Introduction of Quail Bird Farming:- Basically , quails are small birds and commercially grown for their meat and eggs. These birds belong to the family of “Phasianidae”. In Asia, commercial farming of these birds is increasing day by day as the investment and maintenance is very low when compared to other birds. These bird eggs are very nutritious than chicken eggs. Japan quails are very popular in the world and the first commercial farming of quails is started in Japan and now it spread across the world. The advantage of the quail farming is, these birds can be raised along with other poultry birds. In Asia, due to the increasing population in rural as well as in urban areas, there is a huge demand for meat and there is no doubt that the quail farming will reach the heights just like poultry farming in near future.
Local names of Quail Bird in Asia:- The following are the local/common names of quail in Asian countries.
Local Names of Quail In India: Bater,बटेर (Hindi), Kamsu Pitta, Burra Pitta (Telugu), காடை, Kaadai(Tamil), Batera (Punjabi),ଗୁଣ୍ଠୁରୀ, Gunthuri (Oriya),Aḷuku (Kannada),Titir (Bengali), ചാരക്കാട (Malayalam), Vana lavari (Guajarati), Dhaavik (Marathi).
Advantages and Benefits of Quail Bird Farming:- The following are the advantages and benefits of quail bird farming.
These birds require less floor space, when compared to other birds.
Quail farming requires low investment and labour cost to start up.
These birds become ready for marketing in 5 to 6 weeks time.
These birds start laying eggs in about 6 to 7 weeks.
These birds lay about 250-300 eggs/year and are considered to be very high rate of egg laying.
Commercial farming of these birds is very successful in Asia.
These birds contain less cholesterol and their meat is tastier than chicken.
These bird’s eggs and meat promotes body & brain functions in children.
These bird’s eggs and meat are a nutritious diet for pregnant and nursing mothers.
These birds meat is low in fat hence quails meat is good for blood pressure patients.
Characteristics of Quail Birds:- Following are the quail bird characteristics.
Quail birds are small in size and an adult quail weighs about 200 grams.
Quail eggs weighs about 10 to 15 grams.
Quail start laying eggs within 7 weeks and they lay one egg daily.
Quails lay about 300 eggs in the first year. Thereafter, their egg laying capacity will be going down every year.
Quail eggs looks beautiful due to multi colour.
For hatching quail eggs, incubator or brooder chickens should be used as they do not incubate on their own. The Incubation time for quail egg is about 15 to 18 days.
Composition of Quail Bird Eggs:- Quail bird egg is roughly one-fifth the size of a chicken’s egg and weighs around 10 grams. The eggshells are spotted, with colors ranging from white to brown. Quail eggs contain less cholesterol.
WaterProteinFatCarbohydrateTotal ashCalorific Value
74%
13%
11%
1%
1%
649 k J/100g liquid
House or Shed or Pen Management in Quail Bird Farming:- There are two ways of rearing the quail birds. Providing proper housing is very much essential in quail bird farming.
Deep Litter System: As these birds occupy less floor space, an about 6 quails can be reared in 1 square feet of space for 2 weeks time and they can be moved to cage system. Unnecessary wandering should be avoided to develop good body weight.
Cage System: For first 2 weeks, the cage size of 3 feet x 2.5 feet x 1.5 feet can accommodate about 100 quails approximately. From 3 to 6 weeks, the cage size of 4 feet x 2 .5 feet x 1.5 feet will accommodate about 50 quails. In cage rearing system, each unit should about 6 feet in length and 1 foot in width. This should be divided into 6 sub-units. If the space is constraint, the cages can be arranged up to 5 tiers high. There can be up to 4 cages in any row. Make sure to have cage bottoms to allow for cleaning the bird droppings, for this, it is better to fix the cage bottom with removable wooden plate. Plastic cages are most convenient shelter for commercial quail farming. It is essential to maintain proper ventilation for flow of air and light inside the shed or house.
To feed the quail birds in the cage, long narrow feed troughs should be placed in front of the cages and water troughs should be placed at the back of the cage. If you are setting up quail farming for breeding purpose, there should be 1 male quail for 3 female quails in the cage as a best breeding practice.
Breeds In Quail Bird Farming:- There are two types of breeds, broilers and layers.
Layer (Eggs Purpose) Quail Breeds: British Range Quail, Tuxedo Quail, English White Quail, Pharaoh Quail and Manchurian Golden Quail.
Note: In this article, meat purpose quail bird farming is explained.
Feed Management in Quail Bird Farming:- Feed management is very critical part of commercial quail bird farming business. A well balanced nutritious feed ensures the proper growth of birds, resulting in good body weight gain in short duration. The following chart shows the balanced feed requirement in quail bird farming business.
Feed IngredientQuail Bird AgeQuail Bird Age0 to 3 weeks4 to 6 weeks
Broken Wheat
48
50
Fish Meal
20
16
Sesame Cake
23
22
Rice Bran
6
8
Salt
0.50
0.50
Broken Oyster shell
2.25
3.25
Mineral Mix
0.25
0.25
Total Percentage100 %100%
Make sure to have feed in small particles for better consumption.
A six month adult quail bird consumes about 25 to 30 grams of feed per day.
Quail birds require about 450 to 500 grams of feed for laying 12 eggs.
Disease Management in Quail Bird Farming:- Usually, diseases in quail birds are less when compared to other birds of the same race. However, growers should ensure proper care of quails so that less death rate and good profits can be achieved.
In general, there is no vaccination required in quail bird farming. However, daily cleaning and keeping the farm or floor dry, providing clean fresh water, feeding of quality concentrate, disinfecting the entire farm, proper ventilation for airflow and light will make the environment disease free and can manage the farm with minimal loss. As part of other disease preventive measures, make sure to separate the sick birds from healthy ones. Diseased birds should be burned immediately. Don’t mix up different age groups of quails. Maintain the hygienic conditions in the farm throughout the quail bird growth.
Even after implementing above instructions, there are chances of some kind of diseases possible in quails with sudden weather change.
Ulcerative Enteritis Disease: If the quails get affected by “Ulcerative Enteritis” disease, mix 1 gram of streptomycin with 1 liter of water and serve it to the quails for 3 days. This will control the disease.
Coccidiosis Disease: If the quails are suffering from coccidiosis disease, feed them coaxial 20 by mixing with water (2 grams/ liter) for 3 days.
Note: Before implementing any disease control measures, talk to veterinary doctor or poultry technical officer for proper advice.
Marketing of Quails:- Need not to worry about marketing of quail birds as there is already a market is established in most of the Asian countries. They can be sold very easily and fast especially in the local market and rural areas. However, proper marketing strategy is required before starting commercial quail farming on big scale.
Licensing Requirement For Quail Bird Farming:- Before starting a commercial quail bird farming business, you must obtain a government license as quails are protected species. Department of Animal Husbandry (DAH), Dairy and Fisheries are responsible for issuing such license. Every country might have different rules and procedures for setting up a quail farm. There are certain procedures, terms & conditions for obtaining the license for quail bird farming. Please contact your local animal husbandry department for complete details regarding the license requirement.
Bottom Line in Quail Bird Farming :- As these birds are very easy to handle and require less space and set up cost, farmers can get good profits in short period of time for eggs and meat of quail bird.
For Complete Poultry Farming Information: Read here.
