Quail chicks need a high-protein game bird starter feed, offered free choice from the moment they enter the brooder. The target protein level is 28% to 30% for the first five to six weeks of life, which is significantly higher than what standard chicken starter provides. Getting this right from day one is critical because quail grow fast. Coturnix quail, the most commonly raised species, can reach near-adult size by six weeks.
Why Game Bird Starter, Not Chicken Starter
The single most important thing to get right is protein content. Research on both Coturnix and Bobwhite quail has consistently shown that around 28% crude protein produces the best growth in chicks through the first five weeks. Standard chicken starter crumble typically contains only 18% to 20% protein, which falls well short of what quail chicks need for healthy development. Feeding chicken starter can lead to slower growth, feathering problems, and higher mortality.
Look for a bag labeled “game bird starter” or “turkey starter” at your feed store. These feeds are formulated with 28% to 30% protein and contain the amino acid profile quail chicks require. The feed should be in crumble form, not pellets. Quail chicks are tiny at hatch, often smaller than a thumb, and they physically cannot eat standard-sized crumbles. Many keepers run the crumbles through a coffee grinder or food processor for the first week to create a finer texture the chicks can manage. By week two, most chicks can handle regular crumble size without trouble.
How Much and How Often
Quail chicks should have feed available at all times. Free-choice feeding, where the feeder is never empty, is the standard practice through the first five to six weeks. These birds have extremely fast metabolisms and will eat small amounts frequently throughout the day and even at night if there’s light in the brooder. Restricting feed during this growth phase stunts development.
Expect each bird to eat roughly 1.3 to 1.5 pounds of feed total during the first eight weeks. That’s not much per bird, but it adds up with a full brooder. A shallow dish or a small trough-style feeder works well. Keep the feeder low enough that day-old chicks can reach it easily, and tap the feed with your finger in the first hours to mimic pecking. This encourages chicks to find and try the food.
Water Setup for Tiny Chicks
Water is just as important as feed, and it’s also where new quail keepers run into the most trouble. Quail chicks can drown in astonishingly small amounts of water. Experienced keepers have watched day-old chicks slip and drown in as little as an eighth of an inch of standing water. The drowning risk is highest during the first week before chicks develop coordination and start feathering out.
The simplest prevention method is to fill the base of your waterer with clean marbles or small pebbles. This gives chicks a surface to stand on if they step in, and it reduces the open water depth to something they can’t submerge in. If you’re using a standard chick waterer (the kind with a jar that screws onto a base), marbles in the trough work perfectly. Nipple-style waterers are another option, though some keepers place a marble-filled saucer underneath to catch drips.
Change the water at least twice a day. Quail chicks will kick bedding into it, and dirty water breeds bacteria quickly in a warm brooder.
Electrolytes for the First Few Days
Adding electrolytes to the water for the first two to three days helps chicks recover from the stress of hatching, especially if they were shipped. A typical electrolyte powder mixes at about a quarter ounce per gallon of cool, clean water. Make a fresh batch daily, as the solution loses potency. After the first few days, switch to plain water unless the chicks show signs of stress like lethargy or pasting (droppings stuck to their vents).
Some keepers also add a poultry probiotic to the water alongside electrolytes during that initial period. This can help establish healthy gut bacteria early. If you go this route, mix both the electrolyte and probiotic powders into the same gallon of water.
Medicated vs. Non-Medicated Feed
You’ll likely see both medicated and non-medicated game bird starters on the shelf. Medicated feed contains amprolium, a compound that helps prevent coccidiosis, a parasitic gut infection that can kill young birds quickly. Amprolium is not an antibiotic. It works by blocking a nutrient the parasite needs to reproduce in the bird’s digestive tract, so it doesn’t carry the same concerns about antibiotic resistance.
Whether to use medicated feed is a judgment call based on your setup. If your chicks are on wire floors in a clean indoor brooder with no exposure to wild birds or soil, the coccidiosis risk is lower. If they’re brooded on the ground, in a barn where wild birds come and go, or in a space where previous flocks have been kept, medicated feed is a reasonable precaution. One important note: the dose of amprolium in feed is preventive only. It is not strong enough to treat an active outbreak. If you choose medicated feed, don’t dilute it by mixing it with non-medicated feed, as this reduces its effectiveness below a useful level.
When to Introduce Grit and Treats
If your quail chicks are eating only commercial crumble, they don’t technically need grit. The feed is designed to break down without it. Grit becomes necessary once you start offering anything beyond processed feed: seeds, greens, insects, or foraged material. Most keepers introduce small amounts of chick-sized grit around the one-week mark, offered in a separate small dish so the chicks can take it as needed.
Hold off on treats and supplemental foods for at least the first two weeks. During this period, you want chicks eating nothing but their starter feed so they get the full nutritional profile they need. After two weeks, you can begin offering tiny amounts of finely chopped greens, small mealworms, or hard-boiled egg crumbled into pieces. These should be treats, not staples. The game bird starter should remain the overwhelming majority of the diet until at least six weeks of age.
Transitioning Off Starter Feed
At five to six weeks, quail chicks are ready to transition to a grower or maintenance feed. For Coturnix being raised for eggs, this means moving to a game bird layer feed with around 20% to 24% protein and added calcium. For Bobwhite or other species being raised for release or flight, a game bird grower with similar protein content works well.
Make the switch gradually over about a week, mixing increasing amounts of the new feed into the starter. A sudden diet change can cause digestive upset and temporarily slow growth or egg development. By six weeks, most Coturnix hens are approaching their first eggs, so having that calcium-rich layer feed fully in place by then matters.