrey, idk the kind, but its the kind that permapasture farms here on youtube sells. Its a nice broad leaf. It grows pretty easily and i believe even propogating it is easy since he sells so much, i haven't tried myself yet. I only have 1 live plant right now and 10 roots buried everywhere trying to wake up since i planted them late.
Have to plan ahead and save lots of seeds and raise bugs for the winter. Can freeze eggs (scrambled/raw) then cook them all winter. Dry strawberries, peas, beans.
Take beans, any beans, grains like rye, millet and einkorn (high protein) and ferment them. Give them nuts like cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts and berries and apples. The one thing I was always missing is fish or shrimp. Bugs don’t cut it in an emergency. I don’t give feed either. GMO and full of toxic preservatives. Kale and leafy greens are good as well as certain grain grasses that are easy to forage.
Yes, amaranth definitely (high protein and complete in nutrients) and small sunflowers; plus worm farm in a plastic tote. But also, store some small grains in mylar bags with oxy absorbers, just like you would do for yourself: millet, amaranth, split peas (you can crush these even smaller at feeding time) quinoa, barley, even oats -- all can be crushed at feeding time. Grasshoppers are premium for raising the chicks: plant a small strip or flower bed of plants that attract grasshoppers. I'm looking at getting quail but next year before I get them I plan to get infrastructure in place, and that includes planting sustainable crops for them. I plan to buy very little if any feed. Same for my chickens. It makes financial sense, not to mention SHTF. Also, get a small solar generator that is capable of keeping your incubators going.
I'm not near any urban areas. It's all suburban here, so I'm assuming you are Sarasota or Fort Myers, so we're not in close proximity to each other. I don't know of any groups in either area, but there likely is. Finding them is the trick. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. I'll be putting out several more videos the next couple months.
Any ideas for those living in the hot desert areas? Barely anything grows here, nothing to forage cos there is no rain... We have vacuum sealed some commercial feed with oxygen remover bags. It should keep the feed good for at least 2 years if done correctly.
Chaya might do OK growing in the desert with occasional watering. Can feed fresh or boiled and dried and crumbled. Try setting up something that you can harvest insect larvae with. Any kind of common weed is worth a try and if there are ant or any other insect colonies scattered around, give that a look.
Thanks for posting this. I'm looking for raising on pasture but noticed most videos of pasture raised have feeders in the tractors. That's not pasture raised in my book.
@@hal7ter Thanks Emma. I appreciate your comment. I since found they need high protein. Which they in the wild would get from bugs & not necessarily in a pasture. Maybe I can supply them with worms as a substitute instead of buying a commercial feed
Could you do something equivalent to a chicken tractor for quail so they can scavenge on the ground? I wouldn’t leave them out alone because of their size and probability of predators on them. I had small ones for my chickens when they were pullets and it worked great for a short time each day until they were old enough to free range.
I don't have any quial yet was thinking of feeding any suitable table scraps then growing hydroponic dandylion, white clover and grass because they can grow and reproduce quickly and can be regrow when cut. Then meal worms and ant farm for protein, and take eggs shells bake them and blend them for grit and calcium. Then for nutrients for hydroponics system use wood ash and quial poop/ to make a "tea" for nutrients for hydroponics plants nitrogen, postasium, phosphorus and minerals. I don't have any birds yet any comments on this method am I missing anything or doing anything wrong?
Just a small bit of info, quail eat a lot, compared to body size. They are animals that definitely have a appetite. That said, you might need to use all those methods in large quantities if you have any amount of quail. I reccomend grabbing some regular pellet feed as well as taking those actions to supplement pellet feed. Groups of quail have different tastes, for some reason. Some quail love chia sprouts, some wont touch it. It would be nice to have pellet feed for those picky one.
@@highwaytoquail754 yeah will probably feed a commercial feed when grid up and stock extra for grid down. Just thinking about what's after that if I can't buy grain an do I run out, I'm thinking of maybe getting meat rabbits instead because they will do better without grain, but they eat alot as well. Hard to decide.
@@mr.falcon5946 I've heard cat food somewhere too. The dry kibble. I don't know, so don't feed it without research but seems like I heard that mentioned.
Sounds like a good plan. You just have to experiment and try things. Important to be able to store at least several days worth so you're not a slave to the quail every day.
@@TheFloridaprepper during winter here, had 5 or 6 days going down to -30 Celsius (-22 F) so daily visits are a must on those days. Was doing 2 to 3 visits per day at the coldest. To grab eggs prior to splitting open frozen. If they aren't dirty, I'll eat them personally if I can get them cooked without much delay. Cracked eggs though also allow me to boil them, grind shells and everything and gone back to Quail as feed. Containing all the nutrients needed for eggs production. Speaking if cold, think I might have lost a day 14 hatch last night 😔 due to power outtage and my power inverter crapped out on me so the incubator went down to 20 Celsius for about a couple hours. Might have survived, might not have.
I know it sounds disgusting, and lord knows it smelt disgusting, but when we had chickenswe tried the method of hanging a bit o meat up in the coop, the flies laid eggs on it, they hatched and when the maggots dropped to the ground the hens would get them...only trouble was, all the hens wanted to do was sit underneath waiting for the maggots to drop..lazy little buggers stopped foraging! I've also hear nettles are good...........Do you think quail would eat fish heads?
As the Florida prepper said, they are richer. 4=1 chicken egg. Use just like a chicken egg. Less cholesterol, from what I read people who are allergic to chicken eggs generally can eat quail eggs, make sure you research that on your own to verify that. I have both chickens and quail, my husband and son prefer quail eggs.
My name is robert and im looking for information on feeding quail seut , is it ok or should i stay away? The reason being is its starting to get cold here in missouri and was wondering if it is too much at once or not
I research and found '"FODDER"" FOR ALL ANIMALS, grows in one week, oats, barley, wheat, sunflower seeds, anything seeds starter in water, takes only 7-8 days to grow and they love it, I started with Oats, many use Barley.. but it is a supper way to feed your animals,,supplimentary, (if that is a word.) hagd..
I think about this a lot too. You would have to grow something with a high seed yield that could be used for this purpose. Lettuces would work if you had the ability, sunflowers. Corn would take a lot of space to ot be using for yourself. But it would work for that....
Amaranth and Broccoli. Both will give you tons of seeds to make fodder year around. Of course it's work to save the seeds but for shtf you gotta have a plan.
Greens should only be a small part of the diet. 80% seeds and 20% protein. But you can soak and ferment seeds to make them more digestible and easier for them to eat.
Develop a composting worm farm, and use excess worms for feed.
If food is in short supply so no scraps, what do you feed the worms
@@smilingdog54 leaves, paper, grass clippings, weeds that we cant eat...
@@smilingdog54 leaf mould, if we're talking about wigglers, black soldier fly larvae are amazing composters of manures mealworms like starchy potatoes stuff and wheat germ
Omg thanks! That's brilliant 🖤
Red wigglers are a little weird tasting, even some chickens ignore them. I would go with a black soldier fly bin or mealworm farm.
Great video, because the standard advice is they only eat grains and nothing else, which is weird because presumably in the wild they don't have a never ending source of milled grain.
Things I plan to grow to feed my birds (and rabbits):
(Note: Quail diet should be 80% seed and 20% protein)
Dandelions
Clover
Wheat grass for hay/seeds (& flour for me)
Duckweed
Millet
Sunflowers
Peas/beans
Dubia Roaches
Black Soldier Fly larvae
They can eat their own eggs (scrambled in non-stick pan, no oil)
Crush the shells for calcium
Mix greensand in their dust bath for minerals/grit
Can soak/ferment regular bird seed (which might be more available)
Can make fodder with cheap grain
Baby quail should be able to eat tiny seeds (dandelion, soaked millet, strawberry), fresh peas, cooked/mashed eggs, small bugs
I agree it has been really hard to find info on this and had me scratching quail off my list. But I have compiled the above items through research and think it would work. Just have to hope the power stays on since it is hard to get them to successfully hatch and raise their own chicks. But I also plan to try to keep some in my big garden area along with lots of natural hiding places and hope they go broody.
If you get cochins batams or silkies they can hatch Quail for you. Just takes them a bit to realize they have to be more gentle with smaller eggs. But I had a few hens hatch quail successfully for me.
Watch videos on what wild quail eat...
Any game chickens will hatch out eggs
Black soldier fly larvae are pretty awesome. I shot an opossum that was in my black soldier fly bin and just let the larvae eat it then fed them to my birds lol
I put a screen over the top of my bin now and have the collectors inside. This keeps house flies from laying their eggs in the bin. House flies won’t get in your bin if you don’t put any meat in it. If you ever put meat in a black soldier fly bin that is open to house flies you’ll inevitably get house fly maggots. You can put a screen over it and the BSF will lay their eggs in the top and houseflies will only lay their eggs on top of the food. You can transfer the eggs the BSF lay on top into mason jars with coffee filters instead of the top mason jar piece. Let’s the larvae grow for a bit and put them in the bin. I use chicken feed and water to grow them for a couple days and then put them in the bin
Few ideas: 1) seeds from kitchen vegetables such as squash/pumpkin and peppers.
2) Algae and aquatic from ponds, lakes, rivers, and ocean.
3) Funnel traps for flies, wasps, and roaches.
I LIVE ABOUT 1 CITY BLOCK FROM A CATTLE FEEDING OPERATION. biting flies are a real bad problem. i collect bottles and cans for the 5 cent deposit. i also collect empty water bottles. i use a rack from an old dishwasher sitting on a sloped cookie pan to drain out old beer and sodapop.(NO SUGAR FREE ARTIFICIALLY SWEETENED) TO THEN PUT ABOUT 3 INCHES WORTH IN THE EMPTY WATER BOTTLES. when the weather is warm enough for the flies to be out, they will fly into these bottles i have to put lids on them after just 1 week (they are really full) and throw into the garbage.
roadkill can be hung in wire baskets for the flies to lay eggs on, the maggots will fall off so if you put a bucket underneath you could collect maggots to feed. hang over a body of water and the fish will hangout underneath to get a free meal(old poachers trick).
For those of us in northern climates, I think we’d need to grow crops like amaranth and corn, as well as raising worms. Mealworms would be eaten really quickly so I’m looking into raising earthworms or red worms.
Oh amaranth!! Do you grow that? Do you find it easy, I keep wanting to, but I haven't gotten to it yet. That seems like a great seed source!!!
Crickets can be grown inside as well, I would also look into seeing if Black Soldier Flies can be grown inside with a net enclosure also.
@@nictnt8197 I am in WA and amaranth grows easily as soon as we get summer heat. Very very easy. Also seed saving is very easy. Many grains can be difficult to collect but this really is like a weed. Can wait to harvest when dry but I harvest when seeds fall easily, then dry in boxes.
@@rosebraskett awesome! Thanks so much!
The reason they eat mealworms quickly and avoid red wigglers, is probably because red wigglers don't taste to their liking. Try it and see, but not many animals like the compost worms--you can't fish with em. Black soldier fly, on the other hand, is LOVED by poultry and just as easy to do.
Thanks for putting this up. Was just asking my other half the other day what we're going to feed them in this situation.
I think the easiest thing would be a black soldier fly bin. They separate themselves automatically and fall out into a bucket, so you can just dump some to your quail each day
I grow herbs...oregano thyme and basil....they love it...
Good video. When I had my quails, I stop buying sand and started using regular yard dirt. I got a shifter and shifted the dirt. The very fine particles is what I gave them. They loved it for bathing.
I’ve been trying to find what to feed my quail without spent a lot of money, this is great information.
I grow comfrey. It’s supposed to be high in protein and natural animal fodder for rabbits and your poultry.
Crushed snails. You can grow all year. Pill bugs: put a couple boards over leaves to grow them.
Oh jeez. Never thought of snails! I had a pond snail infestation in my fish tank (hitch hikers from plants) and i couldn't keep up with them. That was before i had quails though so i never made the connection... i fought that infestation for like 2 yrs before finally tearing down the tank, sanitizing and restarting it free of snails... now i may want to get a tank going with them again if quail actually like them!
You actually feed yours snails or is it just an idea?
@@h.s.6269 They absolutely love eating snails!! You may need to crush an occasional hard shelled one, but mine peck them until they crack.
@@TheRainHarvester Do you think they would eat mystery snails they get up to golf ball size?
@@Psychodegu i think they would!
I'm new to quails but I was thinking of cooking and drying excess offal from my rabbitry to feed the quails. I've also found that putting rabbit manure in a bucket produces a lot of insects.
Great video with lots of practical ideas, thanks
I wonder if they're suspicious like chickens? I've given offal to my chickens, and then those entrails dry out before they touched them! It just laid there for three days (it's super dry here, it basically just dehydrated)
A quail tractor allows them to forage on their own just like they would in the wild. They will eat whatever bugs, seeds and plants they need. Just need to make sure you are moving it enough. Also need to have a very diverse and fertile plot to move them on with lots of good heathy plants that will attract the bugs.
They won’t lay every day if they don’t get enough protein.
@@wardrobelion that is very good to know!
@@wardrobelion Surely bugs provide more protein than grain? ( Sorry I have no experience with this, am I missing something?)
Thank you, I can’t wait to pick my quail some butterfly needles and poor man’s pepper from my yard tomorrow! I didn’t realize I was sitting on all these free greens for them to eat just growing in my yard, I hope they like them!
Thank you, I live in Florida and i usually throw the tadpoles into the ground. Now I will feed them to my quails. Excellent information.
Great content and tips!
We have a small lake adjacent to our property in N. Fla., and you flipped my switch on emergency feed for our chickens.
Small minnows, crayfish, bug larvae, frogs, and all sorts of duck weed and veggie matter are available here year round!
Thanks for the tips!!
How about getting a bug zapper or two, depending on the size of your flock. Put it out at night (dusk to dawn) with some type of collection reciprocal underneath to catch the zapped bugs as they fall to the ground. Then feed these dead bugs to the quail.
What do you do for electricity if shtf? Waste your gen fuel on zapper?
@@yusufusayd3151 They have solar powered bug zappers
@@yusufusayd3151 There are these nifty things called, solar panels.
Solar light hanging from a rope over a water bucket. Bugs fall in water. Collect and feed to birds.
@@yusufusayd3151 The generator would surely be running anyway, in early shtf.
If the juice can produce another benefit, it aint wasted!
My favorite was you netting bugs from the water in the canal. That is a great thought!
newbie here. hi. I plan on feeding mealy worms, earth worms and black fly larvae. I am still in research stage but all three of these can be grown fairly easy and they basically reproduce and self-sustain themselves. Also grow buckwheat, corn etc... it is hard to figure the amounts needed for good quail health. More research needed for me. really good video and commentors. Look forward to the next one.
I agree with these three supplements whole heartedly. I grow all of those plus roaches. And you could even use the quail waste and eggs and such to grow them. I haven't started quail yet. But I expect growing those 3 in conjunction is going to be very interesting. (I have heard of people using quail droppings for mealworms and I am hesitant, but I will probably at least try it, right? But the other 2 for sure especially worms. They would love it after a but of composting)
Black soldier fly larvae isn't that easy to farm
@@mikesolns1364 can be. But this video is in Florida right? Fair to meddling chance that was what he had when he said fly larva. Plenty of folks do it. And the only thing that he would need to add here would be the self sorter so he wouldn't have to dig them out.
@@mikesolns1364 but I do agree. I have raised them on purpose and on accident and the on accident was always way easier. Lol. Go figure right!?
Microgreens: amaranth& Broccoli because I easily can keep the seeds going long term. Whatever comes out of the kiddie pool weekly (tadpoles, duckweed, larvae). Maggot bucket & BFL. Silage from corn stalks (store in 55 gallon sealed barrel). Acorns crushed in jeans. I plant more beans than we will ever eat on every climbing surface available to share with chickens, quail, rabbits, turkey, and sheep. Cooked eggs and kitchen scraps. Weeds, garden trimmings, dropped fruit, sunflowers, etc. Grow out tractors instead of cages (there's a cheap, simple, light pvc tractor build on utube built by kids primarily). Grow clover instead of grass. Possibilities are endless...as is the work involved. Feed them now like you're in grid down and cut your cost to zero. Find a use for everything. Grow excess to accommodate your animals without any waste. Amaranth and Broccoli can both be grown all over your yard and produce tons of seeds and will meet your protein levels. Remember they need grit; Justin Rhodes consistently shows going to the creek to get grit for his poultry. I think I'm on the raising my own crickets bandwagon too. My biggest issue is having enough for us, the animals, and the compost pile. So little ends up in compost.
Thank you so much for this detailed information . Will see what I can grow here in central Florida. Love the micro greens
@castaspell7 I'm in nw Florida . You can do it 😀
Nice, happy and Healthy Birds
Commercial feed for any animal is generally pretty bad as far as food goes. I keep chickens and ferment whole grains for mine. In the process of setting up to grow more and more varieties of grain on my property. They also free range 3 season. I would research what quail eat in the wild and grow those things myself. Most birds eat seeds, nuts, fruit veggies and bugs. Looks like you are well on your way to being self sufficient with your birds. Thanks for sharing.
I was just wondering this the other day. Thank you. ❤
I'll be doing some more Quail videos soon. I've learned a lot the last couple years. Have a system almost perfected for keeping them outdoors.
I grow them a small garden of lettuce, and couple squash for seeds, sun flowers, peas, stuff that is fast and easy to grow, doesn't take much room, just spread the seeds for veggies, and it grows just fine, hagd..
I also grow comfrey for mine as well, they love it.
@@h.s.6269 can you tell me about the comfrey, i don't know that green veggie..? thanks
@@quailsnest8354 comfrey grows kinda like a green. It is grown for medicinal purposes or for compost or for feed. Oddly, it is not actually legal for human consumption (I think that is a federal law)
@@quailsnest8354 what kind of squash do you grow for them? This is pretty genius, I would have thought the seeds would be too big for them, so glad I saw that.
@@quailsnest8354 its probably closer to an herb. It has broad leaf greens that they love.
I have tons of hackberry trees that drop the sugar berry and birds love them I can take up enough daily for them to eat if need be plus I have a worm bed n can grow my own grains
Getting them enough protein is the key. A source of bugs/small worms/maggots is the key.
@TheFloridaprepper but need a Ballance of minerals and nutrients or can cause health issues. I been doing it way I do over 35 years now never lost one to malnutrition. Bugs r good protein but so is my worms n oats .
You will have to grow crops like corn, wheat, sunflower seeds. Same goes for any livestock, that is why when survival prepping crops should always come first before livestock, the two go hand in hand, but without crops you can’t raise most livestock. ALTHOUGH, there are some livestock I consider better for prepping because they can feed themselves on grass in natural pastures or forage in the forest. These animals would include geese, some ducks like Muscovy ducks, goats, sheep, pigs, cows, and rabbits. Most other livestock(and sometimes pigs) are only useful for prepping if you can grow the crops necessary to fodder them.
Please make a video on what to do if no electricity for the incubator. During a shtf we need to find a way to keep replenishing our flock.
Thank you
Solar
That is the same thing I worry about. Having chickens, they can raise them, but no idea otherwise.
Tape the quail eggs to your inner thighs and under your armpits and move carefully for 18 days.
@@jimj9040 wow! Great idea! Did it work for you?
@@Whiskeyshotglass It sounds ridiculous, but no doubt it would work. What a great TH-cam video That would make.
I’ve thought about that problem quite a bit and this came to mind mind years ago. No need to test it as of yet.
Oyster and clam shells for calcium too! There are freshwater snails and clams so it’s not only limited to coastal areas
Love your video like to see more on your birds....
Black soldier fly larvae is what I’m working on for my chickens and quail.
I find that they like lentils or barley. They'll eat any left over scraps like chickens too
Maybe a bsfl bin fed with manure and unsuitable food scraps and weeds. This is similar to just getting the maggots, but you would specifically be growing black soldier fly larvae due to decreased risk of disease transmission.
Also I hear some people with ponds have a problem with duckweed overgrowth. It's supposed to be high in protein and grows super fast, and also often needs to be removed anyway for the health / visual appeal of the pond.
For more calcium and other nutrients, you could crush the bones of whatever you eat and feed them that too. Boiling first would make it easier but leaches out lots of the nutrients, but would also give you bone broth.
If you grow vegetables and save seeds, then you could feed them extra seeds or seeds that you've kept too long and aren't germinating.
i don't know if this would be worth it, but having a worm or other compost bin, and then transfer handful's of the compost with the worms in it to a small container in their cage. They forage for the worms giving food and entertainment, and your compost gets extra nutrients from the manure.
Feeding dead quail (possibly only ones that didn't die of disease), back to the quail. Might be too far for some people and I would cook them first.
I haven't tried any of these and only have a limited knowledge of quail. Just generating ideas here.
I like some of them. thank you. really good idea of feeding extra seeds saved for growing.
Yes!!!
buy a literal ton of feed and use food grade 55 gallon barrels to store it , you save almost 50% on the cost.
I just started with quail for emergency feed and I'm ordering my ton of starter crumbles and egg layer next week
Wow! About how many barrels is that, and what is your cost?
How do the logistics of that work? How do you get it home and in the barrels?
The feed has a shelf life. Most people say not to keep more than a one month supply.
@@markdandeneau2904 well I posted this when I was planning my quail situation ,, now I'm getting out of the quail game as the feed went from 15 a 50lb bag to 24 for 40 lb bag and the deal on a ton went from 450 to 1050 and I get queesy after eating quail so its a nogo for me,, good luck
@@acpatriot2347
Sorry it didn't work out. If it isn't possible to raise quail without having to buy feed then I doubt the economics will work out for me either, at least without selling quail eggs or something. That they make you feel unwell makes the whole endeavor kind of pointless.
Very good information, great sharing.
Thanks you from Katy Texas 👍
I've never had quail. My parents fed milk & cottage cheese to chickens(if you have cow or goat you milk). Also table scraps. Sprouted or fermented seed & or grain may be an option. Also scraps from butchering.
In a shtf environment... A chicken tractor type apiary... All spring, summer and fall. In the winter we would have to utilize stored grain / protein. Caned meat and milled grain
Don't forget most flies are f crazy high protein in maggot form ... All of your trash will grow magots to feed and a simple hanging bucket with holes will feed for you
Mosquitoes like to lay eggs in any standing water. I imagine that larva would be good too
Surprisingly I have found that beer is the answer! Not the actual beer, but the byproducts from production. The used hops still have SO MUCH protein to offer. Now it's going to smell like hops. It's kind of a sour smell, but where I live I can get a barrel of spent hops for $25 plus a $10 refundable deposit for the barrel. It weighs about 300lbs so I can only get a few barrels each trip with my trailer.
Obviously this won't be available if a nuke drops or something like that, but it's a cheap form of stinky protein for the birds. Call a brewery near you!
If it doesn't spoil, stock up on them. If a nuke drops, I don't think that they will be in a hurry to get them back.
I take corn flakes and oatmeal grind it up add wild bird seed. They love it and mixed salad.
corn flakes are processed - look out!
This is the exact question I was thinking the other day as I was sitting in the middle of my property looking at all these birds I have … like seriously…
My quail are more picky than my chickens though. I haven’t had them long but they turn their nose up at any food that isn’t bought from the produce store…
Dang that was cool they hammered the tadpoles
What will they eat I the winter ???? That's wild.
Great info🎉 around here, I eat half the eggs and the other half go into the incubator...😂😂😂😂
Thanks for mentioning the tadpoles and fish from the river. I hadn't even considered that. I raise guppies so maybe I can give them the fry??
Its surprisingly hard to find information on what they like to eat besides some veggies. It'd be nice to know what greens like tree leaves and weeds they would like but I can't find much at all.
I grow lettuce and comfrey and sometimes a tray of buckwheat or millet (only a few inches tall though, not full grown) for mine but I should look for a local area to forage weeds and wild greens, I don't have many in my yard.
You can also feed them bread in a pinch but it doesn't do much for them and you shouldn't do it often. Itll at least make them full for a lil bit. It just isn't great nutritionally and i think it might affect blood sugars. So only do a bit and rarely.
You feed comfrey? What backing? This would be great for me to know if any comfrey would be ok!! I can grow that. You can also grow duckweed pretty easy. This has been what I have been thinking lately. I think about this kind of thing a lot. If you get a container of water. You can grow duckweed and gambushia pretty easily. Both would be food sources for a bunch if things. Your birds, your birds food like bsfl. Your compost and plants. My biggest worry with these so far. Is if I don't have electricity or chickens.... reproduction becomes my problem since they don't really brood as I understand it.
By any comfrey, I really mean also every comfrey.
Also, just a note. Guppies are edible, but something like Goldfish are not for anyone thinking they could switch that to goldfish. 😊
@@nictnt8197 sorry i didn't get a notification for this. Yea i feed comfrey, idk the kind, but its the kind that permapasture farms here on youtube sells. Its a nice broad leaf. It grows pretty easily and i believe even propogating it is easy since he sells so much, i haven't tried myself yet. I only have 1 live plant right now and 10 roots buried everywhere trying to wake up since i planted them late.
@@h.s.6269 awesome!! Thanks.
Very good video, thank you, just subscribed
Thanks. Thinking about alternate food.
That may work for you year round, but I doubt if much of that will be available when there is 24" - 36" of snow on the ground.
Have to plan ahead and save lots of seeds and raise bugs for the winter. Can freeze eggs (scrambled/raw) then cook them all winter. Dry strawberries, peas, beans.
Take beans, any beans, grains like rye, millet and einkorn (high protein) and ferment them. Give them nuts like cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts and berries and apples. The one thing I was always missing is fish or shrimp. Bugs don’t cut it in an emergency. I don’t give feed either. GMO and full of toxic preservatives. Kale and leafy greens are good as well as certain grain grasses that are easy to forage.
Very good ideas! Thanks!
Yes, amaranth definitely (high protein and complete in nutrients) and small sunflowers; plus worm farm in a plastic tote. But also, store some small grains in mylar bags with oxy absorbers, just like you would do for yourself: millet, amaranth, split peas (you can crush these even smaller at feeding time) quinoa, barley, even oats -- all can be crushed at feeding time. Grasshoppers are premium for raising the chicks: plant a small strip or flower bed of plants that attract grasshoppers. I'm looking at getting quail but next year before I get them I plan to get infrastructure in place, and that includes planting sustainable crops for them. I plan to buy very little if any feed. Same for my chickens. It makes financial sense, not to mention SHTF. Also, get a small solar generator that is capable of keeping your incubators going.
Great ideas! I'm wondering if Iguanas would be a good source of protein for them. If so, they are ABUNDANT and free for the taking. ;-)
Mealworms are super easy to raise in an bin indoors, just feed them oats, bran and veggie scraps.
Like minded urban prepper in southwest Florida. Looking to join a community for SHTF.
I'm not near any urban areas. It's all suburban here, so I'm assuming you are Sarasota or Fort Myers, so we're not in close proximity to each other. I don't know of any groups in either area, but there likely is. Finding them is the trick. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. I'll be putting out several more videos the next couple months.
How would you reproduce them without electricity? They rarely go broody in captivity.
Thanks for sharing!
By the way, what are those plants in your container ponds???
Looks like water lettuce.
This video was amazing! Thank you for the help.
Any ideas for those living in the hot desert areas? Barely anything grows here, nothing to forage cos there is no rain... We have vacuum sealed some commercial feed with oxygen remover bags. It should keep the feed good for at least 2 years if done correctly.
Chaya might do OK growing in the desert with occasional watering. Can feed fresh or boiled and dried and crumbled. Try setting up something that you can harvest insect larvae with. Any kind of common weed is worth a try and if there are ant or any other insect colonies scattered around, give that a look.
You should look into starting a mealworm colony. I do this for my chickens and will be feeding my future quail with them
Great ideas! Thanks for the video.
Wonder if crickets would be easy to raise for quail food???
quail love to eat crickets!
Nice video!
Azolla plants reproduce like crazy. They are floating water ferns and often are used for food.
Thanks for posting this. I'm looking for raising on pasture but noticed most videos of pasture raised have feeders in the tractors. That's not pasture raised in my book.
Apparently, pasture alone is not sufficient, but I hear that it makes a huge difference.
@@hal7ter Thanks Emma. I appreciate your comment. I since found they need high protein. Which they in the wild would get from bugs & not necessarily in a pasture. Maybe I can supply them with worms as a substitute instead of buying a commercial feed
Thank to you for this!
LOOK to azolla and duckweed........both high protien and floats on a shallow pond
Sorghum is high in protein, but provides an abundance of seeds.
Have you ever raised Meal worms that you can buy alive? They seem extremely easy to raise and I assume rich in protein.
black soldier flys are another high protien option
I used dog cages as chicken tractors . had some FAT chickens!
Could you do something equivalent to a chicken tractor for quail so they can scavenge on the ground? I wouldn’t leave them out alone because of their size and probability of predators on them. I had small ones for my chickens when they were pullets and it worked great for a short time each day until they were old enough to free range.
Great video, subscribed.
Good ideas, thank you !
Don't they eat azolla and duckweed?
I don't have any quial yet was thinking of feeding any suitable table scraps then growing hydroponic dandylion, white clover and grass because they can grow and reproduce quickly and can be regrow when cut. Then meal worms and ant farm for protein, and take eggs shells bake them and blend them for grit and calcium. Then for nutrients for hydroponics system use wood ash and quial poop/ to make a "tea" for nutrients for hydroponics plants nitrogen, postasium, phosphorus and minerals. I don't have any birds yet any comments on this method am I missing anything or doing anything wrong?
Just a small bit of info, quail eat a lot, compared to body size. They are animals that definitely have a appetite. That said, you might need to use all those methods in large quantities if you have any amount of quail.
I reccomend grabbing some regular pellet feed as well as taking those actions to supplement pellet feed.
Groups of quail have different tastes, for some reason. Some quail love chia sprouts, some wont touch it. It would be nice to have pellet feed for those picky one.
@@highwaytoquail754 yeah will probably feed a commercial feed when grid up and stock extra for grid down. Just thinking about what's after that if I can't buy grain an do I run out, I'm thinking of maybe getting meat rabbits instead because they will do better without grain, but they eat alot as well. Hard to decide.
@@mr.falcon5946 I've heard cat food somewhere too. The dry kibble. I don't know, so don't feed it without research but seems like I heard that mentioned.
Sounds like a good plan. You just have to experiment and try things. Important to be able to store at least several days worth so you're not a slave to the quail every day.
@@TheFloridaprepper during winter here, had 5 or 6 days going down to -30 Celsius (-22 F) so daily visits are a must on those days. Was doing 2 to 3 visits per day at the coldest. To grab eggs prior to splitting open frozen. If they aren't dirty, I'll eat them personally if I can get them cooked without much delay. Cracked eggs though also allow me to boil them, grind shells and everything and gone back to Quail as feed. Containing all the nutrients needed for eggs production.
Speaking if cold, think I might have lost a day 14 hatch last night 😔 due to power outtage and my power inverter crapped out on me so the incubator went down to 20 Celsius for about a couple hours. Might have survived, might not have.
For tadpoles you could look into keeping frogs
How do you know they are cuban tree frog tadpoles.
They've been doing it in there for years. I've caught them in the act.
Oo ok. I have tadpoles but idk what kind. I’ve had many native tree frogs too so idk what kind they might be.
I wonder if they like Poke berries? It’s a native Florida plant with plenty of berries that birds will eat.
Great ideas! Thanks!
Thank you sir
How do you not have fruit flies in and around the bird or cage.
There will definitely be some flies. If you keep it dry underneath and hang a flypaper or 2 it keeps them under control.
making a mealworm farm to supply them would be the way to go I think, along with weeds and veggies from the garden.
I know it sounds disgusting, and lord knows it smelt disgusting, but when we had chickenswe tried the method of hanging a bit o meat up in the coop, the flies laid eggs on it, they hatched and when the maggots dropped to the ground the hens would get them...only trouble was, all the hens wanted to do was sit underneath waiting for the maggots to drop..lazy little buggers stopped foraging! I've also hear nettles are good...........Do you think quail would eat fish heads?
I wonder if they would eat Comfrey. I know I used to feed it to my meat rabbits. Very high in protein
Here is a list of seed bearing flowers that quail eat.
Alliums, Asters, Black-eyed Susans, Blanket flowers, Coneflowers, Coreopsis, Cornflowers, Cosmos, Daisies, Dandelions, Evening primroses, Goldenrods, Hibiscus, Marigolds, Moss, roses, Poppies, Sedum, Sunflowers, Violets, Zinnias
What do quail eggs taste like are they like chicken eggs
Very much like chicken eggs. Maybe slightly richer tasting.
As the Florida prepper said, they are richer. 4=1 chicken egg. Use just like a chicken egg. Less cholesterol, from what I read people who are allergic to chicken eggs generally can eat quail eggs, make sure you research that on your own to verify that. I have both chickens and quail, my husband and son prefer quail eggs.
@@ljtminihomestead5839 cholesterol is not an issue. It never was, it was a lie from the start. your body takes what it needs, and thats it.
Have you tried duckweed? It’s easy to grow. High protein and chicken like it.
❤️ thank you!
Thank you
good info
Those are some great ideas
When I am composting I get maggots in the beginning too
I have the kiddie tents and could put them back in the garage at night because of raccoons. In the north maybe use sprouted sprouting seeds.
Quail love ants.....I have a ton of ants in my grass. They're better than an anteater.
Seriously? Those are the one pest that no animal likes to eat, if I can feed em to quails I'll be set!
Are you serious!? Do you think they would be able to take on fire ants. Cus I am super worried about fire ants!!
sorry, fire ants, no; we don't have fire ants in the NE, thank God
@@just_ducky_acres7561 ok. I figured that might be the case. They are just the WORST!!!!
My name is robert and im looking for information on feeding quail seut , is it ok or should i stay away? The reason being is its starting to get cold here in missouri and was wondering if it is too much at once or not
@@robertowens746 I don't know anything about seut. Sorry.
@TheFloridaprepper ok thanks all I know is it's fat mixed with seeds
@TheFloridaprepper ok thanks
I research and found '"FODDER"" FOR ALL ANIMALS, grows in one week, oats, barley, wheat, sunflower seeds, anything seeds starter in water, takes only 7-8 days to grow and they love it, I started with Oats, many use Barley.. but it is a supper way to feed your animals,,supplimentary, (if that is a word.) hagd..
Not many seeds for this once shtf
I think about this a lot too. You would have to grow something with a high seed yield that could be used for this purpose. Lettuces would work if you had the ability, sunflowers. Corn would take a lot of space to ot be using for yourself. But it would work for that....
Amaranth and Broccoli. Both will give you tons of seeds to make fodder year around. Of course it's work to save the seeds but for shtf you gotta have a plan.
Oh! Also, dandelion would be good for this too I think. A perennial and the seeds are easy to collect.
Greens should only be a small part of the diet. 80% seeds and 20% protein. But you can soak and ferment seeds to make them more digestible and easier for them to eat.
I wonder if it's really true that you can't feed them kitchen waste like you might chickens?
Mine never ate it, just the bugs that showed up to eat it.