Leftover Pumpkins and Garden Scraps for Quail? Go Easy

The October scrap pile

By mid-October, the garden's winding down. Squash, pumpkins, the last tomatoes, greens that bolted. Then come the Halloween pumpkins. It's tempting to toss it all to the birds. It feels thrifty and natural, and the birds seem to love it.

I'm not against giving scraps. I'm against giving a pile of them and calling it feeding. Here's how I handle it.

Feed is still the diet

I said this in July about summer treats, and it applies here too. Your complete feed is what keeps birds healthy and laying. Every bit of pumpkin they eat is space that isn't going to feed. A little is fine. A lot changes the diet.

I'm not going to tell you an amount. Ask your extension office if you want a real guideline. My rule is that scraps are a small extra, offered occasionally, and gone fast.

Check before you give

• Is it safe for birds? Some plants and parts of plants aren't good for birds. Don't assume everything from the garden is fine. Look it up from an extension source.
• Is it fresh? No mold, no rot, no slime. Moldy food is a hard no.
• Was it treated? Decorative pumpkins that were painted, sprayed, glittered or sealed don't go to the birds. Neither does anything that was sprayed with chemicals in the garden recently.
• Has it been sitting out? A carved jack-o'-lantern that sat on the porch for a week is starting to rot. That goes to compost, not the cage.

How I offer it

• Small pieces. Quail are small. Chop it.
• A small amount. Something they'll clear in a short time.
• Out of the feed. Don't mix scraps into the feeder. Put them in a separate small dish.
• Remove leftovers. Anything not eaten in a few hours comes out. Wet scraps in a cage go bad fast and attract flies and rodents.

A small cage cup like an 8 oz round cage cup or a 12 oz square cage cup works well as a treat dish, and it keeps scraps off the cage floor.

Pumpkin seeds

People ask about pumpkin seeds a lot, usually because they've read something online about them. I'm not going to make any claims about seeds treating anything. As a treat, a few seeds are a treat. That's all I'll say about it.

Watch the droppings

A big change in diet shows up in the droppings. If you give a lot of watery scraps, expect wetter droppings, which means wetter trays. If droppings change dramatically, cut back and watch. If birds seem unwell, isolate them.

Don't let it become a habit

The problem with scraps isn't one pumpkin. It's that once you start, it's easy to keep going. A bucket by the kitchen sink, a daily dump in the cage. That's where diets get off track. Treat scraps as a seasonal, occasional thing.

Compost the rest

Most of my October scraps go to the compost pile, away from the barn. That's not a waste. It becomes next year's garden. Just keep the pile away from your birds, for the rodent reasons I talked about in September.

The short version

Feed is the diet. Scraps are a small, occasional extra. Check that it's safe, fresh and untreated. Chop it small, give a small amount in a separate dish, remove leftovers. No moldy or painted pumpkins. Watch droppings. Compost the rest away from the barn.

Questions about safe foods should go to an extension office. Questions about cage cups, email barn@quailz.com. Our Bridgewater, NJ showroom is open by appointment.

Squash and greens from the garden

Most of what I give from the garden is plain: a bit of squash, some greens, the odd cucumber. Washed, chopped and given the same day. If I wouldn't eat it because it's gone soft or slimy, the birds don't get it either. It's a simple test, and it keeps the worst of the problems out of the cage.

Store scraps the right way

If you're saving scraps for the birds over a day or two, keep them in the fridge in a covered container, not in a bucket on the porch. Fall weather is cool, but not cold enough to stop things from going off.

Kids love this part

If you have kids, letting them chop a little pumpkin for the birds is a nice fall job. Just teach them the rules: small amount, separate dish, nothing moldy, nothing painted, and wash hands after. They'll remember the rules better if they're part of it.