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Post by Thérèse on Mar 3, 2012 6:33:34 GMT -5
OK, quick question
A while back I got some quail for the guys but have been hesitant in feeding it (kind of too big for one but I don't want to have to chop them up). Anyway someone said the alpha would just eat first but they should each get some.
However they are still sitting in my freezer because the whole pheasant thing has me worried....someone posted about a pheasant and whether or not they should pluck it etc. somewhere in the responses was a yes because they wouldn't eat feathers that big...
So my question is will they eat the whole quail or will they leave the feathers?
My guys are free range and with mice they eat the whole thing...you've got me worried that I will find feathers left about the place unless I restrict where they can eat them. I do not want to have to go round cleaning up feathers. The quails are medium according to the pack, they look about the size of a tennis ball to me if that is going to help with responses. If they like them, in future I will get the small (which are about the same size as the adult mice) but when I first saw them they only had the medium, so that is what I currently have.
Thanks in advance for any insight
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Post by goingpostal on Mar 3, 2012 8:50:12 GMT -5
Mine adore quail, they easily eat a 3 week old one in less than a day among two of them, I used to buy the largest when I was feeding four, I do pluck as many feathers as I can off, it's not so bad in the beginning, mine eat the head and work their way down the chest and there's a nice little quail jacket leftover, it's once all the easy meat is gone and they work their way down and through the wings that it gets VERY messy if you don't.
Mine aren't caged either so I would be sweeping up and grabbing feathers everywhere! They are pretty easy to pluck, I use scissors to get the big wing feathers off, I leave the head pretty intact and I don't worry about the little leftovers pin feathers all over, you can't get them all.
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Post by Heather on Mar 3, 2012 11:54:56 GMT -5
I"m guessing this is a larger bird not the tiny little day old ones? I've heard of some people stripping their birds so that they don't have to clean up the feathers. I gather the ferrets do one of two things, they won't touch it because they can't get past the feather(can't figure it out) or it will look like a bomb went off in a pillow factory. I know of a few people who've tried this and swore that they would never feed feathers on again. Yes, they will eat some of the feathers but most of them are tossed all over the place ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2012 12:36:44 GMT -5
I agree with Heather on this - you can open the bird up and expose the meaty parts, you'll still get a lot of waste (and possibly a feathery mess and/or they still may not touch it!) My recommendation is to puck the thing (Yes, I'm a wuss about these things -jennifer
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Post by rebel135 on Mar 3, 2012 21:21:09 GMT -5
I think they have fun with the feathers and it's just one more mess we are always cleaning any ways whats the diff if it makes them happy and no harm!
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Post by Heather on Mar 3, 2012 21:30:59 GMT -5
Cleaning small pin feathers up for the next week isn't cool ;D ;D, especially when they get into everything ciao
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Post by goingpostal on Mar 3, 2012 22:00:19 GMT -5
It wouldn't be so bad but trying to sweep them up is ineffective at best and they stick to my work shirt, I find myself yanking off feathers all the time!
You don't have to feed the whole thing at once either, I have a ton of whole prey that is too large for a feeding, quail I will often chop in half, and feed morning and night. The big rats, GP, rabbits, I just give enough to last the day and refreeze the rest, if you chop them while they are a little frozen it's easy and not messy.
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Post by Heather on Mar 3, 2012 23:47:13 GMT -5
I agree. The rabbits I have are too big to feed all at once, so I gut and clean and chop up partially frozen, then toss what isn't going to be used that day back in the freezer. It means that I have one meal that is already to use or more depending on the size of the rabbit ciao
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Post by Thérèse on Mar 11, 2012 5:26:33 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. The quail are still in the freezer and I am even more nervous about feeding them. I really, really hate touching raw food, I like it to be in the size I serve it and then I can just pop it in the dish and go. It's actually why I like the mice, way less yucky than when I do chicken hearts, giblets, etc. If I have to cut the quail or if pluck it then I don't think they will get them often. Will eventually get up the nerve to try one but if it involves mess then I will give the others to my niece for her kitty, cause she can supervise and the kitty is less likely to run off and make the mess somewhere really bad to clean
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Post by Sherry on Mar 11, 2012 11:44:15 GMT -5
If you cut them while frozen, not half so messy
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Post by goingpostal on Mar 11, 2012 15:05:30 GMT -5
If you don't want to get too personal with it just chopping off the larger wing feather with scissors will help the mess a bit. Alternatively, make a feeding den inside a paper bag.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2012 20:23:18 GMT -5
Other than day old chicks the only fully feathered birds I've fed were chicken pullets to Josie. They were live and stood about a foot tall. She dispatched them easy enough then went about pulling the feathers and spitting them out. Thankfully I fed her in the bathroom. Made feather clean up a lot easier.
Cheers, Kim
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