Change my mind

[AGDependentFarm]

So true. And honestly, I'd say most of my long-term birds are the 'middle of the road' path; I normally give them a handful of fresh mealworms daily alongside the layer feed. What's interesting is the mealworm raising group on Facebook. Other than commercial mealworm breeders, most large production is due to folks raising quail.

Im interested in starting a mealworm farm to help offset feed...

 

[Nabiki]

I had no idea quail people raised so many mealworms! Do you have the name of the Facebook group? Mealworms are one thing I’d like to try my hand at once it gets warmer here.

Mealworms are pretty high in fat, so you want to feed those sparingly. Black solditfly larvae are better, and they have calcium in them too.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

I had no idea quail people raised so many mealworms! Do you have the name of the Facebook group? Mealworms are one thing I’d like to try my hand at once it gets warmer here.

This is the main mealworm raising group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263030383739738
And they have one for advanced: https://www.facebook.com/groups/advancedmealwormfarmers

I've been meaning to post about raising mealworms. Maybe this will spur me to finally get around to it. Have patience. It took me over a year to learn the ropes (beware of grain mites, especially in humid areas like Hawaii) but once I got a system in place, it's been a constant and growing supply. You'll catch on faster than I did, though. The folks on the Facebook forum are very helpful.

 

[HipMystic]

Mealworms are pretty high in fat, so you want to feed those sparingly. Black solditfly larvae are better, and they have calcium in them too.

Not gonna lie, I completely forgot about black soldier fly larva, I wanted to try those too!

This is the main mealworm raising group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263030383739738
And they have one for advanced: https://www.facebook.com/groups/advancedmealwormfarmers

I've been meaning to post about raising mealworms. Maybe this will spur me to finally get around to it. Have patience. It took me over a year to learn the ropes (beware of grain mites, especially in humid areas like Hawaii) but once I got a system in place, it's been a constant and growing supply. You'll catch on faster than I did, though. The folks on the Facebook forum are very helpful.

Thank you I’ll check it out!

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Not gonna lie, I completely forgot about black soldier fly larva, I wanted to try those too!

Thank you I’ll check it out!

Honestly I envy @Nabiki. It seems like black soldier fly larvae would be even easier to grow, seeing as how they occasionally show up in my compost. However, my birds see the stinky compost larvae and look at me like, "I suppose you think I'll eat that, huh?" FWIW, they also didn't really like the commercial dried ones I bought for them once.

By one analysis, dried mealworms have a fat content of 28% and live mealworms have fat content of 13%. Despite appearing to be higher in fat, dried mealworms’ fat percentage changes once moisture is restored, either within or before eaten by a bird.
source: https://eugene.wbu.com/mealworms-article

To be honest, the one thing that seems to make my birds fat is feeding them game bird feed once they're past 12 weeks or so. Given that game bird feed costs more anyway, it wasn't much of a decision to switch to layer feed once they got older.

 

[ButtonNomies]

I have buttons for breeding, these have little use as meat or for eggs to eat (u can eat them there's just not much there) so I mainly breed for colours for aviaries or other hobbyists.

I have tried layers pellets and found I had less egg production and more poop production, their habitats needed cleaning out more often and the birds seemed less energetic.

I've put them back on a complete seed mix specifically designed for buttons and have had less waste and more egg production on this feed. The layers pellets were 20% protein... im not sure about the seed/pellets mix theyre on now but they're definately healthier and happier on it than the layers xx

 

[ButtonNomies]

This is the complete feed xx

 

[AGDependentFarm]

This is the complete feed xxView attachment 3374130

I think the shipping on this one makes it unobtainable.....

 

[The Birb King]

Mealworms are pretty high in fat, so you want to feed those sparingly. Black solditfly larvae are better, and they have calcium in them too.

What about crickets? I used to breed mealworms for my chickens but I wonder how crickets would do for my quail and chickens

 

[Nabiki]

What about crickets? I used to breed mealworms for my chickens but I wonder how crickets would do for my quail and chickens

The little research I've done on crickets implies that they would be a good source of protein. I would need to do more research before I would say one way or another. When in doubt, act like it's a treat.