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Best feed for quail
#6229111
03/19/16 01:54 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,099
TTT Ranch
OP
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OP
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If I was going to supplement feed wild quail, what is best?
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6229207
03/19/16 03:54 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6229660
03/20/16 12:46 AM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
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Spread it around. Don't put it in feeders, or deep grass. Cow paths are great. A momma quail can make a living for her chicks by feeding up and down a cow path. They can duck into the grass on either side to get away from overhead predictors.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: bill oxner]
#6229669
03/20/16 12:52 AM
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Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 439
BrianCook_RanchSales
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 439 |
Spread it around. Don't put it in feeders, or deep grass. Cow paths are great. A momma quail can make a living for her chicks by feeding up and down a cow path. They can duck into the grass on either side to get away from overhead predictors. So you don't recommend quail feeders?
Brian Cook Farm & Ranch Real Estate Agent Foster Farm & Ranch Brian@FosterRanches.com (210)860-9693 Gig 'Em
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: BrianCook_RanchSales]
#6229679
03/20/16 01:03 AM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
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Spread it around. Don't put it in feeders, or deep grass. Cow paths are great. A momma quail can make a living for her chicks by feeding up and down a cow path. They can duck into the grass on either side to get away from overhead predictors. So you don't recommend quail feeders? No. They draw predictors.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6229683
03/20/16 01:08 AM
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,725
tigger
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
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Wheat is better and better for the quail
Tigger If it isn't white it is not a birddog.
KC Lying is lying. Don't bitch about one doing it and condone another. That's called hypocrisy. _________________
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6229955
03/20/16 06:39 AM
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,591
Pointer
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Milo is a much better attractant for quail than it is a suppliment. Kinda like corn for deer. They arent going to get a whole lot of norishment out of it.
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: Pointer]
#6232365
03/22/16 12:59 PM
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,594
First_Chance
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
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Milo is a much better attractant for quail than it is a suppliment. Kinda like corn for deer. They arent going to get a whole lot of norishment out of it. Agreed. Start now and create some soil disturbance like meander discing in your pastures or discing your roads along fence lines. Cattle will also help keep the soil disturbed but on a smaller property like you have you will have to be real careful on over grazing, although your pastures look like they could stand some grazing to open them up some. Quail need nesting cover but too much grass will move them out also. The first plant to come back on newly disturbed soil will be croton... probably the best native seed plant for dove/quail. Also, baby quail don't eat seeds... they eat insects so make sure you have some areas that hold water or that will keep a moist environment for insect production.
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: First_Chance]
#6233173
03/22/16 11:59 PM
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,591
Pointer
Pro Tracker
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Start now and create some soil disturbance like meander discing in your pastures or discing your roads along fence lines. Cattle will also help keep the soil disturbed but on a smaller property like you have you will have to be real careful on over grazing, although your pastures look like they could stand some grazing to open them up some. Quail need nesting cover but too much grass will move them out also.
The first plant to come back on newly disturbed soil will be croton... probably the best native seed plant for dove/quail. Also, baby quail don't eat seeds... they eat insects so make sure you have some areas that hold water or that will keep a moist environment for insect production.
Sound advice all. King Ranch biologists have remarked to me that croton is VITAL for quail production (helps trigger the breeding cycle), and that baby quail need to be able to run on the ground thru the grass, backing up the statement that too thick a grass is not conducive to quail production. Good luck, and good hunting next year!
Last edited by Pointer; 03/23/16 12:05 AM.
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6233306
03/23/16 01:36 AM
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 16,853
68rustbucket
THF Celebrity
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Chicken scratch is good feed also. But scattered, not in feeders. Like mentioned earlier, quail feeders become predator magnets. And 60/40 vegetation to bare ground works great for the birds. I pick up my dogs when I come to thick grass areas.
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6233780
03/23/16 03:00 PM
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Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 11,542
rickym
THF Celebrity
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Millet, Milo and wheat. Broadcast it down roads and paths
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6234492
03/24/16 12:19 AM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,860
Kahuna
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Sunflower seed.
Baby's need bugs.
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6247951
04/04/16 11:55 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,114
Flashprism
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I have been adding milo in my feeders with my corn for the last 5 years. When observing the quail seem to eat both the corn and milo. Corn seemed to be too large but that didn't seem to matter. any thoughts
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: Kahuna]
#6248041
04/05/16 01:06 AM
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 241
Whiptail
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 241 |
Both adults and chicks need bugs this time of year. Best way to get more bugs is to burn which also clears out debris and allows the birds to feed more effectively.
Last edited by Whiptail; 04/05/16 01:07 AM.
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6248364
04/05/16 12:26 PM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296
stxranchman
Obie Juan Kenobi
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Obie Juan Kenobi
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296 |
What you feed needs to be a bit larger seed from what biologist said at a seminar once I attended. Needs to be higher protein also. This biologist said they studied quail eating milo and they had to eat a high number of seeds(150 + or - IIRC) to fill up. He suggested something larger like soybeans so the quail did not have to spend as much time eating and exposed to predators around a feeder. Also soybeans offer 4 to 5 times the protein value per seed as milo. They also said the bugs were important. In all of the research sites they tested with added feed, food plots, discing, added water, prescribed burns, grazing management, etc the highest bird density they found was on ranch land with no feed, no water and no livestock. One of the lowest was high density feeders and water stations in comparison on that study.
Are idiots multiplying faster than normal people?
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: stxranchman]
#6248398
04/05/16 01:00 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 13,211
CCBIRDDOGMAN
Bird Herder
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Bird Herder
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 13,211 |
What you feed needs to be a bit larger seed from what biologist said at a seminar once I attended. Needs to be higher protein also. This biologist said they studied quail eating milo and they had to eat a high number of seeds(150 + or - IIRC) to fill up. He suggested something larger like soybeans so the quail did not have to spend as much time eating and exposed to predators around a feeder. Also soybeans offer 4 to 5 times the protein value per seed as milo. They also said the bugs were important. In all of the research sites they tested with added feed, food plots, discing, added water, prescribed burns, grazing management, etc the highest bird density they found was on ranch land with no feed, no water and no livestock. One of the lowest was high density feeders and water stations in comparison on that study. I have heard that Cracked Blackeyed peas are great too. Like you say, a larger seed and more protein than Milo.
Haven't had it in years but never spit any out. I am a sucker for happy endings and strapped cowboys.
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Re: Best feed for quail
[Re: TTT Ranch]
#6248546
04/05/16 03:10 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
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Posts: 91,416 |
We always grew mixed field peas for hay and our own food. You could always count on a covey of quail in the pea patch.
Google quail in the pea patch and see what you find.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
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