VitaMix FoodCycler to make augmented chicken/Quail feed

[cgshirley]

Hiya!

I have a flock of quail and a friend gave me a Vitamix FoodCycler.

And I got the idea from this composting company started by Google Nest folks called Mill to use the FC to make chicken or quail feed with it.

Not as the only source of food but as an alternate source.

It heats it up, dehydrates it and grinds it up, and you end up with powder that is similar to the crumble I feed my quails.

Right now, I'm picky about what I put it, but for instance, I tried throwing a bones from a chicken that I used to make stock with, along with some bones from a roasted duck, and it processed it nicely into a powder that looked very similar to what they eat already.

I've just started this exploration, but really otherwise there's no way I can augment a diet for quail since they are picky and can eat only crumble.

I wanted to share and see if anyone else has tried this or has thoughts.

 

[Debbie292d]

How lucky for you to get one free!

This goes beyond composting. Compost is generally good or okay for poultry, so I'd think provided all you were putting into it were food scraps that were safe for them, then why not?

The only thing I'd worry about is not giving them too much of it as it won't have the nutrition they get in their regular food. It also could have too much of something if you, for instance, put in a lot of high-calcium things like eggshells and the bones you spoke of, then feed a lot of this to them; they could be getting too much.