Quail Treats & Supplements

SUPPLEMEMENTS: Grit

Quail, like all birds, swallow tiny rocks that help digest their food. The rocks act like teeth that grind up their food in their gizzard. Providing grit will help your quail digest their feed more efficiently, which can save you money in the long run. Grit comes in two sizes, chick grit for chicks and grit for adult chickens. Chick grit is a good size for quail. Granite is the longest-lasting form of grit, and is available in most feed stores.

You can set out a small dish of grit for your chicks or adult quail so they can eat it when they need to. You can also add it to their feed. Add 2 ounces of grit to every 10 pounds of feed. If you are giving your quail treats (see below), they’ll benefit from eating grit.

SUPPLEMEMENTS: Calcium 

CHICKS
Quail chicks don’t need supplemental calcium.

ADULTS
If you're giving your adult quail chicken layer feed, there's enough calcium already in the feed, so you don't have to give them more. However, if you are using another kind of feed, or if your hens start laying brittle or soft-shelled eggs, you can supplement. Just set some out in a dish. Your quail will instinctively eat it when they need it. Oyster shell calcium or limestone grit (which has supplemental calcium) is available at most feed stores.

Quail Treats 

Treats are anything that you give to your quail beyond their feed. Bagged feed is balanced, and if you provide too many treats, it can cause nutritional imbalances. For that reason, we recommend keeping treats to a minimum. Limit treats to no more than 10% of your covey's daily intake or about as much as your quail can eat in 1-2 hours.

Download our list of treats that are safe (and treat to avoid) here. 

Learn more about feeding quail in our Quail 101 course.