A good basic food is chick crum, avilable from most pet shops. This should be supplimented with seed... a finch mix for example. Scatter the seed over the floor of the cage... to give them a bit of fun/exercise. Do not use a cockateal mix as most of this will be to large or tough for little quail.
Quail love greens, lettuce, young grass and watercress are among their favourites.
One very important thing that most newcomers to keeping quail overlook is the need for calcium. Hens need calcium to make their eggs and when you consider a hen can lay an egg every one or two days for months on end you begin to realise why she needs this suppliment. You can give this much needed calcium in two ways the first is by adding a calcium powder to their food or you can feed boiled hens egg mashed up (shell and all). I use this method as the quail love it and will tuck in straight away. Keep any excess in the fridge to keep it fresh (feed it every few days).
You can also feed meal worms as a treat, available from pet shops and easily bred at home.
Canaries also love egg and greens... I find them ideal companions for quail, as are Zebra finches. They are not aggressive and any spilt seed will be hovered up by the quail.
Also provide bird grit to aid diggestion and they love to dust bath in dry sand. |
