What are the benefits of raising quails? Step-by-step plan for opening a quail farm, where to start a business

Raising quails as a business
Let's find out if it's profitable?

In this article we will look at raising quails as a business. Breeding these birds usually generates income from the sale of eggs, less often from the sale of meat and chicks. Since quails do not reach large sizes, you will have to spend considerable time and effort raising birds for meat. Selling is much easier and more profitable quail eggs, this will be discussed further. More profitable ideas you will find in the article:

Raising quails as a business: preparation

In order to create a quail farming business with full cycle reproduction, you will need to lay some eggs to hatch chicks. Therefore, your business equipment should consist of the following three parts:
Incubator for eggs (quails do not hatch them)
Brooder with heat lamp for chicks
Cages (20 cm in height, 180 cm2 per quail)

The cages and brooder must be equipped with a feeding system. One quail needs 34 grams of feed per day. Young animals and adults need to be fed different foods - for chicks you will need special feed, which is better absorbed by the fragile body and stimulates its growth.
Birds under 4 weeks of age (28 days) are considered chicks. Birds at any age need to be fed 3-4 times a day.

Purchasing young stock and bird characteristics

It is better to start breeding with 5-7 dozen quails, no less. For one male there are 3-5 females. Moreover, at the very beginning it is better to purchase already adult individuals, so as not to wait until they mature. Birds begin to lay eggs after 40 days of life.
! By the way, buying one individual will cost on average about 100-150 rubles. That is, for 70 birds you will need only 10.5 thousand rubles.
From one quail you can get about 30 eggs per month. Birds live up to 1.5 years on average, but practitioners advise not to keep quails for longer than six months. This is due to the deterioration of the quality of the egg, which loses its beneficial features. A hatching egg is usually obtained from a quail at the age of 6 months, after which it is sold for meat.

Making a profit from quail farming

In a business like quail farming, the bulk of the profit comes from the sale of edible eggs. The cost of a dozen quail eggs varies from 50 to 100 rubles. In a flock of 60 animals, the proportion of females will be about 50. By receiving 30 eggs per month from each, you can earn about 15,000 rubles from the sale of eggs.

It turns out that raising 120 heads will bring 30 thousand rubles monthly, 240 - 60 thousand rubles, 360 - 90 thousand rubles, and so on.

Conclusion

In raising quails, as in any other similar business, it is important to calculate in advance the required number of heads to obtain the required profit. True, raising 120 birds or more will be too expensive for apartment breeding. Therefore, in order to receive tangible profits from your business, you will need a territory on your summer cottage or a specially designated place for raising a large number of quails.

Turkey rearing. Profitable business With minimal investment! Growing champignon mushrooms as a business. A profitable, fast-paying investment.

In some countries, quail meat is considered medicinal, but even if this is not true, it is dietary and valuable in terms of taste. It is clear that quail breeding as a business is very profitable, it pays for itself quickly, the farms are small in size, and starting a business does not require a large starting capital.

Where to start a quail business?

It is recommended to start raising poultry with a population of no more than 700 birds, since quails are very prolific, and the chicks quickly grow into adults. In about a year, your livestock will increase tenfold, and the profitability of your business will increase. To get started, you will need about 10 thousand dollars, which will be justified in a few months.

When drawing up a business plan, you need to consider the following points in detail:

• expenses for equipment of a new farm and further maintenance of poultry;
• planned profit;
• product sales system;
• possible risks;
• legal registration of business;
• other questions.

Even if you have some experience in quail breeding, the main difficulty in this business is not technical issues, but the ability to communicate with potential clients, convince them, work with contractors and establish the necessary connections.

The main issue in any business is making a profit, so the issue of selling poultry meat and eggs becomes decisive when running a business. Therefore, the first question that arises in the planning process is how many retail outlets can you attract cooperation? To increase their number, you will have to hold preliminary meetings with the owners of restaurants, shops, cafes and eateries. During the negotiations, it will become clear whether this niche is occupied by other manufacturers, what are the prospects for supplies, etc.

The main costs initially fall on the purchase of adult quails and the necessary equipment. In addition, the poultry population has to be periodically renewed, since the productivity of a one-year-old animal is halved. To increase the number of eggs, eggs are taken from females aged from two to ten months, and from older individuals they are used as food product. Quails at the age of one year are slaughtered for meat.

It should be noted that trade in raised young animals is no less profitable than the sale of meat and eggs, since new farms are constantly springing up in the country, which supports the demand for chicks.

Quail farm premises

You should start raising individuals by building a small room for them, the location of which does not play a special role. The main thing is that it is a quiet place and that the bird house meets the basic requirements put forward to it. Optimal temperature indoors - +18°C, air humidity - 65-70% during the entire period of detention. Sudden and significant changes in these indicators should not be allowed, as this can lead to a decrease in quail egg production, diseases and mortality. It is necessary to ensure a stable influx fresh air, since they are very demanding in this regard, although at the same time they do not tolerate drafts. Optimal parameters - per 1 kg of bird weight, at least 5 cubic meters are required in summer. meters of fresh air, in winter - 2 cubic meters. meters. Its supply can be ensured using an air conditioner, and the required temperature in winter time— installation of an electric heater with a thermostat.

Bright light in the room is not necessary - birds do not like it, so a brightness of 35 lux and 16-18 hours of lighting per day is sufficient. Lamps with a brightness of up to 20 lux are installed above the feeders and we should not forget that from bright light quails become aggressive. Parameter stability is monitored using appropriate instruments.

When breeding the most popular breed - Japanese quails, up to 120 birds are housed per square meter, and the height of the cages should not exceed 30 cm. The cages are installed in several tiers (up to five), taking into account ease of maintenance. It turns out that up to six hundred quails can be accommodated on one square meter of area. Although in practice this number is somewhat less, since maintenance personnel need to constantly monitor their condition and promptly remove dead individuals.

A separate expense item required for raising quails is the purchase of a diesel or gasoline generator, which is designed to prevent freezing or suffocation of the bird during possible power outages. The generator must be equipped with an automatic start system; when the lights go out, its task is to maintain the operation of the electric heater and air conditioner.

The quail business requires the presence of high-quality incubators. Homemade devices for incubation cannot be used, as they are not able to provide the required quality and reliability of the process.

To obtain eggs, birds are placed in cages at the rate of one male for two or four females. Young individuals up to eight months old are used for breeding.

Farms widely use artificial incubation of eggs, for which non-standard eggs that meet the requirements for size, color and shell thickness are removed. After this, an inspection is performed using an ovoscope, in which eggs that are cloudy or have a double yolk, as well as other defects, are rejected.

To ensure successful cultivation, the incubator maintains temperature and humidity within the following parameters:

• The first 12 days - temperature 37.2°C, humidity 60%;
• from 12 to 15 days - 37.2°C and 55%;
• from the 16th day - 37.0°C and 70%.

In the first days of life, young animals are given increased attention, since even a small draft or temperature jump can kill them. The temperature in the cage in the first week of life of the chicks should not be lower than +35-37°C, in the second week it drops to +32°C, in the third to +26°C. Next, the grown chicks are moved to cages for adult birds.

Feeding quails

On average, one Japanese quail eats up to 30 grams of food daily. So, with a total quantity of a thousand heads, up to 30 kilograms are consumed daily, for which it is necessary to create a sufficient supply of feed on the farm and ensure its purchase on time.

The feed must be of high quality, balanced, with a set of necessary vitamins and microelements in order to maintain high egg production. In summer, birds should be fed fresh grass and root vegetables (cut) daily. In winter, the lack of vitamins is compensated for by sprouted oats or wheat, and wet food is diluted with fish or bone meal. Periodically, crushed shells, chalk, and fine gravel are added to the feeders, without which the bird’s egg production is significantly reduced. They are fed at the same time. Violation of this rule can lead to stress in the birds.

Sales of quail meat and eggs

The last stage of the quail breeding business is the sale of meat, eggs and young animals, and this is the main problem for the farmer. Despite the not very strong competition in this segment, it is quite difficult to find serious buyers for these products, which is due to the fact that consumers have not yet created a stable habit of consuming quail meat and eggs, unlike chicken. Big role Poor product advertising also plays a role, since the main suppliers are private entrepreneurs who do not have sufficient funds to organize advertising campaigns.

The first buyers most often become friends and relatives of the entrepreneur, but this is a limited sale that quickly fades away as buyers quickly lose interest in the product. Therefore, when raising a flock of several thousand quails, you should look for serious channels for selling your products. Agreements with small grocery stores are also not very promising, since their order volumes are small.

Very profitable contracts for the supply of eggs are concluded with large supermarkets, although it is very difficult to achieve such an agreement. To do this, you will have to convince the store administration that in you they will find the most profitable and reliable supplier of products. You will also need to obtain a number of permitting documents that will confirm the quality of your product and its sanitary safety.

When drawing up a business plan for opening a quail breeding farm, you need to take into account all the little things and nuances that affect profitability and profitability. For example, in the second year of life, females’ egg production drops sharply, so adult birds are slaughtered for meat. Another expense item that is invisible at first is that to speed up the processing of carcasses you will have to purchase a centrifuge for removing feathers.

As for the service personnel, it makes sense to breed quails family business, since two people are quite capable of servicing a flock of 1200 animals.

Quail breeding as a business receives mostly favorable reviews, since producers who have found distribution channels have a good income. But we must not forget that this type of activity is associated with constant care of the poultry, the absence of weekends and vacations, and endless worries about selling products. Therefore, before you start breeding quails, you need to assess your capabilities and willingness to give everything to the business. free time. The profitability of your future business primarily depends on this.

In conditions of the economic crisis and the high cost of “entry” into existing entrepreneurial niches, one of the promising areas for organizing your own business is the quail business. This type of activity has a number of undeniable advantages that allow you to achieve a stable profit within several months:

small amount of starting capital;

quick payback;

ease of bird care;

minimum area production premises;

low cost of necessary equipment;

high consumer quality of products;

low level of competition.

The disadvantages of raising quails as a business include:

relative newness of products for Russian market;

the need for regular care and feeding;

increased labor costs when procuring meat relative to larger poultry.

Production of quail eggs in Russian Federation does not exceed 400,000 pieces per day, while in Japan, with a comparable population, daily sales of quail eggs rarely fall below 7,000,000. For most regions, quails remain an exotic curiosity and preference is given to traditional chicken.

Russian consumers are just beginning to get used to the presence of quail eggs and meat on store shelves and on the menus of public catering establishments. This opens up impressive prospects for quail farming as a business, as neighboring countries show a steady increase in interest from buyers.

Material and production base for poultry breeding

You should not immediately set up a large poultry farm to make sure that the quail business is profitable. It is enough for a novice poultry farmer to acquire a flock of up to 500 birds. Quails reach egg-laying age very quickly, from 5 to 8 weeks from the moment of birth. A herd of 500-600 heads can easily be served by one person with a daily workload of no more than 3-4 hours.

Your own business - what you need to breed quails

To start a quail business, a small area is required, since the birds are as compact as possible. One meter, when placing cages in several levels, can contain up to 300 heads. For housing, it is recommended to use a separate room with an area of ​​about 20 m², in which it will be convenient to care for the livestock, store and prepare feed mixtures.

The initial equipment set will consist of cage batteries, containers for storing feed and eggs, and equipment for cutting carcasses. A business plan for breeding quails should include an incubator for hatching chicks and a special container for young animals (brooder).

Business plan: what and how much it costs

The cost of individual equipment and breeding birds may vary depending on the specific region and seasonality. The size of the initial investment depends on whether cages and special containers are purchased ready-made or made independently. An additional expense item may be registration of a legal entity and rental of premises if there is no own space.

Based on the size of the herd of 500 heads, corresponding to the business plan for breeding quail at home, the material costs at the initial stage of organizing a quail business will be:

cell battery - 8-12 thousand rubles. (at the same time, the cost of the material is 2-3 thousand rubles);

purchase of quail stock - 20 thousand rubles. (the cost of quails for breeding is 40 rubles per chick);

food (for the first time) - about 3 thousand rubles;

small-sized incubator - from 7 to 12 thousand rubles;

brooder for young animals - from 3,500 rubles.

If you have the necessary skills and free time, you can make cages for adults and a brooder yourself, which will significantly reduce initial costs.

A business plan for raising quails should take into account the costs of lighting and maintaining the necessary temperature regime, depending on the time of year and electricity tariffs. To more effectively pluck slaughtered poultry, it is recommended to purchase a special centrifuge, since manual processing of small carcasses can be extremely inconvenient.

Income and main expenses in the manufacture of products

One hen, starting from 2 months of age, produces 250-300 eggs per year. After reaching the age of 8-12 months, the productivity of quails decreases and it is recommended to use them for meat. When slaughtered, one quail carcass yields 200-350 g, depending on the breed.

The profitability of a business is determined by the cost of manufactured products and the speed of sales. It is realistic to sell quail eggs at a price of 1.5-2 rubles. per piece, meat - 60-90 rubles. per carcass. The slaughter of poultry can begin at 8-10 weeks, when their growth ends. Meat breeds reach optimal eviscerated carcass weight at 6 weeks.

It is advisable to assess profitability from the 5th month from the date of acquisition of the first livestock. By this time, laying hens have achieved stable productivity, and excess males can be sold for meat. When using an incubator, the number of birds can be increased several times, so for ease of calculations, a business plan for quail with a herd size of 1000 laying hens and 200-250 males is used.

A thousand quails lay approximately 300,000 eggs per year. In addition, you can additionally obtain at least 4,000 meat carcasses for meat with full reproduction of the productive population. Based on this, you can calculate the approximate revenue from industrial quail breeding with the timely sale of poultry farm products:

egg - 450-600 thousand rubles;

meat - 240-360 thousand rubles;

total: 690-960 thousand rubles per year.

Separate items of income may include:

sale of breeding birds over 1 month old;

sale of poultry manure as a highly effective nitrogen-containing fertilizer;

independent production of cages, drinkers and feeders with their subsequent sale.

Various payments as taxes and fees must be deducted from the amount of revenue, subject to registration of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur(if we regard quail breeding as a business focused on wholesale sales of products).

The main mandatory expenses affecting the profitability of the quail business will be payment for:

poultry feed - 144 thousand rubles;

heating and light - approximately 25 thousand rubles.

A herd of laying hens of 1000 heads can be cared for by 2 people with part-time work. With such a production volume, it is advisable to use the model family business, when profit and salary are essentially the same thing. Involving a third party work force is included in the business plan for quail breeding when it becomes justified: when the number of hens increases to 5,000 laying hens or more, and there are reliable sales channels for the products.

Quail breeding - livestock reproduction technology

Quails are unpretentious and capable of keeping as compact as possible. It may seem that raising poultry on an industrial scale is possible even on the balcony of an apartment using boxes and cardboard boxes. This approach is justified only when growing quail as a home business mainly for personal use. An area of ​​a mini-farm that is too small will be physically inconvenient for caring for several hundred birds, and excludes the possibility of expanding the quail business at home.

Growing and feeding

Stable productivity of the quail population requires certain housing conditions and regular monitoring of the condition of the birds. Any farm requires constant human control without days off or vacations. A quail poultry farm as a business requires care, which consists of the following:

maintaining optimal levels of lighting, humidity and air temperature;

creation of conditions for maintenance and reproduction;

ensuring adequate nutrition and availability clean water;

inspection of livestock, culling of birds with suspected disease or aggressive behavior;

timely cleaning of cells;

egg collection and poultry slaughter.

With a flock size of 500-600 individuals, the quail business requires 2-4 hours a day of care, which one person can do very well. For a flock of 1-2 thousand birds, the efforts of two people will be required, for 5 thousand - three or more.

Room

The right premises is where to start quail business. Quails are kept under moderate lighting of 20-30 lux, which is fully provided by 40 W incandescent lamps. With more intense lighting, the birds behave aggressively and begin to peck each other. Daylight hours should last 16-18 hours. The humidity in the room should be at least 65%; in dry air, quails begin to peck out their feathers.

The temperature regime is maintained within the range from 18 to 24°C, Special attention attention should be paid to avoiding drafts. More resistant to diseases than other poultry, quail are extremely sensitive to air currents with high temperature differences.

Housing cages

50-100 individuals can be placed on one square meter of cage space; multi-tier batteries are usually used. The number of floors depends on the convenience of care. The material used for the cage is profile, galvanized mesh and metal sheets. Wooden materials are inconvenient to clean and quickly deteriorate, facilitating the proliferation of harmful microorganisms.

The height of the cages should not exceed 30 cm so that the bird does not jump, injuring its neck and head. The floor of the cage is sloping so that the laid eggs roll into a special chute. Facilities for food and water are placed outside.

Feed

Finding ready-made feed intended only for quails is quite difficult. Typically, the feed manufacturer specifies this type of poultry when selling universal mixtures. To create an optimal ratio of nutrients and beneficial microelements, you can make food for quail. The business plan will only benefit from this.

To produce feed, crushed grain of wheat, barley and corn is required, so it is advisable to purchase a special crusher. It is better to purchase grain in advance at farmers markets at the time of harvest.

In addition to grain, feed mixtures must contain a source of calcium: bone or fish meal, crushed shells, shells. Fine gravel and sand, necessary for the bird’s digestion, are thrown into the feeders. The taste of the product and the profitability of breeding laying quail for eggs as a business depend on the feed. The composition of the feed can be changed depending on the age category.

For birds from 1 to 4 weeks (as a percentage of the total weight of the mixture):

• wheat – 9.6;
• barley – 7;
• corn – 40;
• bone meal – 3;
• fish meal – 5;
• soybean meal – 30;
• dry return – 3;
• salt – 0.4;
• herbal flour - 1.

For 5-6 weeks of age:

• wheat – 25;
• barley – 7;
• corn – 40.5;
• bone meal – 3;
• fish meal – 5;
• Sunflower meal – 9;
• dry return – 3;
• crushed chalk, ground shell - 1;
• salt – 0.5;
• herbal flour - 1
• wheat bran – 5.

For birds over 7 weeks old, including laying birds:

• wheat – 15;
• barley – 7;
• corn – 40;
• sunflower meal – 10;
• soybean meal – 10;
• wheat bran – 5;
• fishmeal – 5;
• crushed chalk, ground shell - 1;
• bone meal – 4;
• herbal flour – 2.4;
• salt – 0.6.

In order to enrich the feed with biologically active substances, you can add special premixes (P1-1, P5-1, P6-1) at a rate of 1:100.

Raising young animals

When kept in compact conditions, the females' instinct to incubate eggs atrophies, so an incubator must be used to hatch new chicks. For fertilization, males are placed in cages at the rate of 2-5 per 10 females. The age of birds most suitable for breeding is 2-7 months.

Eggs with visible damage are rejected before being placed in the incubator. non-standard forms, sizes and colors. It is recommended to check the contents of eggs with an ovoscope to select eggs with double yolks, cloudy contents and other defects.

The incubator must maintain a certain temperature and humidity level:

12 days – 37.7°C and 55-60%;

from 12 to 15 days inclusive – 37.2°C and 55%;

from day 16 – 37°C and 70%.

During the first day, the brood should be carefully protected from drafts. The temperature in a special container (brooder cage) should be maintained between 35-37°C during the first week. Then the temperature gradually decreases to 30-32°C during the second week and to 24-26°C during the third. Afterwards, the young animals can be placed in cages with adults.

Breeding quails for meat or eggs, which business should you choose?

There are breeds specifically designed both for breeding for meat and for increased egg production. Paradoxically, it is not always advisable to breed only meat breeds.

This applies to the sale of carcasses to catering establishments. A standard portion of poultry meat rarely exceeds 200 g, while the weight of a meat quail carcass is 300 g. It is not profitable for a restaurant or cafe to cut up a carcass, so they are more willing to purchase meat from smaller egg-bearing breeds.

Breeding meat breeds is economically profitable with established sales to retail chains or poultry farms that want to expand the range of products without changing production technology. In these cases, the profit from the sale of quail meat will be significantly lower, because the buyer has to take into account his profit margins from subsequent resale.

It seems most rational to breed not very small egg-bearing breeds and make efforts to sell both eggs and quail meat. The business, in any case, is that laying hens produce eggs, and the birds have to be slaughtered before the age of 1 year, and the resulting eggs and meat need to be put somewhere.

Sales of finished products

Any production constantly faces the problem of selling products. There is no doubt about the ability of quails to consistently produce eggs and meat, but finding a market in modern Russian realities may take quite a lot of time.

Leaders of farms that have already achieved significant results in quail breeding advise starting with word of mouth.

On initial stages To implement your business plan, you should try offering quail eggs and meat to your friends and relatives. From them, information can go further, subject to setting a price favorable to buyers. This distribution channel cannot be considered truly reliable, but it will help you make a profit while working with other potential buyers, such as wholesale and retail chains and restaurants.

You should not seriously rely on small stores that do not have a developed network. Low purchasing power and insufficient customer traffic will not allow reaching any significant volumes. In this case, you will need to spend your own money on delivery and packaging of products.

When promoting products to retail chains and catering establishments, obvious advantages should be conveyed to potential buyers. 100 g of quail eggs, with comparable volumes of useful microelements, proteins and fats, contain half as much carbohydrates and several times less cholesterol. This makes quail breeding products more useful and suitable for dietary nutrition. In addition, the valuable properties of quail eggs make it possible to remove radionuclides from the human body.

Sale of quail meat and eggs to poultry farms

Establishing connections with large suppliers of farm products in the region can be considered quite reliable. In this case, you will have to give up part of the profit, but the farm will be spared the need to obtain most of the permitting documentation. In addition, wholesalers are freed from having to worry about distribution channels.

Large producers of poultry products, as a rule, are interested in expanding their own range for their counterparties, but often do not have the opportunity to create an additional production chain. When working with wholesalers who undertake work with the end consumer, it is necessary to constantly maintain stable supplies in the required volumes.

Quail is a relatively uncommon species of poultry, although Lately they are becoming increasingly popular due to their high early maturity, good quality eggs and meat. In addition, some breeds can be kept in enclosures as ornamental pets.

Raising quails at home is beneficial for several reasons. Firstly, they are highly productive and allow you to obtain a large number of dietary eggs. Secondly, their meat is characterized by good taste and is highly valued in the market. This article will describe the main features of growing these birds for your own needs and for sale.

Features of the quail farming business

Quails are considered profitable birds for breeding, both for personal consumption and for sale. Despite the fact that the carcasses of adult birds are small, and the egg production of females lasts no more than a year, even from a small number of birds you can get quite a lot of products with minimal feed costs.

Experienced poultry farmers recommend breeding quails not for meat, but for selling eggs. In fact, these two areas are closely related. By choosing the right breed, you can sell not only food eggs, but also hatching eggs, and send all one-year-old individuals for slaughter with further sale of carcasses. Let's take a closer look at the main areas of the quail farming business.

For own consumption

As a rule, birds are purchased specifically for meat and eggs. It is worth noting that for breeding many nuances should be taken into account, since caring for them requires manual labor. In addition, for rearing you need not only to purchase the birds themselves, but also to stock up on the necessary equipment, supplies and prepare a room for keeping them in cages. Examples and drawings of housing cages are shown in Figure 1.

Note: The main task of a novice poultry farmer is to determine for what purpose quail will be bred and, based on this, acquire a certain breed and number of individuals.

If you plan to start breeding to obtain meat and eggs for your own consumption, it will be enough to purchase from 10 to 30 individuals. The maximum quantity is 50 heads.

To keep a small number of individuals, it will be enough to allocate a small corner for placing cages, but if the number of livestock reaches 50 pieces, it is necessary to equip a place for a cage battery 1.2 meters long and 1.8 meters high. More useful information You will learn about home maintenance from the video.

To make a profit

To make a profit from breeding, you need to purchase 500-700 birds, but it should be borne in mind that they multiply very quickly and within a year their number can reach five thousand. To ensure high productivity, it is necessary to allocate a room with an area of ​​up to 15 square meters, where the cell batteries will be located (Figure 2).

For profit to be constant, it is necessary to ensure constant update herds, since in the second year of life productivity decreases by half. In addition, it is necessary to equip separate rooms for young animals, an incubator and the storage and preparation of feed. Additional examples of cell batteries are shown in Figure 3.

Farm breeding of quails

For these purposes, you initially need to purchase at least a thousand individuals, and the area of ​​the room for their maintenance should be approximately 30 square meters. The area of ​​all utility rooms should also be increased. You will learn examples of setting up a farm for raising large livestock in Figure 4.

Note: In addition to purchasing the birds themselves, it is necessary to take care of the market for eggs and meat and, if necessary, hire workers to care for them. You also need to calculate approximate production costs.

To do this, you should take into account not only food consumption (one individual eats about 25 grams of food per day), the purchase of an incubator, drinkers, feeders and cages, and when farming, take into account the payment of taxes, electricity bills and the labor of hired workers.

Due to their early maturity, quails are considered one of the most profitable for home keeping. And given the high reproduction rate, low feed consumption, dietary properties of eggs and meat and the lack of need for veterinary care, we can conclude that this area of ​​poultry farming is one of the most profitable and profitable.

Raising quails is even easier than other farm birds. This is primarily due to the fact that the birds are small, and the cages for keeping them take up little space. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to buy ready-made cells: you can easily make them yourself from scrap materials.

It is necessary to keep the livestock in a bright, dry room with good ventilation and stable temperature. In addition, there should be no drafts inside. If the cages are blown with cold air currents, the birds will begin to get sick or their feathers will begin to fall out. In winter, the room must be heated, and foods rich in proteins and fats must be added to the food.

Feeding

Often, ready-made feed for broiler chickens is used to feed quails. But they can be quite successfully replaced with a homemade grain mixture. Its composition should include 30% wheat, 25% corn, 5% barley and ground shell rock. The remaining percentage consists of sunflower cake and fish meal in equal proportions (Figure 5).

In addition, for good growth, the diet can be supplemented with mineral supplements and herbs, and to increase egg production, the percentage of grains in the diet can be increased. Feed is distributed 2-3 times a day. In the cold season, the number of feedings can be increased to four.

To dispense feed, containers in the form of troughs are used, which are attached to the outer wall of the cage, and for dry products, you can additionally install bunker feeders. For watering, it is better to use automatic drinkers with nipples that ensure uniform water flow. It should be borne in mind that drinking bowls must be washed before each water change.

Necessary care

Quails are very shy birds, so all manipulations in their premises must be carried out carefully, without making a lot of noise. It is better not to pick up quails unless absolutely necessary, so that their plumage does not shift.

Cages need to be cleaned of droppings every few days, combining this procedure with ash baths for birds. If it is necessary to transport birds, it is necessary to ensure that they have enough air and water.

Advantages and disadvantages of business

When planning to start a quail breeding business, you need to objectively evaluate all its advantages and disadvantages in advance. Among the main advantages, it is worth highlighting the high precocity of birds: females begin to lay eggs already at the age of one and a half months, and gain the weight required for slaughter in 2-3 months. In this case, it is advisable to slaughter the birds at one year of age, since in this case you will have the opportunity to collect enough eggs for sale and breeding.

However, precocity can also be called a disadvantage of breeding. Sexual maturity in birds occurs early, and individuals already at 8-9 months are not capable of fertilization, and their eggs become unsuitable for incubation. Therefore, to make a profit, it is recommended to keep several flocks of quails of different ages at once.