What can quail eat? Safe foods, treats and what to avoid
A high-protein game bird feed first, tiny treats second. Checked against Australian government, veterinary and poultry extension sources, October 2026.
Quail eat much the same foods as chickens and the toxic list is the same, but they are small, fast-growing birds that need a far richer ration. Get the base feed right, chop every treat small, and keep treats few. Search any food below. This guide is written for Japanese (Coturnix) quail, the backyard egg and meat quail kept in Australia.
Why quail need a higher-protein feed
Coturnix quail grow fast and start laying young, and that pace needs protein. Alabama Cooperative Extension gives 24 to 26 percent crude protein for Japanese quail starter and grower feed, and 18 to 20 percent with about 2.5 percent calcium for adult breeders. Chicken feeds sit lower: a chick starter is around 18 to 22 percent and a chicken layer feed 16 to 18 percent. That is why the base should be a game bird, quail or turkey starter, then a game bird breeder or layer ration once they lay.
You will see 28 percent protein recommended for quail online. The extension figure for Japanese quail starter tops out at 26 percent, and adult layers do not need starter levels at all.
The right feed by age
- Chicks to about 6 weeks: game bird or turkey starter crumble, 24 to 26 percent protein. Crush it finer for the first few days if the crumbs are large for day-old chicks.
- Layers, from first egg: a game bird breeder or quail layer feed of about 18 to 20 percent protein with about 2.5 percent calcium, plus fine shell grit in its own dish.
- Grit: pelleted feed needs no grit, but quail given whole seed need fine insoluble grit to grind it.
- Water: clean water all day. Chicks need a shallow waterer they cannot fall into, with pebbles or marbles in the tray for the first weeks.
- Storage: keep feed sealed, dry and fresh. Mouldy feed carries mycotoxins (MSD Veterinary Manual).
How much in treats
Keep treats to a small extra. RSPCA Australia's ceiling for chickens is 10 percent of daily feed, and for quail we would stay well under it, because starchy treats dilute the protein faster in a bird that needs so much. Chop everything to about the size of a lentil, offer a little at a time, and clear the leftovers the same day.
Can quail eat...? Search the A to Z
Every food we are asked about, with a plain verdict: Yes safe as a treat, In moderation safe in small amounts or only in the form described, No do not feed.
Fruit
Apple Yes
Why: The flesh and skin are safe. The seeds carry most of the fruit's cyanogenic compounds.
How to serve: Cored and chopped fine or grated. A quail's mouthful is tiny, so think lentil-sized pieces.
Banana In moderation
Why: Safe, but sugary and low in protein, which a quail needs more of than a chicken does.
How to serve: A little mashed banana, now and then.
Berries Yes
Why: Safe and well liked.
How to serve: Small berries halved or quartered, a few at a time. Never mouldy ones.
Citrus (orange, mandarin, lemon) In moderation
Why: Not known to be toxic, but sour, and most quail ignore it.
How to serve: A segment chopped small, rarely. Clear away what they leave.
Grapes In moderation
Why: Safe, but sugary, and a whole grape is a big mouthful for a bird this small.
How to serve: Quartered, one or two at a time, as a rare treat.
Stone fruit (peach, plum, apricot, cherry) In moderation
Why: The flesh is safe. The kernels carry far more cyanogenic compounds than the flesh.
How to serve: A little flesh, chopped fine. Never the stones.
Watermelon and rockmelon Yes
Why: Safe and watery, good in summer.
How to serve: Tiny chunks, or a thin slice to peck. Remove the rind within a few hours.
Vegetables, greens and garden
Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage Yes
Why: Safe.
How to serve: Finely chopped, raw or lightly cooked.
Capsicum In moderation
Why: Ripe fruit is safe. Leaves and stems are nightshade parts.
How to serve: Ripe fruit, diced small.
Same advice as for chickens: nightshade leaves and green fruit →
Carrot, beetroot and root vegetables Yes
Why: Safe.
How to serve: Grated fine, raw or cooked.
Cucumber and zucchini Yes
Why: Safe and watery.
How to serve: Diced small or grated.
Herbs (parsley, mint, basil, oregano) Yes
Why: Common kitchen herbs are safe.
How to serve: Chopped small.
Lawn weeds (dandelion, clover, chickweed) Yes
Why: Free greens and a good boredom breaker in a cage or aviary.
How to serve: A handful pulled from an unsprayed lawn.
Leafy greens (lettuce, kale, silverbeet) Yes
Why: Safe and gives caged quail something to pick through.
How to serve: Chopped fine, or hang a small bunch for them to pull at.
Nasturtium and edible flowers Yes
Why: Nasturtium leaves and flowers are safe.
How to serve: Torn small, a few at a time.
Peas Yes
Why: Safe and higher in protein than most vegetables.
How to serve: Fresh or thawed, squashed or halved so a quail can swallow them.
Pumpkin Yes
Why: Safe, flesh and seeds.
How to serve: Cooked and mashed, or raw and grated. Chop or crush the seeds.
Spinach and silverbeet In moderation
Why: Safe, but high in oxalates, which bind calcium, and laying quail need a lot of calcium for their size.
How to serve: Chopped, a few times a week, mixed with other greens.
Sweetcorn In moderation
Why: Safe and loved, but starchy and low in protein for a bird that needs a high-protein ration.
How to serve: A few kernels, chopped or cracked, as a treat. Not a staple.
Tomato In moderation
Why: Ripe fruit is safe. Leaves, stems and green fruit are nightshade parts to keep away from poultry.
How to serve: Ripe fruit, chopped small. No vines or green fruit.
Same advice as for chickens: nightshade leaves and green fruit →
Vegetable scraps Yes
Why: Most vegetable scraps are fine, apart from the never-feed list below.
How to serve: Chopped fine, fresh, the same day. Leave out onion, garlic, green potato peel, and anything mouldy or salty.
Grains, bread and snacks
Bread No
Why: Not poisonous in a crumb, but bread is starch with little protein, and quail need a ration of about 24 to 26 percent protein while growing and 18 to 20 percent as adults (Alabama Cooperative Extension). Bread fills that small crop with the wrong thing. Mouldy bread can carry mycotoxins. In Queensland, only bread with no egg or meat in it, and no contact with them, may be fed to any poultry.
How to serve: Do not feed it. A few mealworms or chopped greens are a better treat.
Honey In moderation
Why: Safe, but it is sugar and nothing a quail needs.
How to serve: A tiny smear, rarely, if at all.
Popcorn, crackers and chips No
Why: Salted snacks are the problem, and a quail is small enough that a little salt is a big dose. Plain air-popped popcorn is not toxic but has no place in a high-protein diet.
How to serve: Do not feed salted snacks.
Quinoa (cooked) Yes
Why: Plain cooked quinoa is safe and the grains are already quail-sized.
How to serve: Rinsed, cooked plain and cooled, a teaspoon or so.
Rice, pasta and oats In moderation
Why: Plain cooked grains are safe but mostly starch. Egg pasta is an egg product, so in Queensland it may not be fed to poultry.
How to serve: Plain, cooked and chopped, a teaspoon at most.
Seeds (millet, sunflower) and nuts In moderation
Why: Millet and sunflower seed are quail favourites, and safe, but they dilute a high-protein ration if fed freely. Mouldy seed and nuts can carry mycotoxins.
How to serve: A pinch of millet or hulled sunflower seed, or crushed unsalted nuts, as a treat. Offer fine grit if they get whole seed.
Protein, dairy and eggs
Beans, lentils and chickpeas (cooked) Yes
Why: Thoroughly cooked legumes are safe and a good protein source. Raw or undercooked dried beans contain a lectin that only proper boiling destroys.
How to serve: Boiled soft and mashed. Never raw dried beans.
Butter and ice cream No
Why: Fat, sugar and lactose with nothing a quail needs.
How to serve: Do not feed them.
Cheese and yoghurt In moderation
Why: The same lactose limit as milk, and most cheese is salty.
How to serve: A dab of plain yoghurt, rarely.
Eggs and eggshells In moderation
Why: Laying quail need about 2.5 percent calcium in their ration (Alabama Cooperative Extension). In Queensland, eggs, shells included, are prohibited feed for all poultry.
How to serve: Outside Queensland: cooked egg chopped fine, shells dried and crushed fine. Everywhere: fine shell grit in its own dish for layers.
Fish and prawns In moderation
Why: Plain cooked fish is a protein treat. Queensland's swill law names mammal and bird material; fish is not named, but anything that has touched meat or egg is.
How to serve: Cooked, plain and flaked small, rarely.
Insects, worms and mealworms Yes
Why: Natural, high-protein food that quail chase eagerly.
How to serve: Live or dried mealworms, a few per bird as a treat. Never insects that have been sprayed.
Meat and cooked meat scraps No
Why: Feeding meat, or food that has touched it, to any poultry, quail included, is illegal in Queensland. We found no equivalent ban in other states, but meat spoils fast.
How to serve: Do not feed it.
Milk In moderation
Why: Birds do not make lactase, so more than a little milk loosens droppings. A small amount does no harm, and Australian milk products are allowed under Queensland's rules.
How to serve: A few drops in mash, rarely, or skip it.
Olives and pickles No
Why: Far too salty.
How to serve: Do not feed them.
Sausage, bacon, ham and deli meat No
Why: Meat, so covered by Queensland's swill law, and salty.
How to serve: Do not feed it.
Never feed
Avocado No
Why: Persin in the fruit, skin, stone, leaves and stems poisons birds, and the MSD Veterinary Manual says caged birds seem the most sensitive. Quail are not named in its list, but chickens and turkeys, their relatives, are, and there is no antidote.
How to serve: Do not feed any part.
Chocolate, coffee and caffeine No
Why: Theobromine and caffeine are toxic to many species, and the MSD Veterinary Manual reports deaths in livestock fed cocoa by-products. Coffee grounds and tea leaves still carry caffeine.
How to serve: Never. Compost grounds and tea leaves where the birds cannot reach.
Onion and garlic No
Why: Both carry sulfur compounds that damage red blood cells, raw, cooked or dried, and the MSD Veterinary Manual rates garlic 3 to 5 times more toxic than onion in the animals studied.
How to serve: Do not feed them on purpose, and keep onion-heavy leftovers out of the scrap bucket.
Dried beans, raw or undercooked No
Why: Raw kidney beans and other dried beans carry phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin that soaking does not remove and only thorough boiling destroys.
How to serve: Never raw or only soaked. Beans boiled until fully soft are fine (see cooked beans above).
Green or sprouted potato, peel and plants No
Why: Solanine and chaconine collect in green skin, sprouts, old tubers and the leaves and stems. The Massey University poisonous plants database lists poultry among the animals poisoned.
How to serve: Never. Cooking does not make green potato safe. Plain cooked potato that was never green is covered under potato above.
Rhubarb leaves No
Why: The leaf blade is high in oxalic acid and soluble oxalates, which bind calcium and in quantity damage the kidneys. The stalks hold very little, but there is no reason to feed the plant.
How to serve: Never. Fence the rhubarb patch off and keep the leaves out of compost the birds scratch through.
Alcohol and fermenting fruit No
Why: UC Davis poultry extension lists alcohol among the things toxic to poultry, and fermenting windfalls also carry mould.
How to serve: Never. Rake up fermenting fruit.
Mouldy or rotting food No
Why: Moulds on grain, seed, nuts and bread make mycotoxins that damage the liver and cut laying (MSD Veterinary Manual), and rotting food carries the bacteria behind botulism.
How to serve: Never. Keep feed dry and sealed, and clear uneaten fresh food the same day.
Salty food No
Why: Salt poisoning in poultry is worse when water runs short (MSD Veterinary Manual), and a quail is small enough that a salty crumb is a large dose.
How to serve: Never. Keep water clean and full.
Foods that are toxic to quail
The toxic list for quail is the same as for chickens: avocado, chocolate and caffeine, onion and garlic, raw dried beans, green or sprouted potato, rhubarb leaves, alcohol, mould and salt. Each never-feed entry above links to the full write-up in our chickens toxic foods guide. The one difference is size. A quail weighs a fraction of a hen, so a crumb of something salty or a sliver of something toxic is a much bigger dose.
If a quail has eaten something on the list, take the food away, make sure there is clean water, and call a vet who treats birds. The what to do steps on the chickens page apply to quail too.
Kitchen scraps and the law
Queensland. Biosecurity Queensland's ban on feeding swill to poultry names quail, and it covers pet and hobby birds. Swill is anything that contains, or may contain, a mammal or bird carcass or material from a mammal or bird, including meat, eggs and blood, and any food that has been in contact with those, including home kitchen scraps. Penalties include fines and imprisonment. Allowed: fruit, vegetables and cereals; bakery or vegetable scraps with no egg or meat in them and no contact with them; Australian milk products; and meat, blood or bone meals from an accredited feed supplier.
Other states and territories. The swill rules we found for New South Wales and Victoria are written for pigs and for cattle, sheep and goats. We found no equivalent ban for backyard poultry in other states' published guidance as at October 2026. Check with your state or territory agriculture department before feeding meat scraps; our advice everywhere is not to.
The full scrap rules, with the reasons, are in feeding kitchen scraps safely in Australia. They apply to quail exactly as they do to hens.
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Common questions
What do quail eat?
A complete game bird feed: a starter or grower of about 24 to 26 percent protein for chicks and young birds, and a breeder or layer ration of about 18 to 20 percent protein with about 2.5 percent calcium for adults (Alabama Cooperative Extension). Add greens, a few insects, fine grit if they get whole seed, and clean water.
Can quail eat chicken feed?
Not as their main feed. Chicken layer feed is lower in protein than the figures extension services give for laying quail, and chick starter is lower than a quail chick needs. A game bird, turkey or quail feed is the right base.
Can quail eat bread?
We would not. It is not poisonous in a crumb, but it is starch with little protein, and quail need far more protein than chickens. Mouldy bread is never safe.
What foods are toxic to quail?
The same list as chickens: avocado, chocolate and caffeine, onion and garlic, raw dried beans, green or sprouted potato, rhubarb leaves, alcohol, mouldy food and salty food. Quail are small, so a small amount is a big dose.
Are quail covered by Queensland's poultry feed law?
Yes. Biosecurity Queensland's definition of poultry for the swill ban includes quail, and the ban covers pet and hobby birds. Meat, eggs, eggshells and anything that has touched them may not be fed.
Sources we checked
- Business Queensland (Biosecurity Queensland), Laws against supplying and feeding prohibited feed to poultry (updated 9 July 2025)
- Agriculture Victoria, Backyard Biosecurity booklet (PDF)
- Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Feeding game birds: pheasant, quail and partridge (ANR-1343, reviewed July 2021)
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Nutritional requirements of poultry
- RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase, How do I feed my chickens a healthy diet?
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Mycotoxicoses in poultry
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Salt toxicosis in animals
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Botulism in poultry
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Avocado toxicosis in animals
- Massey University, Poisonous Plants database: avocado
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Chocolate toxicosis in animals
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Garlic and onion (Allium spp) toxicosis in animals
- MSD Veterinary Manual, Cyanide poisoning in animals
- UC Davis and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, Feeding your Flock (Pitesky and Reimers, PDF)
- Massey University, Poisonous Plants database: potato
- MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine), Rhubarb leaves poisoning
- From foodborne disease outbreak to investigation: the plant toxin trap, Brittany, France, 2018 (PMC10467087)
- The effect of whey on performance, gut health and bone morphology in broiler chicks (PMC7278671)
- Cooperative Extension (poultry.extension.org), Feeding chickens for egg production in small and backyard flocks
- Better Health Channel (Victorian Government), Keeping backyard chickens
- Biosecurity Tasmania, Backyard Poultry: a guide for hobby farmers (PDF)
Sources checked in October 2026. Feeding rules and vet advice change, so we recheck this page every year. If a quail is unwell, call a vet who treats poultry or birds: this page is general information, not a diagnosis.