Quail Farming Information Guide

Quail Farming Guide:

Introduction of Quail Farming:- Quails are small birds and commercially grown for their eggs and meat. In India, commercial farming of these birds is increasing day by day as the investment and maintenance is very less compared to other birds. Quail eggs are very nutritious than poultry eggs. Japan quails are very famous in the world and first commercial farming of quails is started in Japan and now it spread across the globe. The main advantage of the quail farming is, these birds can be raised along with other poultry birds. In India, due to the high population, meat requirement is growing day by day and there is no doubt that quail farming will be popular like poultry farming in near future.

Advantage of Quail Farming:- Following are the main advantages and benefits of quail farming.

• Quail birds requires less floor space when compared to other birds
• Quail farming requires low investment to set up and labor cost is very low
• Quail will become ready for marketing in 5 weeks time
• Quail starts laying eggs in about 6 to 7 weeks of age
• Quail lay about 300 eggs/year which is considered as a very high rate of egg laying
• Commercial farming of quails is very successful in India
• Quail eggs contain less cholesterol and its meat is tastier than chicken
• Quail eggs and meat promotes body and brain functions in children
• Quail eggs meat are a nutritious diet for pregnant and nursing mothers
• Quail meat is low in fat, so quail meat is good for blood pressure patients.

 Quail Bird Characteristics:- Following are the quails 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.

Shelter or Housing Management in Quail Farming:- There are two ways to rear the quails. Proper housing is very much essential in quail farming.

• Deep litter system: As they occupy less floor space, about 6 quails can be reared in 1 square feet of space for two weeks and can be moved to cage system. Unnecessary wandering should be avoided to develop in good body weight. 

• Cage System: For first 2 weeks, the cage size of 3 ft x 2.5 ft x 1.5 ft can accommodate about 100 quails. From 3 to 6 weeks, the cage size of 4 ft x 2 .5 ft x 1.5 ft will accommodate 50 quails. In cage rearing system, each unit should about 6 feet length and 1 feet 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. Cage bottoms should allow for cleaning the bird droppings, for this cage bottom should be fixed with removable wooden plate. Plastic cages are most convenient for commercial quail farming. Make sure to have proper ventilation flow of air and light inside the shed or farm.To feed the 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.

Breeds in Quail Farming:- There are two types of breeds, broilers and layers.

• Broiler (Meat Purpose) Quail Breeds: Bobwhite (American), White Breasted (Indian).
• Layer (Eggs Purpose) Quail Breeds: British Range, Tuxedo, English White, Pharaoh and Manchurian Golden.

In this article, meat purpose quail farming is explained.

Feed Management in Quail Farming:- Feed management is very critical part of quail farming. A well balanced nutritious feed ensures the proper growth of birds result in good body weight gain.  The following chart shows the balanced feed requirement in quail farming.

• Make sure to have feed in small particles
• A 6 moth old adult quail consumes about 25 to 30 grams of feed/day
• Quails require about 450 grams of feed for laying 12 eggs.

Disease Management in Quail Farming:- Generally, diseases in quails are less compared to other birds. However, proper care will result in less death rate and good profits.

There is no vaccination required in quail farming. Daily cleaning and keeping the farm or floor dry, providing clean water, feeding of quality concentrate, disinfecting the entire farm, proper ventilation for air flow and light will make the environment disease free. As part of other disease preventive measures, make sure to separate the sick birds form healthy quails. If the birds are dead, burn them immediately. Don’t mix up different age groups of quails. Maintain the hygienic conditions in the farm throughout the quail growth.

Even after implementing above instructions there are chance of some kind diseases possible with sudden weather change.

• Ulcerative Enteritis Disease: If the quails get affected by “Ulcerative Enteritis” disease, mix 1 gram streptomycin with 1 litter 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, talk to veterinary doctor for guidance.

Marketing of Quails:- No need to worry about marketing of quails as there is a local market demand for these birds. They can be sold very easily and fast especially in the local market. However,  proper marketing strategy is required before starting a quail farming.

Licensing Requirement For Quail Farming:- In India, before starting a commercial quail 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 a license. They have already issued many licenses in the state of Maharashtra. There is a certain procedure for obtaining the license. Please contact your local Animal Husbandry department for complete details.

For commercial sheep or goat farming : Read Here.