Questions ahead of my first flock!

[catesquire]

Hello! After weeks of lurking and reading posts/articles, I'm set to pick up my first two dozen jumbo brown eggs this coming weekend from a local breeder.

I had a few questions as I get ready to start my little flock:

1) I bought Purina Gamebird Starter (the 30% protein one) before I started coming across the "Purina is filler and sometimes fudges its numbers" comments in various posts. Any recommendations on an alternative brand that I can order through Tractor Supply or Chewy?

2) I'm seeing mixed thoughts on whether feeding 30% starter feed to adults is okay. What are the actual health effects of extra protein on adults? (I'll be supplementing oyster shell on the side for the ladies, so I'm not worried about calcium levels. I'm also in a place that regularly gets to -20 below, so was wondering if the extra protein would be better for them over the long long winter.)

3) I cannot find any one-bag foods that have the fat levels Nabiki's article recommends. Would supplementing with sunflower hearts work? What are other people doing to meet those levels?

4) Are prolapses genetic or flukes? AKA, if I'm breeding for good health, should I take any hen that's prolapsed out of the gene pool?

Thank you all in advance, and for having so much excellent information on this forum for a quail newbie to find!

 

[muddy75]

 

[Nabiki]

1 - Purina gamebird is often the best that people can find in their area, and it works. My main gripe with it is the smell. For some reason, the bird's poop stinks to high heavens on that feed. Personally, I like Bar Ale as a brand. My local feed store orders the Turkey/pheasant starter for me specifically. If yours carries Bar Ale feeds, you might see if they'll do the same.

2 - High protein as adults can lead to gout or other health problems. In the cold, it's not protein that will give them extra energy, but fat. A few mealworms might help with that since they are high in both protein and fat. Just remember that treats should be no more than 10% of their diet.

3 - Sunflower seeds or mealworms could be decent supplements for fat. The sunflowers will also help boos the methionine levels if your feed is a bit low.

4 - Prolapses might be genetic, but are more often the result of insufficient calcium or extra large eggs.

I hope this helps!

 

[catesquire]

That helps lots, thanks! <3

 

[catesquire]

Eggies are here! Ordered 24, seller tossed in an extra 4 on top (hurray!), ranging in weight from 15g to 20g (that's GOT to be a double yolker, but on the off chance it isn't, into the incubator with it).

Here's hoping I have good news in 17 days!

 

[catesquire]

Follow up: I have 14 adorable fluffy poop balls running around! Two of them are unexpected redheads, which is a delight.

(Don't read your food container, boys, that's called "foreshadowing".)

Did eggtopsies of the remaining eggs, and found 11 that were either infertile or very early quitters; of the other three, one was undersized so probably died a day or two from hatching, one never piped and didn't absorb it's yolk, and the last never piped and was HUGE and seemed to have had trouble turning. Definitely going to try to get a better hatch ratio the next time, but I was happy that almost all the chicks that developed made it to hatching, and so far everyone seems happy and healthy.