Quail farming refers to the commercialized breeding of quail (like other poultry) in order to achieve the purpose of egg production and meat production. Almost all types of weather conditions are suitable for quail farming business. The meat and eggs of quail are delicious and nutritious. Quail eggs are more nutritious than other poultry eggs, because quail eggs contain relatively more protein, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, B1, and B2. Quail farming can play an important role in meeting people’s needs for food and nutrition. And quail can be raised with other poultry to produce meat or eggs.
Types of quail farms
According to different purposes, commercial quail breeding can be divided into three categories. These three categories are
1. Layer Quail Farm
The laying hen and quail farm is committed to egg production. Generally speaking, Japanese quail and white quail start to lay eggs at 6-7 weeks old and 8-10 weeks old. If the management is accurate, then each Japanese quail lays 250-300 eggs per year, and the white quail lays 150-200 eggs per year.
2. Broiler Quail Farm
The broiler farm is specialized in the production of meat. If you want to produce soft and delicious meat, broilers are raised in this process. These breeds of broilers are slightly larger than layer birds and gain weight quickly.
However, farmers do not raise them for so long. The average northern tit weighs about 170 grams. However, Jumbo Coturnix species increase 450 to 460 grams in their adulthood. Although they are used exclusively for meat production, the average egg production in broiler farming is about 150-250 eggs a year.
3. Quail Breeding Farm
Breeding quail lays eggs and lays new babies up to 30 weeks old. Use breeders to lay eggs to produce new babies. The general purpose of this method is to sell chicks.
Generally speaking, it takes 7-8 weeks for Japanese quail and 10 weeks for Bobai quail to mature. A small breed like button quail is the best choice. The ratio of male to female in the farm should be raised in pairs (1:1).
Advantages of quail breeding
There are many benefits of modern quail breeding, such as:
- Low space requirements (5-6 adult quails can be raised within one square foot).
- The initial start-up cost is extremely low, anyone can start a business with a small amount of capital
- Hardy and adaptable
- Early maturity (Laying eggs at 6-7 weeks of age)
- High egg production rate (280 eggs/bird a year)
- Short generation interval (3-4 generations a year).
- Rapid growth (weight 170-190 grams at the 5th week).
- Low feed consumption (550-600 g/bird, to the 5th week).
- Low production cost
- Resistant to common diseases in chickens
- Quail meat is better than chicken and has a lower fat content. And it can promote the physical and brain development of young children
- According to nutritional standards, quail eggs are much better than eggs. It has a very low cholesterol ratio. Quail meat and eggs are very good for pregnant women and babies.
Health benefits
- Eating quail eggs often helps prevent many diseases
- They have natural resistance to gastric ulcer and other digestive tract diseases.
- Quail eggs can enhance immunity, promote memory, improve health, increase brain activity, and stabilize the nervous system.
- They help treat anemia by increasing the level of hemoglobin in the body while removing toxins and heavy metals.
- The Chinese use quail eggs to help treat tuberculosis, asthma, and even diabetes
- If you are a patient with kidney, liver or gallbladder stones, quail eggs can help prevent and remove these types of stones.
How to start a quail farm
1. Receive training. To learn the skills and know-how of this industry, you must be trained by those who are already engaged in this industry. An experienced quail farmer can teach you what you need to know about the actual situation of quail farming and how to avoid traps and losses.
2. Get the license. The next most important thing is to get a license. I know that some countries do not require you to have a license to engage in quail farming, but most developed countries do. This is to prevent bird flu and all other poultry related diseases.
3. Obtain capital. Quail breeding does not require much capital. Most of the money you need is to buy birds and feed them. If you do not have a suitable location, you may still need funds. In general, you need anywhere between US$100 and US$500 to start a small-scale quail breeding business.
4. Get a location. Most small-scale quail farmers practice “backyard quail breeding”. If you don’t have enough funds, you can use this system. No matter what system you use, remember that the room you choose to keep birds must be well ventilated and kept clean at all times to prevent disease outbreaks.
You should also build a cage for the birds to protect them from predators and pests. You should also remember that they are birds and can escape, so when building a house or cage for them, you should build them in a way that they cannot escape.
5. Choose a good breed. Just like chickens and other birds, there are different varieties of quail. Some are bigger and more suitable for eating, while others are better at laying eggs. If you want to get involved in quail breeding purely for laying eggs, then you should choose layers such as tuxedo, Manchurian gold, British white and British range.
But if you still want to sell quail meat, you should add some broiler varieties, such as American Bob White and White Breast India. In addition, when you first buy quail birds, you should choose chicks that are at least 2 weeks old.
6. Feeding method. You can feed the quail birds with the same feed used for chickens or turkeys. But chickens and quail birds actually don’t consume much food, so you really don’t have to worry about the cost of feeding, because compared with other poultry birds, the cost of feeding quail birds is quite low.
7. Labor: It depends on how busy you are and how big your farm is, but quail birds are very easy to manage. One person can handle up to 5000 birds, so you may not need to hire additional labor if you have Enough time is in your hands to manage your quail farm yourself.
8. Marketing. My first advice to anyone who intends to engage in quail farming is to conduct a feasibility study of the business in your area and prepare a quail farming business plan before you get involved in this industry. How do people in your area understand and buy quail eggs? For those who have entered this industry, what is the profit of this industry?
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