Compound feed - a nutritious mixture based on grain raw materials, enriched with proteins, vitamins, minerals. Such food allows quails to gain weight, grow and multiply actively. Manufacturers of combined feeds offer both universal mixes and those intended for a certain "target audience" - chicks, layers, adults, fed for meat.
Feed Benefits
Using compound feed in feeding livestock, you get a lot of benefits:
- Save time on cooking.
- The bird receives full nutrition - it grows quickly and carries many eggs.
- Quails grow healthy, get a lot of energy, give a strong and numerous offspring.
- Compound feed is easy to keep and convenient to give to the bird.
- It makes it easier to control the amount of food taken - you are sure that all quails have received their portion.
When choosing feed, you need an individual approach - the direction of poultry farming (meat / eggs) and the age of the bird. At the same time, the three-stage feed system “start-growth-finish”, which allows you to feed quail from the first days to the slaughter, looks extremely convenient.
The disadvantages of feed
There is only one drawback with compound feeds - their cost. You have to pay for convenience and efficiency - feeding with compound feed is more expensive than with components purchased separately.
What does compound feed consist of?
Consider the main components of feed for quail.
Squirrels
Protein is needed:
- chicks - for active growth;
- laying hens - to maintain health during the period of active laying.
Quail protein intake:
- A nestling, only having hatched from an egg, should receive food with 24-27% protein. This norm is observed for 30 days. Proteins must be of two types - animal and vegetable.
- Having crossed the monthly line, quail requires a little less protein - 17-24%. This norm is valid for two weeks.
- Adult birds that go for meat require food containing 16-17% protein.
- Layers - about 21% protein.
Carbohydrates
From the amount of carbohydrates received by the bird along with the feed, its energy depends. Errors in the selection of feed lead to a decrease in growth and reproduction.
The main source of energy in feed is cereals. For the preparation of grain mixtures usually use:
- corn;
- millet;
- barley;
- wheat.
Oats in combination feed should be treated with caution. Unpeeled oats are especially dangerous - their shells can clog the chicks' esophagus, which will lead to illness and even death of the brood.
Other nutritional supplements
Additives help to replenish compound feed with minerals, amino acids and vitamins:
- cake and meal from soybean and sunflower seeds - sources of vitamins E and B;
- yeast - a source of enzymes and vitamins, pantothenic acid;
- green food;
- meat and bone meal - makes up for protein needs;
- salt is an important mineral for quail;
- fish meal - contains a lot of protein, amino acids and fat;
- chalk and crushed limestone are sources of calcium.
Compound feed for quail can differ in comprehensibility, calorie content and balance.
Industrial type of feed
Beginning poultry farmers are especially attracted to purchased feeds, who are afraid to feed their pets with home-made mixtures. Experienced farmers use both food options:
- buy industrial feed;
- prepare feed mixtures on their own.
Industrial feed sold in packages. See the quail feeding scheme for various compound feeds:
We also consider each type of complete feed for quail separately.
For chicks
Starter feeds are needed for hatched chicks. Young animals feed them up to 21 days. Preparing starter food is a difficult task, it is better to buy it. There will be few expenses - the chicks eat little, but there will be a guarantee that they will receive a complete diet. Even a slight deviation from the composition can adversely affect the development of the bird. For quail chicks they sell such feeds:
- Pc 5-41 - Complete starter feed. Groats 3 x 3 mm. They are fed from the first day of life to the 4th week. Forms cellular and humoral immunity, accelerates the gain in live weight. It consists of corn, wheat, soybean meal, sunflower meal, fish meal, fodder yeast, limestone, fodder phosphates and vegetable oil. Also in the composition - vitamin - mineral mixture, antioxidant, amino acids, enzymes and antibacterial complex.
- Pc 6-6 - feed for repair young animals. Give at 4-6 weeks. It differs from the starting feed by the presence of corn gluten, wheat bran, vegetable fat, soda and a mold inhibitor. The remaining ingredients repeat the composition of the starting feed.
- Pc 3-8 - polnoratsionny granulated feed from natural products. Give at 5-6 weeks. The composition is similar to the previous one, but the components are selected in different proportions. PK 3-8 feed is intended for young animals raised on an egg, so it contains more calcium, sodium, and chlorine.
When feeding young animals, any food is soaked with water.
For adult birds
Growth compound feed is given to quail from 21 days. Feeding is carried out until the age of 1.5 months. When choosing feed, take into account the direction of breeding - for egg or meat:
- PC 1-24 - give laying hens in the productive period. Grain feed 3 x 3 mm. It consists of wheat, soybean oil, soybean and sunflower meal. The composition also includes phytase, multi-enzyme and vitamin-mineral complexes, and an antibacterial drug.
- DK 52-4 - croup 2-3 mm. Complete feed for laying hens is given from the 7th week. It consists of wheat, bran, corn, meal, salt, fish meal and fish oil. The composition also includes the enzyme Bacell, soda, lime flour, and other components.
- PK-1P - Recommended quail meat breeds. It can be given from 22 days. High-calorie, balanced and easily digestible food. Recommended to mix with herbs. The composition includes grain, grain processing products, meal, corn, proteins and vegetable fats. Enriched with premix.
- DK-52 - compound feed for laying hens. Give from the 7th week. It is made in the form of grains. Improves poultry productivity and strengthens the shell. Balanced feed, providing a productivity of 85-90%.
- DK-53 - for birds intended for fattening for meat. Granular complete feed for fattening from the 7th week. The composition is standard - cereals, bran, meal, etc. A complete set of vitamins, antioxidants and bioactive substances.
Homemade feed: recipes
Home-made feed for quail will cost less than industrial. Beginner farmers use recipes from experienced poultry farmers. As quails are bred, most poultry farmers have their own recipe.
The basis of home feed is cereals, they add minerals, fruits and vegetables.
It is important to prepare the ingredients correctly:
- clean fruits and vegetables from rot;
- rinse in water, and then cook for 45 minutes, changing the water;
- cool and grind to a pulp consistency.
The onion or garlic husk should not get into the feed - it can clog the quail esophagus.
In the video below, the specialist tells how to prepare compound feed for quail from inexpensive ingredients that are on any collective farm market:
Recipes for adult quail
In order for quail to grow and not to hurt, they should not eat only grain. A prerequisite is the presence of protein (22%) and trace elements.
Recipe number 1. Table 1 - product standards for the preparation of 1 kg of feed.
Table 1
The product's name | Weight g |
chopped wheat | 300 |
cake | 170 |
chopped corn and barley | 150 |
wheat bran | 70 |
small shell and fodder yeast | 30 |
fish and meat and bone meal | 20 |
unrefined peas and sunflower oil | 20 |
a piece of chalk | 13 |
premix | 10 |
salt | 2 |
All ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Food is served to birds in the form of a mash, it can be dry or wet. Pour water or yogurt right before the feed is dispensed. The consumption of home feed made according to this recipe is 1 kg for 40 days (for one quail).
Recipe number 2. This is an alternative to high corn. Table 2 shows the proportions of the ingredients.
table 2
The product's name | Content% |
corn | 40-42 |
wheat | 16 |
soybean meal | 10 |
sunflower meal | 10 |
meat and bone meal | 5 |
fish flour | 5 |
chalk and shells | 6 |
yeast | 4 |
grass meal | 2 |
You can add flax and hemp seeds - quail love them very much. It is also recommended to introduce salt and premix - at 0.5%.
Laying recipes
Egg quail should receive special nutrition. On a day they are supposed to at least 30 g of feed. If the poultry farmer wants to get quality eggs, hen needs to be provided with protein - it should be 26% in the feed. The following must be present in the feed for laying hens:
- basis - compound feed or cereals;
- proteins - for example, soybeans, peas, lentils, slaughtered poultry blood;
- calcium - eggshell;
- additionally - plant seeds, barley flour, fish roe, bones and offal, maggots and meat and bone flies;
- minerals - shells and yeast;
- vitamins - potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots.
If digestive problems are observed in laying layers, rice is added to the feed. Quail is also useful for quail.
Recipe number 1. An example of a recipe for layers. Table 3 shows the percentage of ingredients.
Table 3
The product's name | Content% |
sunflower meal | 12 |
soybean meal | 7 |
wheat and corn equally | 55 |
peas | 3 |
a piece of chalk | 1 |
sunflower oil | 1 |
fodder yeast | 5 |
bone flour | 5 |
All ingredients are thoroughly mixed. You can add a premix.
Recipe number 2. Calcium-fed quail hens feed.
Table 4
The product's name | Weight, kg |
powdered milk | 4 |
corn | 20 |
wheat | 19 |
yeast | 6 |
millet | 12 |
bone flour | 12 |
sunflower meal | 5 |
ground shells | 2 |
The composition can include minerals - chalk or crushed shells.
Chicken Recipes
Recipe number 1. Chick food is prepared from crushed cereals.
Table 5
The product's name | Weight g |
Wheat groats | 100 |
corn | 400 |
barley | 100 |
unrefined sunflower oil | 5 |
bone flour | 10 |
salt | 10 |
a piece of chalk | 10 |
This amount of feed is designed to feed the chick for a month. The food is given dry or soaked. This is the basis of the diet of little quail. It is recommended to add to it from time to time:
- greens - dill and parsley;
- crushed eggshell;
- minced meat - fish or meat, low-fat cottage cheese.
From 14 days gravel and small shells are introduced into the diet.
Recipe number 2. This recipe is universal, it is suitable for both chicks and mature birds.
Table 6
The product's name | Weight, kg |
corn | 40 |
cake | 5 |
wheat | 15 |
fish flour | 10 |
meat and bone meal | 12 |
yeast | 4 |
herbal flour | 3 |
salt | 0,3 |
shell rock | 2 |
Features of feeding chicks
It is recommended that chicks be fed the first weeks with premixes and protein-mineral supplements. When the quails grow up, they are given starter feed.
The first few days the chicks are fed boiled eggs - they are crushed and mixed with cereals - oat or wheat. In a ratio of 1: 3. Next, millet porridge and yogurt are introduced into the diet of the kids. Also, daily quails are given:
- grated carrots;
- greenery;
- eggshell.
Chicks can be given cottage cheese not earlier than from the second day, and only 2 g each, boiled fish - from the fifth day.
When feeding chicks, adhere to such rules:
- quail must always have clean water to drink;
- water is poured first into shallow containers - for example, plastic lids, and later into drinking bowls;
- for disinfection, it is useful to give a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- food should be at room temperature;
- in the first week, chicks are fed 5 times a day, in the second - 4 times, in the third week - 3 times;
- food leftovers should not remain for longer than two hours.
What other quail recipes are there?
Recipe number 1. With carrots. Compound feed for adult birds:
Table 7
The product's name | Weight g |
carrot | 100 |
wheat | 200 |
sunflower meal | 100 |
soybean meal | 50 |
meat and bone meal | 30 |
fodder yeast | 30 |
sunflower oil | 10 |
Recipe number 2. With beets and other vegetables.
Table 8
The product's name | Weight g |
beet | 100 |
boiled potatoes | 50 |
cabbage | 100 |
millet | 200 |
semolina | 200 |
meat and bone meal | 50 |
Recipe number 3. With eggs. Table 9 shows the norms of products per 5 boiled eggs.
Table 9
The product's name | Weight g |
cottage cheese | 100 |
fodder yeast | 50 |
vegetable oil | 10 |
Recipe number 4. With minced fish.
Table 10
The product's name | Weight g |
millet | 100 |
oatmeal | 100 |
cottage cheese | 100 |
minced fish | 100 |
What quail need trace elements?
Each trace element affects a specific body system. For example:
- Calcium - the basis of the skeleton. 97% of the total mass of the shell is precisely calcium. And the mass of the shell is 7-8% of the total mass of the quail egg. Without calcium, egg production decreases, and the shell loses its strength.
- Phosphorus - an integral part of the skeleton. Responsible for energy processes in cells.
- Magnesium - is part of the shell and body fluids. Activates enzymatic processes.
- Sulfur - its lack leads to poor plumage.
- Iron - its lack slows down bird growth, anemia develops.
- Copper - Stimulates processes in the bone marrow. If copper is not enough, egg production drops, bones are deformed.
- Zinc - is part of the hormone insulin. If zinc is not enough, quails are stunted, become nervous, they have poor plumage.
- Manganese - if the chicks lack it, their tibia develops poorly, and the tendons are deformed.
- Iodine - stimulates the organs of oviposition. Lack reflects on hatchability. Pen drop out.
- Cobalt necessary for sexual activity and activation of oviposition.
- Selenium - boosts immunity.
- Sodium - without enough, growth and development are disrupted.
- Chlorine - affects the activity of digestion.
- Potassium - an important component of cells. Its deficiency leads to stunted growth and increased mortality.
The need for quail, depending on age, for the elements is shown in table 11.
Table 11
Items | Units measuring | Age (in weeks) | ||
until 6 | 6-12 | more than 12 | ||
calcium | % | 1,3 | 0,6 | 4,5 |
phosphorus | — | 0,75 | 0,6 | 0,7 |
magnesium | — | 0,02 | 0,04 | 0,04 |
potassium | — | 0,3 | 0,3 | 0,5 |
manganese | mg / kg | 90 | 90 | 90 |
selenium | — | 1 | 1 | 1 |
iodine | — | 0,4 | 1,2 | 1,2 |
zinc | — | 65 | 75 | 75 |
iron | — | 8 | 20 | 20 |
copper | — | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Nutritional norms according to age
Quails, as they grow, change feed. Depending on the number of weeks lived, quail requires a certain amount of food and nutrients. Table 12 shows the feed compositions for quails of different age groups. Table 13 - the norms of nutrients obtained by the bird when feeding compound feeds of the specified composition.
Table 12
Recipe Composition | up to 35 days,% | 35-42 day,% | more than 42% |
Wheat | 15 | 15,15 | 10 |
Corn | 35,1 | 39 | 46,19 |
Sunflower seed cake | 9 | 11 | 18 |
Soybean meal | 35 | 29 | 14,3 |
Monocalcium phosphate | 1,3 | 1,3 | 0,7 |
a piece of chalk | 2,8 | 2,8 | 5,7 |
Common salt | 0,41 | 0,41 | 0,41 |
Lysine | 0,17 | 0,21 | 0,17 |
Methionine | 0,22 | 0,13 | 0,03 |
Premix P-5 (with enzymes) | 1 | 1 | — |
Shell | — | — | 4 |
Premix P-1-22 | — | — | 1 |
Table 13
Guaranteed Performance | up to 35 days,% | 35-42 day,% | more than 42% |
Humidity | 12,5 | 12,5 | 12,5 |
Crude fiber | 4,5 | 5,1 | 5,4 |
Crude protein | 21,5 | 20,2 | 17,2 |
Crude fat | 6,5 | 5,4 | 4,9 |
Exchange energy, kcal | 305 | 281 | 283 |
Methionine + cystine | 0,96 | 0,78 | 0,63 |
Methionine | 0,61 | 0,47 | 0,34 |
Lysine | 1,3 | 1,2 | 0,9 |
Threonine | 0,68 | 0,74 | 0,63 |
Calcium | 1 | 1,3 | 3,5 |
Phosphorus common | 0,75 | 0,75 | 0,74 |
Sodium | 0,18 | 0,2 | 0,2 |
How can supplement feed in different seasons?
The development of quail is influenced by the length of daylight hours. Long daylight hours, combined with complete feeding, promotes sexual development and early egg laying. If there is a shortage of sun, it is important to provide quails, and especially females, with vitamin D. Compound feeds, depending on the season, are enriched with vitamins and minerals, adding appropriate ingredients to them.
Spring-summer season
As soon as the first greens appear, chopped green mass should be added to the homemade feed.Such an additive will replenish the diet of birds with vitamins and minerals.
In the summer, vegetables are added to the quail menu. In the feed you can add:
- carrot;
- cabbage;
- beets;
- spinach.
In the spring and summer, it is useful for both chicks and adults to feast on earthworms.
Autumn-winter season
The closer to winter, the fewer vitamins a bird gets. In winter there is no green food, the intake of vitamins is reduced, daylight hours are reduced. To support the health and energy of birds, fortified ingredients are added to the feed. An approximate recipe for winter feed, g:
- oatmeal, wheat, barley - 12 g each;
- forcemeat - meat / fish, or cottage cheese - 12 g;
- chalk, shell, shells - 3 g;
- cabbage or carrots - unlimited;
- sunflower meal.
To replenish the diet with vitamins, it is also recommended to add:
- dry herbs - nettle, clover, alfalfa;
- sprouted oats;
- green onion.
Compound feed waste
Compound feed of industrial production is necessarily enriched with vitamins and minerals. If you do the food yourself, it is difficult to achieve the exact ratio of the ingredients. But it’s easy to make vitamin top dressing - vegetable and fruit waste is used for its preparation. Useful and economical. As a fortified dressing suitable:
- peel of carrots;
- beet peel;
- cabbage leaves;
- greenery;
- peel of apples;
- peeling pumpkin.
Before adding waste to feed, you need to:
- rinse cleaning;
- cut rot;
- pour into a pan and turn on a slow fire - this is necessary for disinfection, so that dangerous microbes and bacteria die;
- mash the mixture and add to the feed.
Makukha for compound feed
Makukha - waste oil production. It is used in almost all feed recipes.
If you are preparing the mixture yourself, then it is useful to know what happens as a mackerel, and how it differs:
Soya makukha
Even finely crushed soybean is poorly absorbed by birds. Soy waste is more likely to harm quails. When choosing a makuki, the following indicators are important:
- Protein - it should be at least 38%, the more the better.
- Urease - an enzyme, on the contrary, it should be as small as possible. When the urease content is more than 0.15%, makukha will damage the chicks. Exceeding the norm can even lead to the death of the chicks.
Urease can be neutralized by heating, which occurs during the extraction of oil. You can only take soya bean from sellers who produce the product themselves and can check how much urease is in it.
Sunflower
When choosing a makukha, you need to pay attention to color. Suitable product is light brown. Roasted fodder is taken for mixed fodder - it can be recognized by its delicious "pome" smell.
What other feed additives are there?
So that the bird grows better, and home feed is well absorbed, various additives are introduced into it:
- Limestone (feed chalk). The standard rate is 3.5%. Needed to provide calcium for feed. Not every chalk is suitable - its fractions should be 2-3 mm in size. If there is no fodder chalk, you will have to use construction chalk or shell rock.
- Premixes - special vitamin and amino acid supplements. The content in the feed is 1-2%.
- BMVD - protein-mineral vitamin supplements. They contain amino acids and enzymes. Experienced breeders argue that BMVD should be added to feed all the time. The norm is 9.7%.
Mineral supplements
Minerals are a prerequisite for obtaining meat and eggs. Minerals are needed for metabolism and shell formation. Lack of minerals leads to thinning of the bones of the bird. Popular mineral feeds:
- Bone flour. The entire range of minerals is presented. Minus - low concentration of minerals.
- Limestone with marble chips. Calcium balances in the small intestine. Minus - big losses.
- No. 1. Chalk with coarse-grained limestone and shell.
- No. 2. Shell with limestone flour. Improves peristalsis of the small intestine. Minus - it is difficult to digest.
- No. 3. Limestone flour with shell and marble chips. The baby has abrasive properties. Minus - increases the acidity of the stomach.
- No. 4. Limestone with crushed shell and marble chips. Absorbs trace elements of other additives.
Animal additives
Feed made from the waste of meat and other parts of animals, fish and birds is a source of protein. For the manufacture of animal feed use flour:
- Meat and bone. The raw materials are the bodies of dead animals. Quail food is added starting from 4-1 weeks. Norm - 5%.
- The meat. Raw materials - waste from the internal organs of animals. Finished flour is introduced into the feed according to the norms of feeding.
- Blood Raw materials - blood, bones. It contains a lot of protein. The norm in the feed is 3%.
- Meat feather. They are made of feathers and internal organs of birds. Enter in feed compound up to 2% - to increase nutritional value.
- Fish. Prepared from fish waste. A lot of vitamins and amino acids. In the feed - up to 3%.
Additives of animal origin also include skimmed milk powder - it is used to feed young animals. Add to the chicks feed. The content in the feed is 3%.
Frequently asked Questions
Breeding quails is an interesting and profitable business. Beginners are gradually mastering the wisdom of poultry farming. Most often, they are interested in such questions:
- How much feed should a quail receive per day? One adult should receive 25-30 g of feed.
- How often is quail fed? Adults are fed 3-4 times a day.
- Must feed quail boiled eggs in the early days? No, if quails get enough protein and vitamins with food, then they will do without boiled eggs.
- How to mix feed? Most suitable concrete mixer.
- What is mycofix? It is an absorbent for mycotoxins. It is necessary if the grain is not high enough quality.
- Is it possible to do without soybean flakes? Yes, but then you’ll have to put more fishmeal, which is more expensive than macaque.
Even a beginner re-breeder will be able to prepare mixed feeds on their own. The most difficult thing is to maintain nutritional standards and adjust them depending on the age of the bird. In order for quail to receive a balanced diet, experienced farmers are advised to combine industrial and home mixed feeds.
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