Quail kept in cages can find themselves going hungry if commercial feed is not available. Weather events, ingredient shortages, and supply chain upsets can all lead to empty feed shelves. There’s no need for your covey to suffer, especially when your local grocery store still has the basic ingredients your covey needs to survive! Here are 4 EASY emergency homemade quail feed recipes for short-term use that will keep your covey from starving:
Every recipe in this article was invented by, hand crafted by, and calculated by Tay Silver at the Silver Homestead. The recipes, in whole or in part, and all images are not to be used elsewhere online unless linking directly to this page. It is okay to pin the images to Pinterest.
Emergency Quail Feed Only – NOT For Long-Term Use
These feed recipes provide the 18% protein your adult covey needs but they are slightly too high in fat to be fed long-term. (No longer than 2 weeks.) These are truly emergency feeds when you have no other option than to offer a slightly fatty mix or let the covey starve. I invented these recipes myself because I wanted something I could mix up for the quail if our hurricane-prone area was struck and I was caught without enough commercial feed.
Quail Can Eat Cat Food
Cat food is too high in protein and fat for quail to eat long term. But if you crush dry cat kibble into crumble-like bits and mix it with seeds and grains, you can create a fairly balanced blend that quail will eat. (Chickens can also eat cat kibble as a high fat, high protein treat.) We are going to use this as a trick to help keep our quail fed.
Shopping List:
The recipe you use is going to depend on what is available at your local grocery store. Here is the shopping list:
Cat Food Dry Kibble at around 34% protein and 18% fat (fish or fish-meal as one of the first ingredients preferable but any type of adult cat food dry kibble around 34% protein is fine) – get 1 bag that is at least 4 pounds.
Wild Bird Seed Blend at 10% minimum protein and 5% fat (this classic mix typically contains black oil sunflower seeds, cracked corn, red milo seeds and white millet) – get 1 bag that is at least 4 pounds
Cracked Corn (sold on the pet food aisle as filler for wild bird feeders) – get 1 bag that is at least 4 pounds
Optional Substitution: Polenta. If cracked corn is not available on the pet food aisle, try to purchase polenta, which is ground corn grits for human consumption. Polenta is often found on the cereal aisle near Cream of Wheat products. You may also find coarse ground yellow corn meal available near the flour and corn meal on the baking aisle. Both of these corn products will produce a more powdery quail feed. Get at least two 1 pound (16 ounce) boxes, bags or pouches. Use pound-for-pound where cracked corn is called for in the recipes below.
Optional Substitution: Finch Blend Wild Bird Seed at around 12.5% protein and 13% fat (blend should contain primarily white millet with some nyjer seed, sunflower kernel chips/pieces and maybe tiny bits of cracked corn). Scroll down for the Finch Blend seed recipe (#4) if classic Wild Bird Seed is unavailable and get 1 bag that is at least 2 pounds.
Also Consider Buying: Whole dry Lentils from the bean & rice aisle. These are cheap and very easy to sprout in 5 to 7 days to provide your quail with fresh greens.
Wild Bird Seed, Corn & Oat Emergency Quail Feed Recipe #1:
The following recipe, when using dry cat food kibbles that are 34% protein and 18% fat, creates a feed blend that is 18% protein and 8.6% fat. Remember, this is too high in fat for long-term feeding but is suitable as an emergency feed.
1 pound wild bird seed
1 pound quick oats
1 pound cracked corn
1.5 pounds dry cat food kibble, crushed
Directions: Place the dry cat food kibble into a gallon sized ziplock bag and use a hammer or rolling pin to crush until the pieces resemble game bird crumbles. Set aside. Using a kitchen scale, measure out 1 pound of wild bird seed, quick oats and cracked corn. Place into a large bowl or bucket that is able to hold up to 5 pounds. Mix the grains together. Again using the kitchen scale, measure out 1.5 pounds of the crushed cat food and add it to the seed blend. Use a large stainless steel spoon to stir everything together. (It will be easiest to wash fishy cat food oils from stainless steel utensils.) Try to ensure the grain blend is dusted or coated in some of the cat food crumbs. Store in an airtight, rodent-proof container and feed to your quail as needed. Makes 4.5 pounds of emergency feed.
Wild Bird Seed + Corn Emergency Quail Feed Recipe #2:
This is a simpler blend using only pet food aisle ingredients. The following recipe, when using dry cat food kibbles that are 34% protein and 18% fat, creates a feed blend that is 18% protein and 8.56% fat. Remember, this is too high in fat for long-term feeding but is suitable as an emergency feed.
1 pound wild bird seed
1 pound cracked corn
1 pound dry cat food kibble, crushed
Directions: Place the dry cat food kibble into a gallon sized ziplock bag and use a hammer or rolling pin to crush until the pieces resemble game bird crumbles. Set aside. Using a kitchen scale, measure out 1 pound of wild bird seed and 1 pound of cracked corn. Place into a large bowl or bucket that is able to hold up to 3 pounds. Mix the grains together. Again using the kitchen scale, measure out 1 pound of the crushed cat food and add it to the seed blend. Use a large stainless steel spoon to stir everything together. Try to ensure the grain blend is dusted or coated in some of the cat food crumbs. Store in an airtight, rodent-proof container and feed to your quail as needed. Makes 3 pounds of emergency feed.
Wild Bird Seed + Cat Food Emergency Quail Feed Recipe #3:
This is our easiest, 2-ingredient emergency concoction. The following recipe, when using dry cat food kibbles that are 34% protein and 18% fat, creates a feed blend that is 18% protein and 9.33% fat. Remember, this is too high in fat for long-term feeding but is suitable as an emergency feed.
2 pounds wild bird seed
1 pound dry cat food kibble, crushed
Directions: Place the dry cat food kibble into a gallon sized ziplock bag and use a hammer or rolling pin to crush until the pieces resemble game bird crumbles. Set aside. Using a kitchen scale, measure out 2 pounds of wild bird seed. Place into a large bowl or bucket that is able to hold up to 3 pounds. Again using the kitchen scale, measure out 1 pound of the crushed cat food and add it to the bird seed. Use a large stainless steel spoon to stir everything together. Try to ensure the bird seed is dusted or coated in some of the cat food crumbs. Store in an airtight, rodent-proof container and feed to your quail as needed. Makes 3 pounds of emergency feed.
Finch Blend Bird Seed + Cat Food Emergency Quail Feed Recipe #4:
This blend is dangerously high in fat. Do NOT feed for longer than 7 days. The following recipe, when using dry cat food kibbles that are 34% protein and 18% fat, creates a feed blend that is 18% protein and 14.25% fat. This much fat can cause kidney distress and renal failure in quail when fed for too long. A small batch recipe is given below to help feed your quail for 1-2 days:
1 pound finch blend wild bird seed
1/3 pound (5.33 ounces) dry cat food kibble, crushed
Directions: Place the dry cat food kibble into a gallon sized ziplock bag and use a hammer or rolling pin to crush until the pieces resemble game bird crumbles. Set aside. Using a kitchen scale, measure out 1 pound of finch blend wild bird seed. Place into a large bowl that is able to hold up to 2 pounds. Again using the kitchen scale, measure out 1 pound of the crushed cat food and add it to the bird seed. Use a large stainless steel spoon to stir everything together. Try to ensure the bird seed is dusted or coated in some of the cat food crumbs. Store in an airtight, rodent-proof container and feed to your quail as needed. Makes 1 and 1/3 pound of emergency feed.
Additional Helpful Feeding Tips & Suggestions:
• Your covey will need access to fresh, clean water to help them digest the dry cat food kibble bits in these emergency feeds. Try to keep waterers clear and full.
• Quail cannot digest grains without consuming grit. If your covey has not had access to play sand for dust bathing and consuming little bits as grit, offer play sand or chick grit so they can properly digest these seed blends.
• Sprouted greens help your covey to get the amino acids, micro-nutrients, and trace minerals their bodies need. Directions for sprouting all types of grains and even bird seed can be found in our article on Sprouting Seeds for Quail.
• Quail do best when no-waste feeders are used. They truly cut the feed bill in half because they stop quail from attempting to dust bathe in their food. A no-waste feeder pays for itself with the first bag of feed it saves, generally within the first month. We use this mason jar feeder (shown) and also this bucket feeder.
• Your birds may prefer their familiar game bird crumbles to any new type of whole grain feed. It is okay if this emergency feed is untouched for the first several hours it is offered. The quail will become hungry enough to try it. They may also pick out the white millet pieces before they try the other grains and kibble pieces. Placing your no-waste feeder in a shallow dish can prevent spillage if they rake a few pieces out of the feeder in their hunt for millet. There will be some whole corn kernels they won’t eat.
This, Too, Shall Pass!
Emergency situations tend to pass quickly but they are stressful and upsetting in the moment. I hope these quail feed recipes help you feel confident while enduring whatever shortage you are facing!
Additional Helpful Quail Feed Info:
Whole Grains & Seeds Coturnix Quail Can Eat
Homemade Scratch Blend for Coturnix Quail
How to Feed Quail When Commercial Food is Gone
Pin for Later:
Leave a Reply