The big advantage of raising quails is that you don’t even need a room (chicken coop) for keeping them. It is enough to have a cage measuring 1 m² to accommodate up to 50 individuals.
If you provide them with good conditions, you can count on 48-50 eggs on average daily, each weighing about 10-12 grams, which translates into 8 eggs per day.
Before you start raising quails, familiarize yourself with how to organize such a business. Depending on them, the necessary equipment will be purchased and activities will be carried out.
You should understand whether you will raise quails yourself for generations or purchase already grown ones.
If we compare both options, the second will have lower profitability, but will significantly reduce the initial investment. When focusing on meat breeds for beginning entrepreneurs, this option is more preferable.
An important issue is the choice of final products, that is, are you going to focus on selling eggs or meat. Or both. Both products belong to elite and dietary products, the demand for which is stable.
It is worth building a financial and marketing policy from the final product. When looking for distribution channels, it is difficult for beginning breeders to enter a large market, however, established supplies of goods to local HoReCa establishments can provide constant and high profits.
The form of business organization does not matter - buyers treat individual entrepreneurs and LLCs equally well. But to sell products, you will need a veterinary certificate confirming that it has passed an examination. The cost of services is minimal and will range from 3 to 10 thousand rubles (depending on the laboratory).
Examination of meat costs one and a half to two times more. Without veterinary certificates, you should not hope for effective sales.
Farm profitability
Raising quails at home is a profitable business. For example, in order for a chicken to turn into a full-fledged chicken, it must be raised for 5-8 months. And the Japanese quail lays eggs after 40 - 45 days of life.
One bird eats about 10 kg of feed per year and produces about 300 eggs. The profit is obvious, even if you subtract the cost of 10 kilograms of food, which is 300 rubles.
If you don’t want to engage directly in poultry breeding, then purchasing one-month-old quails will take away another 150-200 rubles per head from this amount.
The cost of meat is 500 per kilogram of carcasses, so slaughtering a bird at the end of the first year of life, when egg production is at its peak, will bring an additional 70-100 rubles per unit.
If you are not planning to set up a large-scale farm, your main clients will be restaurants, hotels and catering services.
Breeding quails for eggs
It is recommended to buy birds that are 1-1.5 months old and no more. The female reaches sexual maturity at 1.5, and her egg production is the highest. By the way, Japanese quail lays eggs after 40 - 45 days of life.
You need to buy from breeders or farms. Unlike chickens, the young of which must be purchased at a certain time of the year in order for their productivity to be highest, the egg production of quails does not change.
Attention! Buy food from the same seller. Quails are already accustomed to feeding on it, and changes significantly affect its productivity. There will be less eggs, and digestive problems may arise. It is enough to stock up on the usual food for about 3 weeks or a month. During this time, you need to switch to your feeding diet.
Breeding quails for sale
If you want to start breeding quails not only for selling chicks, then you need an incubator.
Since this bird does not hatch eggs, an incubator is used. There is virtually no difference between the hatching processes of quail, chicks or chicks.
Some people notice that in a regular incubator with a capacity of 60-70 chicken eggs, it is difficult to hatch quails. This is especially true for 5-8 dozen of them, which roll out throughout the incubator during turning.
At this stage, anxiety and fuss arise. From the materials at hand, they begin to make an incubator for quails, while a small number of eggs can be placed around with a soft cloth or cotton wool.
In addition, all incubators have different temperatures near the edges and the middle. Therefore, it is necessary to move the eggs all the time. But a small number of quails are already in the middle of the incubator, so there is no need to make any movements.
An ordinary standard apparatus is suitable for hatching quails. You can make an incubator yourself, it is not a complicated process.
Eggs must be fresh (up to 7 days), purchased from breeders or farms. Quails age for 16-17 days. You need to do 3-6 egg turns per day.
For the last 7 days, stick to 38C°, 25 hours before hatching and throughout the process the temperature should be 37.5C°.
When the eggs are still in the incubator, a brooder should be built for the young animals. You can use boxes made of cardboard, plywood, or wood for it. Quail is a restless bird; the top needs to be covered with a soft net. However, it is better to make a brooder yourself.
During the first day after hatching, the chicks should be kept at 33-35C°. Until they reach one month of age, the temperature should be slowly reduced to 25C° every day. For two weeks there was 24-hour lighting. Then you should reduce daylight hours to 17 hours.
Quail chicks hatch one after another, hatching time is approximately 10 - 12 hours. Those that hatch after the expiration date have minimal survival rate.
Choosing a breed for breeding
You need to choose a breed of birds for breeding. Unlike chickens, among quails there is a lot of meat and eggs for general use, which allow you to maximize profits from both areas of sales.
Japanese breed
All bred for meat and eggs belong to the species of silent (Japanese) quail. It is considered a classic and is distinguished, first of all, by its high egg production and ease of use.
Birds of the Japanese breed lay from 280 to 300 eggs per year and have a small weight. Good chick survival rates make it optimal for long-term breeding.
Pharaoh
This breed is from the USA, it is primarily for meat production. The weight of grown quails at the optimal age for slaughter is 2 months is 280-300 grams.
Separately, it should be noted that there is good potential for the sale of eggs, which are larger (up to 17 grams of weight) in comparison with other breeds. This will allow representatives of the restaurant business to sell at high prices, not paying attention to the low egg production of 140-160 pieces throughout the year.
English white
General use breed. The weight of eggs and egg production indicators are similar to Japanese ones, while the weight of quails is 160-180 grams, which is higher than that of Japanese ones. However, the survival rate of chicks, as well as the period of effective egg production, are lower.
English black
This breed is recently bred and differs from the white breed in its increased weight and other characteristics being the same. Now it is quite difficult to find it in Russia, in addition, the English black requires more careful and attentive care.
Estonian
It was developed at the end of the 20th century in Estonia for general use. The main advantage is good survival rate, lack of brooding instinct and adaptability to Russian conditions.
Almost all quail breeds are suitable for laboratory purposes, depending on the specific needs of the institutes. But most of them still strive to use classic representatives of the Japanese breed without signs of hybridization.
Conditions for keeping quails
Optimal temperature conditions
This is the very first and most important condition for keeping poultry, which must be observed, regardless of the location, be it a living space or a special room.
For adult birds, it is necessary to provide an air temperature there of 18-20C° (the best for quail), and it should not fluctuate.
If temperature fluctuations occur (above 25C° or less than 12C°), the productivity of the bird will immediately begin to decline. At high temperatures, quails shed their feathers, and coolness of 8-5C° leads to their death.
Lighting mode
The light regime for quails should imitate natural conditions, however, it is not critical, as for chickens. For maximum egg production, maintain 18 hours of daylight using not too bright lamps.
For meat breeds, you can reduce the daylight hours to 16 hours - this will have a positive effect on weight gain.
Place of detention - cage
If raising quails is new to you, buy a cage or make one yourself.
Requirements for a quail cage:
- the main parts must be metal and made of galvanized mesh;
- place feeders and drinking bowls behind the front wall of the housing area, and the spaces between the rods should allow only your head to stick through;
- the height of the cage must exceed 20 cm, otherwise the bird, which is predisposed to jump upward, may injure its head;
- quails lay on the floor, so equip the cage with a tray for receiving eggs, where they will be folded;
- provide a litter tray.
Literary sources of information suggest seating birds at the rate of 10 birds per 0.2 m² cage. However, in chickens, productivity increases noticeably with less planting per 1 m², and the egg production of quails, on the contrary, decreases. It is better to keep the figure at 10 birds per 0.2 m² of the bottom of the cage.
Feeding quails at home
For feeders, different tanks with low edges are suitable. Use vacuum drinkers to prevent the quail from drowning.
Initially, the diet consists of hard-boiled, finely chopped eggs. Then you can use complete feed for. Quails will also enjoy eating worms. But it is difficult for them to swallow them, which is why live food can fall out of the beak and spread throughout the house. Place a tray at the bottom of the cage. An excellent solution for the constant availability of this delicacy.
Quails grow quickly, so when they are two weeks old, it is best to transfer the young chicks to an adult cage. To ensure that the required temperature is always maintained there, cover it with cellular polycarbonate, making small holes for ventilation.
Reference Information. For a female, 25-35 grams are needed per day. feed, 10 kg per year. During this time, you can get an average of 300 eggs from one, the total weight of which is 3-3.2 kg. For comparison, about 45-50 kg of feed is needed per year, and during this period she will lay approximately 180 eggs in the amount of 10-11 kg.
At first glance there is no difference. Feeding one chicken is equivalent to feeding four quails. But upon closer examination, differences exist.
There is no separate feed for the egg-laying breed. Therefore, when they offer “full food” for quails, they definitely want to deceive. No literary source contains information on nutrition for quails.
Feeding an adult bird three times a day, strictly following the norms (25-30 grams daily, depending on the breed). Egg production instantly drops if food is given less or more than normal. Feeders must be installed behind the front of the cage; drinkers must be nipple type (water supply by drip).
Quails are ideal birds for breeding in the countryside or on a farm. Low maintenance and feeding costs, low maintenance requirements - all this can be considered an advantage breeding quails at home for beginners.
Quails feel great, reproduce and lay eggs if they are bred even in a small city apartment. You can place the bird on the balcony or loggia. A pantry is also suitable for this purpose. The main requirement is warmth, absence of drafts and dampness in the quail’s place of residence. The bird will not cause trouble to a person if there is limited living space and will coexist absolutely peacefully with him. The main limitation that will not allow such coexistence is an allergy to bird feathers.
The bird feels good in small cages, which you can purchase in a store, market, or build yourself. Quails do not like large and free space. Therefore, a parrot cage will also be a good home for quails. It can accommodate several females and one male.
A small tray placed under the cage greatly simplifies the process of cleaning the cage. If droppings and food debris are removed daily, there will be no smell in the apartment, which of course is good news. Do not forget that quails are very timid and, when threatened, make a sharp jump upward. It is possible that the bird may even injure its head. To prevent such cases, the sides of the cage are covered with opaque material, and the top part is lined with soft fabric or a fishing net.
Feeding quails
The bird is very economical in terms of feed consumption. One individual needs only 30 grams of dry food per day. Its composition must necessarily include a ground grain mixture of the following cereals:
- corn;
- wheat;
- millet;
- barley;
- sorghum.
All components are mixed dry and water is added to them. You can add stale bread, food waste, and boiled bones to the resulting mixture. A quail's diet must include protein foods: fish, cottage cheese and other fermented milk products. As complementary food, they are given chopped greens and grated vegetables. To saturate the birds' bodies with calcium, crushed shells or lime are placed in the cage. For these purposes it is better to use a separate container.
Many poultry keepers cover the bottom of the cage with sand, in which the bird likes to look for something useful, for example, scattered food or its remains. This serves as a good activity for the bird, which will always be fussing around in the sand.
Watch a video about raising quails in a city apartment:
Breeding quails at home for beginner poultry farmers- an exciting and profitable activity. At low economic costs, the family will always have fresh and tasty meat, as well as eggs. More articles on the website fermeru.pro.
Recently, these funny birds have begun to be bred even in city apartments, where they live in parrot cages.
Keeping quails at home: is it profitable or not?
Quail is a fairly unpretentious bird, so caring for it is easy. All that is needed for them to lay fruitfully is maintaining the required temperature and light conditions, as well as using balanced feed.
The big advantage of keeping quails is that these birds are not too large in volume, so cages with them can be placed anywhere: a house, a barn, a cottage, even an apartment. Therefore, first of all, decide why you are raising this bird?
Typically, quail are raised for one of two purposes:
1) tender meat with low calorie content;
2) egg production.
If your main goal is eggs, then the most suitable breeds are:
Japanese;
English white;
Manchurian golden.
Laying hens of these breeds lay an average of 250-290 eggs per year, so even 10 females can significantly replenish your family budget.
If you want to provide your family with delicious and low-calorie meat, then you should choose the Pharaoh breed. The females of this breed lay much weaker, but they gain quite good weight, as for such small birds - 300 g.
Keeping quails at home: choosing a breed and healthy chickens
Before you start raising quails, you need to learn how to properly care for young shoots. Most people who do not have much experience in this matter make boxes from plywood or cardboard, but such housing is not entirely suitable for small quails. The reason for this is the hypersensitivity of quails to even small temperature changes. Therefore, if you do not prepare a special cage in time, there is a risk of being left without any young livestock.
As we have already said, the best option for young quails is a brooder. This special cage is quite simple to make. Take several wooden blocks, knock them into a frame and cover them with fiberboard or thick plywood.
All about raising quails at home
To maintain the desired temperature inside the cage, use infrared incandescent lamps. This is a very important point, especially in the cold season. As the chicks grow older, the heating can be gradually reduced.
Boxes for small quails must be kept clean regularly; the bottom must be covered with clean paper, which must be changed regularly as it becomes dirty. After the incubation period, the young animals should immediately be planted in a box, where there should be a mesh with 5X10 mm cells at the bottom. This will allow young birds to feel confident on their feet and avoid the so-called “splits”, when the quail’s legs move in different directions, the net in this case serves as a support for them.
As we mentioned above, maintaining temperature is very important for young shoots, since they do not tolerate even a slight cold snap very well, which can lead to their death.
Young quails must be provided with all the necessary food immediately after hatching, since immediately after birth they have the ability to feed on their own. In principle, the entire life of quails is based on food, its consumption and search. Due to the fact that this bird grows very quickly, it must be provided with all the necessary feed with a high content of proteins, vitamins and minerals. From the first hours of life they can already be fed the following food:
boiled eggs (finely chopped);
cottage cheese with breadcrumbs;
corn;
chopped greens;
feed for young birds aged 1 to 10 days.
Young animals grow very quickly: in just 2 months they gain weight 20-25 times their initial weight and almost reach the size of adult quails.
For example, during the same time, chickens gain weight only 14 times and grow into adult birds much longer.
In the first 7 days of life, the optimal temperature for young animals is 35 ºC; after 2 weeks it can be reduced to 30 ºC.
An important point is the lighting of the cage. In the first 2 weeks, the light should be left on around the clock. In the period from 3 to 6 weeks, it is advisable to leave the lighting according to this principle:
1 hour on - 3 hours off;
3 hours on - 1 hour off.
After the sixth week, the light must be turned on for 12 hours until full adulthood.
If you are going to place cages with birds on the balcony, then it must be glazed, and this only applies to adult quails; it is not recommended to take such risks with young animals.
Puberty in quails comes after 40 days of life. It is during this period that they need to be transferred to cages for adult birds. If you delay this process, the bird’s period of laying eggs may come much later. If everything is done correctly, intensive egg laying in quails begins at the age of two months.
The selection of males should take place at approximately the same time. Some of them will be left for the tribe, the rest must be transferred to intensive fattening for subsequent slaughter for meat.
Keeping quails at home: what to feed, how to care
Adults are not as demanding as young people, so they can be raised in a barn, country house or insulated apartment loggia. All you need to monitor is the temperature and the absence of drafts. In winter, make sure that the temperature does not drop below 16ºC.
An adult bird should be kept with the following calculation: 1 male - 4 laying hens. As we have already said, young animals live together only until puberty, then they need to be settled in different cages.
To create the ideal quail housing, make sure it is well ventilated and warm and dry. If at least one of the conditions is not met, the birds will begin to lose feathers and their egg production will decrease.
As for lighting, daylight hours for adults last about 17 hours. It is also quite common to maintain lighting in laying hens around the clock. This method is quite effective and makes it possible to increase egg production by 2-3 times. However, this method also has a big drawback - laying hens live much less.
When breeding adult birds, do not forget that their feeders and drinkers should be located outside the cages, and not inside. This will make it easier to maintain cleanliness in the cages and reduce feed consumption.
The number of feed intakes for these birds should be 2-3 times a day, 30 g per quail. The most suitable food for quails is finely chopped greens, grains (sprouted), vegetables or sunflower seeds. You can also use feed that is given to chickens.
It is advisable to add boiled fish and bone meal to the feed at least 2 times a week. To ensure your bird grows healthy and productive, do not forget to add chalk to the feed.
Methods for keeping quails
Today, the most popular are 2 methods: birds living together in families or hens and males living separately.
Each of these methods has its pros and cons, so which one is more suitable is up to you.
The most suitable number in such families is 8 birds - 6 laying hens and 2 males.
If egg laying decreases at any point, change males.
Laying hens live separately, and the male only needs to be replanted for a while
The main advantages of raising quails at home
The main advantage of breeding this bird is that it is a very profitable business, which also does not require much time and effort, so even beginners who do not have any special knowledge and experience can do it.
Another important advantage is that the quail is a small bird, and therefore does not require a lot of space. This allows you to breed it anywhere: cottage, barn, apartment. Even on the most ordinary city balcony of a multi-story building, you can easily keep several hundred heads of quails.
These small birds seem to be created to be bred at home, since they do not like contact with other living creatures at all, so breeding them on farms is a more difficult task. The main reason for this is that quail rarely suffer from various infectious diseases, but they can easily become infected from other poultry.
This is probably the reason for the increased popularity of breeding this bird at home. Even if you don’t plan to make a lot of money from quails, several heads of this bird can easily provide you and your family with fresh eggs.
To summarize, it must be said that the quail is a very unpretentious bird that is capable of producing a lot of eggs and low-calorie meat. But in order for the birds to always remain as productive as possible, do not forget to regularly feed them the right amount of feed, and also monitor the room temperature, cleanliness and lighting.
Breeding and raising poultry, including quails, is a popular activity these days. While everything is simple with chickens, not everyone knows how to raise quails. And every year there are more and more people who want to do this, because to breed and raise miniature birds you do not need to build a large room, and quail meat and eggs are much healthier than, for example, chicken.
Growing fluffy balls filled with inexhaustible energy is not difficult, but proper cultivation requires knowledge, namely, complete information about what the technology of breeding and raising quails is.
What living conditions are considered comfortable for birds?
Note that an undoubted advantage is the fact that quails do not need a large area. Up to 50 heads can feel comfortable on one square meter.
But you need to take care to keep the little birds healthy, the main thing is to maintain the temperature regime. The norm is 20 degrees, deviation is acceptable, but insignificant. In a stuffy and hot room, quails will suffer, their feathers will fall out, and egg production will decrease. A decrease in temperature to 8C or lower can cause hypothermia and death of quails.
In addition to air temperature, good lighting and peace play an important role. Birds do not like noise, they become nervous, lose weight and begin to lay eggs poorly. The air humidity in the room should be about 70%.
The cage should not be cramped, but also not very large. Making it at home is not difficult, but if you have never done this, then it is better to buy a ready-made one. Cages for decorative birds, for example, parrots or canaries, are not recommended.
The quail cage must meet the following requirements:
— cage elements must be made of steel or metal;
- drinking bowls and feeders are placed not inside the cage, but outside it; it will not be difficult for quails to stick their heads between the bars in search of food or water;
- the ceiling of the cage should be no more than 25 centimeters high; if the cage is higher, the quails can jump and break their heads;
- a special tray is installed under the floor, at an angle, this will make it easier to collect the eggs, they will roll off and will not get dirty with droppings;
— a special litter tray will help keep the cage clean.
You should not keep fewer than 10 birds; in a small family, egg production may be low. But if you don’t need quail eggs, and you are going to breed birds solely for decorative purposes, you can keep quails in pairs.
What you need to know to breed poultry
If you are going to start breeding quails, then you cannot do without the help of an incubator. In this case, you do not need the help of a quail.
Breeding these funny birds in an incubator is not difficult. The testicles are small, they are placed in the central part and there is no need to change their places, they will be heated evenly.
A good result can be obtained provided that the eggs were stored for no more than five days before laying, and the incubation process itself does not differ significantly from the incubation of chicken eggs. The incubation period is 17 days, the eggs are turned 6 times a day. During the first 10 days, the eggs need a temperature of 39C, then it is reduced to 38C, before the end of incubation 37C will be enough.
The babies are hatched together, but if some are too late to be born, then you need to part with them, such quails are not viable.
Let's take care of the feed
The technology for feeding quails is similar to feeding chickens, but the feeders and drinkers themselves are different. The birds are small, they don’t need a big feeder. It is better to install a vacuum drinking bowl; it should not be deep, because babies can drown in a large container. A boiled egg will saturate the body of small quails with all the necessary vitamins; before mixing it with food, the egg must be crushed. Quails are given specialized food or prepare it themselves.
Little quails need warmth, so after birth they are warmed in a separate container. When they are 20 days old, the babies are placed with adult birds, but only if the cage is warm, preferably with ventilation.
What to feed quails
A balanced and proper diet is the key to the health and rapid growth of quails. The basis of the daily diet should be oats, corn and barley.
Quail at home: how to breed and maintain
Protein and vitamins should be included in the birds' menu every day.
The starch contained in corn causes a feeling of fullness, and the feeling of hunger disappears for a long time, but it does not contain enough vitamins. They are compensated with fishmeal.
Oats and millet saturate the body with useful components, but they are given peeled and crushed. Peas, soybeans and lentils are added to the food; they contain a lot of protein, but vitamins and fats are not enough to meet the daily requirement. You can’t give too much flax seeds or hemp seeds. They are also given crushed nettles, spinach leaves, cabbage and other greens.
How many times to feed
The bird should not starve; quails are fed three times. Automatic drinkers and feeders are installed if it is not possible to give food three times a day. It lasts for a week, since it comes from the container to the feeders in small portions.
Now it’s clear to you that the technology for growing and breeding quails is not so complicated. It is enough to create comfortable conditions for them and take care of their health and safety, and then you will be able to provide yourself and your family with tasty, dietary products and make a profit from its sale.
Breeding quails at home - video
Short description: If you have a desire to start raising poultry, but you have a small amount of space, then you won’t find anyone better than quails. From this video, a novice breeder will learn everything that is necessary for a successful start in this activity. The plot pays utmost attention to quail breeds, of which there are about two dozen today.
You will also learn the physiological characteristics of birds and how they need to be kept.
Raising quails: breeding and keeping at home
With the help of the video, you will learn how to easily distinguish a cockerel from a hen, and how to properly fatten the birds. Quail meat contains many useful substances, however, it is very high in calories.
Source: YouTube
Added: 2015-02-13
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At the moment, small businesses are actively gaining their popularity; before a person opens a business, he must think about whether it will be profitable and in demand in a given country or region. A very interesting and promising idea for a business is a quail farm.
Quails are unpretentious birds that do not require special care. Plus, you can sell not only the eggs they lay, but also the meat. In order for such a farm not to be a burden, and to bring a stable income and good profit, it is necessary to draw up a business plan correctly.
Quail farm business plan
In order for the farm to get a good start and not be damaged, the following requirements and nuances must be taken into account:
- The farm must contain 500 or more quails for a successful start. The reproduction of these birds will lead to the fact that in a year you will have more than 5 thousand individuals.
- It is necessary to take care of updates in the herd. The fertility of quails is very different, it depends on their age, so you need to purchase new birds in a timely manner, at least in small quantities.
- Equipment.
How to keep quails at home. Features of breeding and care
Before purchasing quails, do not forget about the equipment, in this case these are cages. It is best to buy cages made of metal material. One block of cells can accommodate about 250-300 individuals. The cages should have drinkers and feeders, as well as sides for eggs. Keep in mind that the floors in the farm should be inclined, this will ensure that the eggs themselves will slide into the sides and will be easy to collect. Homemade products have always been famous and in demand, so the farm will always be in demand.
- It must be remembered that the farm must have a hatcher and an incubator.
This is the main thing that will be needed to open a farm and its functioning, the cost of the cages is very expensive, about $100 alone, so you can make cages with your own hands that will look no worse, and if you entrust this matter to a master, you can get good, professional cells.
Quail food
The problem of feeding these birds is very acute; this is probably the biggest difficulty when starting a business. The feed offered by domestic producers does not contain sufficient amounts of vitamins and enzymes that are necessary for normal and healthy life and functioning. In order for the birds to be healthy, it is necessary to add chalk, shellfish, and fishmeal to the food. Here it is very important to monitor the dose, since an overdose can lead to the death of birds; it is best to feed them not very often rather than overfeed them with vitamins.
Also, do not forget that even a mini farm cannot do without examining the birds, so a veterinarian is an irreplaceable person who must be on the farm. The distribution of products can most often be seen in supermarkets and large stores, so you need to try to make a deal with the stores to sell the products. In the Moscow region, you can very easily agree on sales by concluding the necessary agreements and contracts.
Business cost
A very important, and probably the most important and main question that interests many when opening a farm, is the cost of the business. A quail farm is a very profitable business, but what is the cost? The cost of equipment and approximately 500-700 birds will cost you $8,000-$10,000. With a good and successful start, this money will pay off in about three months, or in five months, it all depends entirely on you.
Famous farms and their founders
In order to gain the necessary experience and learn as much as possible about the business we are about to do, we try to learn as much as possible. Alexander Kovalenko is a well-known person in his circles; he wrote a book about breeding and raising birds, and other features that people encounter on a quail farm.
Kovalenko’s book can be downloaded absolutely free on the Internet. The book talks about quails, the features of breeding and keeping them at home. The book presents important technologies and secrets of success, therefore, it will be very important to read this book, thereby you will gain invaluable experience and discover a lot of new things. The books contain a lot of really important and useful information; you can learn about growing, proper feeding, and much more that will be necessary. You can download the Home book in a matter of minutes, but after reading it you will gain an experience for life.
Large private farm
One of the largest private farms is the Baklykov farm. This is the largest and most prosperous farm, privately managed. The farm is equipped with the latest equipment, has a lot of birds, and is actively developing. The company has significant contracts with supermarkets and other companies that guarantee the sale of products. They are silent about the income of this farm, but such success speaks for itself.
A quail farm in this case is not only a source of income, but also something that people believe in and put their soul into.
A short film report was even shot about this farm, thereby increasing its popularity. The video that is available online indicates that there is something to admire and be surprised by. This page also has decent videos.
In addition to generating income, production also requires significant investments. The owners invest not only material values, but also their soul, equipment and cells are constantly updated. Initially, the company had great difficulties in selling eggs and maintaining them, but the difficulties are temporary, and now this production is the largest supplier of quail eggs, and the staff is constantly striving to increase.
Why the quail business?
Many people who want to open a business are interested in why quail. Quails are unpretentious birds, and this is very important, since they will not require care. The business pays for itself very quickly, and its technology is quite simple.
The demand for eggs is much greater than that of companies, so you don’t have to worry about selling products. You can open your own point and sell it yourself, this is an excellent option, and the profit can be several times greater, you will need to obtain permission to sell and everything is ready.
Selling products independently is very profitable; at first you can open one point, and then another, if the farm is actively developing. It is very important to attract attention, Ukrainian Farms are very common lately, this business is just beginning to develop, so it is very easy to become a leading producer in your region.
Where exactly the company will be located is not so important; the most important thing is to support everything that is necessary for a comfortable life for the quails. Everything is in your hands, and the success of production depends solely on you.
Breeding and keeping quails at home
Breeding quails for the subsequent sale of eggs and meat is one of the most easily implemented ideas for creating your own business today. Quails are very productive in egg production. One quail will lay 240 eggs per year.
Each egg is 6 times smaller than a chicken egg and the quail itself is 6 times smaller than a chicken. 6 quails replace one laying hen. But the advantage is that quails begin laying eggs at the age of 45 days! For comparison, a purebred laying hen has the earliest start of egg production no earlier than 4 months. Ordinary chickens generally after 6 months.
You can start raising quails at home almost from scratch. Due to the compactness of the cages (their average size is 120 by 60 by 180 cm) and their spaciousness (each can accommodate about 100 birds). You can organize your own mini-farm on a plot of less than 0.7-1 square meter (at least on the balcony). To create a place for cages with laying hens, an extension to a house or garage or an apartment balcony is suitable.
How to breed quails at home?
The more quails there are, the faster the egg production increases. Therefore, many new owners of mini-farms want to learn how to properly breed such birds. There are two ways:
- The first is to initially populate the cages with both males and females. This method is the simplest and most popular. It is important to remember that the ratio of males to females should be 1 to 2.5. For every 10 hens there should be 4 roosters and quails. But it must be borne in mind that this method of breeding birds sometimes leads to fights, misunderstandings inside the cage and even low productivity of chickens due to such an atmosphere.
- The second method of increasing productivity is to place hens and roosters in different cages. Males are launched towards females only at certain times for fertilization. This method is more complicated, but it allows you to better control egg production and avoid a nervous atmosphere in the cages.
Advantages of the first method:
- Regular “supplies” of eggs from hens.
- Strict production control.
- Optimal atmosphere inside the cages and absence of fights and other misunderstandings between birds.
- Stable income from the production of products that are always in demand.
Only experience and practice will show which option suits you best.
Breeding quails in an incubator at home
Often domesticated birds lose their brooding instinct. Owners who want to increase production volumes need to purchase an incubator.
Every mini-farmer should take into account the basic rules for storing eggs that are intended for incubation:
- Eggs need to be collected 4-5 times a day. This reduces the risk of infection.
- Each egg must be carefully checked for cracks and damage to the shell. You can check the eggs by scanning them with an ovoscope. This method will not only help you see all the cracks, but also analyze the size of the yolk, the size of the air space, etc.
- Quail eggs should not be washed, otherwise you will remove the protective coating on the shell that protects against infection.
- Egg trays should be in a dry place at a temperature of about +12...+15 degrees. For eggs, a sufficient level of air humidity is important - at least 70-80%.
- Temperatures should not be allowed to rise to +20 or higher. It is forbidden to store quail eggs for incubation in the refrigerator; the temperature there is too low.
- To hatch chicks, only those eggs that were laid 7-9 days ago are used.
If you follow these simple rules, the quails will hatch in 17-18 days.
Choosing an incubator for breeding quails
If you want your business to become successful and stable, you need to take care of the appropriate equipment. Today there are many models of incubators, but the most popular and suitable are those with automatic egg turning and ventilation under program control of a microclimate control system.
Eggs need to be turned at least 3-4 times a day. It is important not to forget about the required temperature - 37.8 degrees, and the optimal humidity level: 50% -55%. Among modern incubators there are models with alarms and automatic notification via SMS.
The eggs are checked on the seventh day, thanks to candling it is clear which of them are fertilized. An embryo is visible inside them. You can stop turning eggs only on day 14. After this, the embryos also need proper care. Monitor the humidity level - at this stage it should be at 80-85%. Then the shell will become softer, and small chicks will be able to be born. As a rule, chicks hatch on the 17th (less often – 16th) day.
Caring for quails after hatching
The chicks are kept in the incubator for some time until they become fluffy and dry (24 hours). Already in the incubator they begin to actively run, unlike chicken chicks.
Quail - breeding and care (video)
After this, they need to be moved to a nursery, which needs to be heated. 100 W lamps are used as a heat source (the first 7 days), after which 60 W lamps are used.
Immediately after hatching, for the first 7-10 days, the chicks should be given food in the finest grind, in the form of crumbs. The water should be kept away from the nursery to remain cool, but the chicks should be able to reach it easily.
After 4 weeks, the chicks can be moved to mini-farms.
DIY quail feed recipe
Quails should be fed properly so that they lay eggs well! The composition of the feed is similar in content to the components given to laying hens. But the quail diet should include enough greens, in addition to the main food.
Do-it-yourself compound feed for laying quails:
Over time, it is important to acquire a feed granulator. The smallest poultry will qualitatively assimilate all components in more precise proportions. Each granule will contain the correct ratio of components in its composition.
What to feed quails on the first day of life? You can also prepare food for chicks yourself. It is just important that all components must be crushed as much as possible.
You can feed chicks on the first day of life in the same way as regular chickens.
Food for day-old quails:
On the fourth day you can give standard feed for quail chicks:
There must be water, but the smallest drinking bowls should be used so that curious chicks do not drown.
It is not difficult to calculate the cost of keeping quails. One adult bird should be given 35-40 g of feed per day. Accordingly, for a mini-farm of 100 quails, you need to buy about 120 kilograms of feed per month. But these expenses will pay off many times over, because you can sell 1000-1500 eggs. The profitability of such a business is obvious - consumer interest in quail eggs is constantly growing, and there will be no problems with the sale of this product. Spending on feed pays off from the very first months of doing business; this is easily calculated in the ratio of the price of feed to the cost of ten quail eggs in your area.
Quail egg production as a business
Quail is capable of laying approximately 15-20 eggs per month. This allows you not only to provide your family with healthy and nutritious quail eggs, but also to sell the product and receive a stable income.
When you can breed up to 200 quails, then your business can be called a full-fledged farm. Production will reach 100 or more eggs per day, which will make it possible to receive a stable profit from the business.
You can successfully sell such a batch to your friends, earning $200 a month. To expand your business, you can increase the number of birds and expand the range of products by selling tender quail meat.
To start producing quail eggs and meat, you do not need large investments or specialized premises. In order to reach the production level of up to 100 pieces or more per day, it will take only about 3 months! The most budget incubator can accommodate more than 200 pcs. This way you can expand your business to a comfortable size.
Keeping and breeding quails is a very useful and profitable activity. The meat and eggs of these small birds contain animal protein important for the human body, as well as a balanced complex of substances beneficial to humans. Many people say that quail eggs have medicinal properties. Quails grow and develop very quickly, they are prolific, so within a year the existing population of birds can be increased tens of times.
General information about quails
There are the following directions of development of these birds: egg, meat (broilers), fighting and ornamental. The most useful and profitable is the breeding and maintenance of egg-laying quail breeds.
In terms of egg production, quails are leaders in comparison with even purebred chickens, because the female quail is capable of produce about 300 eggs per year. In terms of the ratio of egg weight to body weight, quails have the highest indicator among other industrial birds. The standard weight of a female quail egg is from 9 to 12 g. The color of the eggs is variegated, the spots are usually dark brown or blue. Each quail has its own special pattern on the shell.
Birds of different breeds and hybrid forms have differences in appearance, feather color, weight, performance and other features.
The only slight drawback of quails is their small size. But as a result of this “disadvantage,” undeniable advantages emerge: quail meat and eggs do not lose their taste, egg production does not deteriorate, and susceptibility to diseases does not increase, which is typical for large birds due to the constant increase in their body weight.
Female quails have a larger body mass than males. Quails in captivity mature for oviposition as early as one and a half months. These birds are less likely to become infected with avian influenza because they are kept indoors.
Adult quail. Breeding, maintenance and care
When purchasing birds, know that it is better to take individuals aged from one to one and a half months. Young quail will endure transportation without much stress and will get used to a new habitat, a new daily routine, diet and light regime. pay attention to bird appearance. There are several signs indicating the health of an individual:
- The quail's beak should be dry and free of growths.
- The feathers around the cloaca should be clean.
- The bird should not be obese, but it should not be too thin either.
- No extraneous noises, such as whistling or wheezing, should be heard in the quail's breathing.
- If the bird is sick, then lethargy and dishevelment will be present.
Ornamental quails are kept outdoors in spacious enclosures with a ceiling height of at least one and a half meters. Quails for meat or egg production live exclusively in cages. The room where birds are kept must be equipped with artificial lighting and a ventilation system. There should be no drafts, otherwise the birds' feathers will suddenly begin to fall out.
The house must be warm. If necessary, you need to install an additional heat source. It is not necessary to heat a room with adult animals; it is enough just to insulate it well. The optimal temperature for keeping adult quails is considered to be 20–22 °C, with possible permissible fluctuations from 16 to 25 °C. When the temperature drops below 16 °C, quails will not lay eggs. And if the temperature drops below 5 °C, the birds may die.
In the room where quails are kept, it is necessary to maintain air humidity of 50–70 percent.
Signs that the air is not humidified enough:
But birds will not feel comfortable in rooms with high humidity.
When keeping quails at home, regular poultry cages or even simple boxes may be suitable. The floor should be covered with sand, hay, sawdust, straw, and newspaper. The litter needs to be changed to a new one every day. If this condition is not met, the room will smell of bird droppings, which is not only unpleasant, but also harmful. Female quails do not need nests; they lay eggs directly on the floor.
The cage should be placed in a quiet place where the ambient temperature is close to room temperature. A loggia is not suitable for placing a cage, since the air temperature there is subject to significant fluctuations. You should also not place the cage on a windowsill, because bright sunlight will make the quail restless and aggressive, and they may peck eggs and hit each other with their beaks.
If, nevertheless, the birds began to fight, then there is Several ways to calm them down:
- transplant the “fighter” into another cage;
- using opaque material, fence off a corner for an aggressive bird in a common cage;
- darken the cage a little;
- take the cage to a dark place and leave it for up to 5 days, not forgetting to feed the birds.
The optimal daylight hours for quails lasts seventeen hours. These birds do not like bright lighting. The dim light calms the quails; they do not fight among themselves and do not peck at the eggs. It is recommended to turn on the lights at 6 a.m. and turn off at 11 p.m. If you make the daylight hours of quails more than seventeen hours, you can increase the egg production of females, but this will negatively affect the duration of their productivity, in other words, they will age faster. Feed consumption will also increase. If the daylight hours of birds last less than the standard value, egg production will decrease, and the quail will have time to become very hungry during the “long night.”
At least once a month, the cages in which the quail live should be thoroughly cleaned. This method can be used. Remove the birds and thoroughly wash the cage using a brush, hot water and detergent. Then pour boiling water over the cage and dry it.
Raising young animals
Immediately after birth, hungry Quail chicks squeak loudly. After a short time, they become calmer, sleep for a long time, and in the interval between resting phases they peck food and drink water. Quails are covered with brown down, with two light stripes running down their back. Their weight reaches only 8 g. You need to carefully monitor the babies, because the chicks get stuck in various cracks, holes or openings and may die as a result.
After hatching, the quail chicks are placed in a box with high walls and a top covered with a metal mesh. During the first two weeks, a temperature of 35–38 °C should be ensured; during the third and fourth weeks, the temperature should be gradually increased reduce to 20–22 °C. To regulate the heat in the box, you can use a regular electric lamp by raising or lowering it. If the chicks are gathered together and squeak all the time, it means the temperature is not high enough and they are frozen. And if small quails stand alone, with their beaks slightly open, or just lie down, it means they are hot and the temperature needs to be lowered a little.
It is important to provide optimal lighting conditions for quail chicks. It shouldn't be too bright. Female quails raised under too much light will subsequently produce small eggs. For the first two weeks of life, quail chicks need to be illuminated around the clock. Afterwards, their daylight hours gradually increase to seventeen hours a day.
When the chicks are three weeks old, they are transferred to cages with adults. It is not easy to distinguish males from females, but by this age they are already distinguishable. In “boys” the plumage on the chest and neck is darker, brown with a reddish tint and with black dots. Females have light gray breast feathers with large black dots. If young quails are transplanted later than 21 days, this will delay their egg production process. Excess males are transplanted into cages for further fattening.
Males become adults and stop growing at eight weeks of age. Sexual maturity occurs at 35–40 days. WITH Females mature a little more slowly and by the age of nine weeks gain weight up to 135 g.
The safety of young animals in quails under normal conditions is about 98 percent, which is much higher than that of other birds. The chicks are growing rapidly. Within two months they reach a mass 20 times greater than the original. This indicates a rapid growth rate, and, accordingly, an intensive metabolism in these birds.
Feeding regimen and diet of adults
Basic quail feed components:
Insufficient or excessive content of one or another component affects the health and productivity of quails.
The best food for these birds is special feed for quails. It is possible to add root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets) to the feed. You also need to feed the birds with finely chopped greens (cabbage, dandelions, alfalfa).
To meet the protein needs of quails, you need to feed them cottage cheese, minced meat, fish, fish or meat and bone meal, sunflower seeds, and flax. To ensure a sufficient amount of minerals in the feed, shells are used, which must be finely crushed. To improve the digestive process, it is imperative to give gravel to quails.
Birds must be provided with water around the clock. Drinkers are installed outside the cage so that the quail can drink water by sticking their head between the bars. Needed twice a day change the water and wash the drinking bowl. Sometimes, to prevent intestinal diseases, several crystals of potassium permanganate need to be dissolved in drinking water until a barely noticeable pink color is obtained.
Feeding regimen and diet of young animals
Quail chicks can feed themselves almost immediately after birth. The necessary diet for them is food containing a lot of protein, vitamins and minerals. During the first two to three days they will quail can you feed boiled egg, which needs to be crushed and placed in a wide, low container.
On the third day, you need to add cottage cheese and finely crushed corn or chicken feed to the egg. On the sixth – seventh day, you can add finely chopped greens to the food. During the second week of life, quail chicks can peck feed intended for chickens. And upon reaching three to four weeks, the maintenance and diet of the chicks is similar to that of adults.
In the first week of life, quails need to be fed 5 times a day, in the second and third weeks - 4 times, starting from the fourth week, the number of feedings decreases to three times a day. The amount of food for chicks does not need to be limited. Two hours after eating, excess food should be removed.
Water for chicks, like food, must be clean and fresh. Water in drinking bowls is necessary change twice a day, drinking bowls should be clean, it is better to give boiled water. You should only use vacuum drinkers, as quail can drown in others. It is also possible to use ordinary nylon lids for jars as drinking bowls. Several crystals of potassium permanganate must be dissolved in water until a barely noticeable pink color is achieved. Food and water should be close to room temperature.
From two weeks, quail chicks should be given gravel and crushed shells. And after reaching three weeks of age, you can give sand, but only when the quails are well-fed. Otherwise, they mistake sand for food and can become poisoned by eating a large amount of it.
Breeding and keeping quails at home is a very interesting, uncomplicated and profitable activity. The main conditions for ensuring good egg production are compliance with temperature and light conditions and the use of balanced feed.
The best quail breeds for breeding on home farms are Japanese, Marbled, Manchurian Golden, Tuxedo, English White and Pharaoh.
Japanese. The most common quails are egg-laying. In color they resemble their wild relatives: the head, back, wings and tail are brownish-gray, the beak is dark, the paws are pink, the eyes are dark gray. Their body is elongated, the tail and wings are short. Males weigh 115-120 g, females 140-150 g. Female quails of this breed begin to lay eggs at five weeks of age and produce 250-300 eggs per year, the egg weighs 8-12 g. The color of the shell is uncertain - plain blue, smoky gray with colored speckled. It is not advisable to raise Japanese quail for meat: the carcass weight is small - up to 80 g.
Marble. In terms of productivity, this breed is almost no different from the Japanese. When describing quails of this breed, special attention should be paid to their plumage: the birds have a light gray or bluish-smoky color, resembling marble in appearance.
Manchurian golden ones. Quail of the egg direction. The color of their plumage is indicated by their name: on the back, neck and head there are brown feathers with a wheat-colored center, which gives the impression of a golden color. Males are darker than females.
Tuxedo. They have a characteristic color: the lower part of the body, neck and head are white, and the upper part is dark brown. It is very difficult to distinguish a female from a male - their appearance is almost the same. Weight of males - 140-160 g, females - 160-180 g, egg production - 280 eggs, egg weight - 10-11 g.
English whites. They have gray eyes, light pink beak and paws.
As you can see in the photo, male quails of this breed have one or more dark brown spots on the head or back:
Overall the plumage is white. The weight of males is 140-160 g, females - 160-180 g, egg production - 280 eggs; weight - 10-11 g.
Pharaoh. A breed of meat quail bred in the USA. The color of the plumage is like that of a Japanese quail. The young grow very quickly. Females weigh 280-300 g, and males - 150-200 g, egg production 150-200 eggs, egg weight - 12-16 g. Laying begins at 6-7 weeks of age.
Below are tips for novice poultry farmers on keeping quails on private farms.
Features of quail breeding on private farms
Quails are very convenient and easy to breed. Without much hassle, this can be done at the dacha. Quails reproduce quickly during the spring-summer period in any garden plot. For beginners, raising quails will not cause much trouble - these birds are relatively unpretentious and consume little feed.
In addition to all other positive qualities, breeding quails with proper care is a profitable business. Five quails produce the same amount of egg mass as one chicken, while significantly surpassing it in early maturity. Quail grows 3 times faster than chicken and is more productive. Quails begin to lay eggs at 35-40 days and can produce up to 300 eggs per year. Quails are resistant to stress, toxic substances and insecticides.
In order to raise quails yourself, you need to use the freshest eggs. The optimal storage period for eggs is no more than 5 days. Store eggs at a temperature of 8-12 ° C with a humidity of 70%. If you don’t know when the egg was laid, then it’s not difficult to find out: the shell of a fresh egg is matte, and when immersed in water at room temperature, it sinks to the bottom.
Eggs for incubation must be clean, not dark or light in color. It is better to use eggs from females aged 2-6 months.
1-2 hours after laying or before incubation, eggs are disinfected in formaldehyde vapor. Ultraviolet irradiation works well for 4-6 minutes with a PRK-2 mercury-quartz lamp at a distance of 0.8 m. To obtain a larger number of fertilized eggs, it is better to place the females alternately after 2 hours with the male for 15 minutes, once every three days , in the morning. No more than three females per day can be placed with one male. If an incubator and a brood hen are not available, then quail eggs can be placed under the brood hen.
When artificially breeding quails, the incubation conditions are as follows: temperature 37.5 ° C, humidity - 65%, eggs are turned after 1-6 hours for 14 days. They can then be transferred to the hatch chamber. Incubation lasts 16.5-17.5 days. Ozonation of air is very useful: it stimulates the development of embryos.
During pecking and hatching, air humidity should be increased. Then the shell membrane does not dry out, and it is better for the quails to be born.
Quails are hatched intensively. As a rule, this process lasts 4-6 hours. Quail eggs can be incubated in the same incubators as for other types of poultry.
One of the features of quail breeding is that quail eggs during the incubation period require more precise maintenance of temperature and air humidity than eggs of other birds. Purchasing a factory-made psychrometer is difficult, so you can get by with two identical thermometers, and the lower end of one of them needs to be wrapped in wet gauze.
In this case, the incubation mode of quail eggs can be controlled according to the data presented in the table:
The video “Quail Breeding” shows how to incubate eggs:
To keep quails when breeding on a private farm, they use cages for songbirds or terrariums, knocking them together from plywood or plank. Small cages can be placed in several tiers. The area is determined at the rate of 80-110 cm per head, the height of the cage is 200 mm. In cages for breeding quails, the following conditions must be created: install a mesh floor with an inclination angle of 5-7°. At the edge of the floor there is an egg collector lined with soft material. A tray for droppings is placed under the floor. By the way, quail droppings are an excellent fertilizer. It is better to store it dried.
Inverted glass jars placed with a gap on a saucer are used for drinking bowls. You can also use a pipe with a diameter of 30 mm with drilled holes, which is connected to a vacuum drinker. In this case, the depth of the water layer should be 15 mm.
Bird feeders are hung outside the cage. They can be made from tin cans.
To make it easier to get food, you need to organize the conditions for keeping the quails in such a way that the distance between the bars of the cage is 20 mm.
The mesh bottom protrudes from the front of the cage as a groove for collecting eggs. The basis of the cage is two corners attached to the side walls. At the same time, they serve as guides for installing a tray into which droppings fall. The tray is cleaned every day. Grooves are attached to opposite sides: a feeder and a drinker. A hatch is made in the upper part of the cage through which the birds are taken out or placed.
The room in which quails are kept must be warm and dry, with ventilation, but without drafts. If birds' feathers fall out, egg production decreases, and mortality begins, it means there is low humidity in the room. To increase humidity, place dishes with water on the floor.
For proper care when keeping quails, the room temperature should be 18-25 °C. For adult birds, the duration of daylight hours should be 12-17 hours. In winter, electric lighting can be used. Artificial lighting with lamps completely replaces natural lighting for quails. However, in summer it is necessary to take the birds outside. The cages are placed under a canopy.
The lighting should not be too bright, otherwise the quails' character will deteriorate - they become restless and pugnacious. At the age of one month, quails are divided by sex: excess males - for meat, and females - for egg laying (they lay eggs for 10-12 months, after which they are fattened). To obtain food eggs, females should be kept separately, and for incubation, 2-4 females are left per male.
Watch the video “Keeping Quails” to better understand how to breed these birds:
Feeding quails: daily ration norms
When breeding quails, proper feeding is important. Adult birds are fed 2-3 times a day. The feeding diet of quails includes kitchen waste, shredded wheat and corn, soybeans, and millet. Birds are also given alfalfa, cottage cheese, greens, milk powder, grass meal, finely chopped hay, boiled potatoes, cabbage, beets, carrots, fish waste and other animal feed.
The best food is soybeans, alfalfa, and corn, which can fully provide the quail’s diet.
Table “Daily feeding norms for quails (as a percentage)”:
When feeding quails, birds are also fed mixed feed (grades PK-5; PK-2), to which 4-5% chalk is added. 100 g of this mixture is enough for 4 birds. Compound feed is given in dry and wet form. Twice a week you can add boiled liver and blood from a slaughtered bird. Japanese quail prefer sweet and sour food. Quails lay eggs well if they are given feed formulated for egg-laying hens.
When properly maintained, the mixture for feeding quails consists of the following components (per 100 g of mixture): grains (millet, oatmeal) - 60 g, protein (fresh crushed fish, cottage cheese) - 36 g, minerals (chalk, shells) - 4 g. In addition, 10-12 g of succulent food (carrots, cabbage) should be introduced into the diet, and fresh chopped greens (lettuce, nettle) should be given in abundance in the summer. You can add powdered milk, fish meal, bone meal, broth, dry yeast, vitamins A, D3, E to the mixture. Feed is given both dry and in the form of wet mash in crushed form. Only good quality food is fed. River sand, gravel, chalk, and eggshells should be in the feeder at all times.
On average, 25-29 g of feed are fed per bird per day, 8-9 kg per year, and 0.8 kg for rearing until slaughter. An adult bird consumes an average of 25 g of feed per day.
Loss of feathers and pecking in adult quails indicates either a violation in the organization of nutrition (lack of minerals and vitamins) or maintenance technology (excessive stocking standards). As vitamin feed, you can use fresh greens of nettle, alfalfa, clover, grass or pine meal, fish oil, yeast, mineral feed (egg shells, bone meal, shellfish).
To compensate for the shortage of animal feed, earthworms, mealworms, various insects and their larvae are also introduced into the quail diet. In winter, green food can be obtained by sowing grains in special boxes. As necessary, it is cut, crushed and added to the feed.
When kept outdoors, quails are raised on a bed of sawdust or finely chopped hay. For the first week of life, the chicks must be kept under an electric brooder (heat source): providing the following temperature in the area where they are housed: for day-olds 37 °C, for weeks 35 °C, for two weeks 31 °C, for three weeks 27 °C, for four weeks 21-25 °C. Then the temperature is maintained within 19-21 ° C with a humidity of 55-60%. In the first two weeks, for lighting, you need to turn on the lamps for 14-15 hours a day, turning them on and off at the same time. Most often, quails die within the first 4-7 days after hatching. This occurs due to a lack or excess of vitamins in the diet, due to blockage of the cloaca, due to enterobacteria causing pullorosis.
To prevent them, from the first day, quails are given weak pink potassium permanganate, hard-boiled quail eggs, chopped onion feathers, grated carrots, chopped nettles, fish oil, and cottage cheese. Starting from the third day, multivitamins are added to the feed (1 drop per 2 heads), feed biomycin (1 teaspoon per 100 heads), boiled low-fat fish (hake, pollock) every other day - levomycin-succinate. If the cloaca is clogged, remove the droppings with tweezers and treat the feathers around the cloaca with warm water and brilliant green or vegetable oil. For pullorosis they give a feed antibiotic - Holofak. Once a week, make a dry bath of sand and ash in a ratio of 3:1.
With proper care, quail chicks are fed 4 times a day. The first week they give quail and chicken eggs, hard-boiled and grated along with the shell. Mixed feed, crushed crackers, millet, and wheat groats are added.
From the third day they give live food (mealworms). In the first three weeks, sand should not be given, since the quail confuse it with food and, having pecked it, may die. Drinking water is poured into flat cups no deeper than 0.5 cm so that the chicks do not choke. Chicks cannot tolerate dampness, drafts and sudden temperature fluctuations. The water and sand in the cage must be clean.
The video “Quail Breeding Conditions” demonstrates how to care for chicks and adult birds:
Japanese quails are very beneficial for keeping: breeding these small birds at home requires practically no space. They can live in cages equipped with feeders and drinkers, and in a warm poultry house. According to those involved in poultry farming, the cost of purchasing chicks, feed and maintenance equipment pays off in 3-4 months. Subsequently, the quails bring net profit. Quail eggs are quite expensive on the agricultural market, and their cost is not particularly high.
Setting up a poultry house and purchasing birds
The body weight of most quail breeds is only 100-150 g. These are small birds that do not require either a walking area or a spacious poultry house. You can even raise quails in a city apartment: many people keep them in cages for parrots or hamsters. For a family of 5 birds (1 male and 4 females), a cage measuring 30x40 cm is sufficient. It is believed that too large an area negatively affects the egg production of quails. On a large scale, the recommended bird stocking density is 50 birds per 1 m².
Particular attention should be paid to the height of the cage: ideally, it should not exceed 25 cm. If the ceiling is high, then it is necessary to stretch the thick fabric to protect the bird from injury. Biologically, quail are adapted to hide and then fly up at high speed. In nature, such a maneuver serves them to save them from a predator, confused by the suddenness of the bird’s appearance. When kept in a cage, this can lead to the death of a quail that crashes against the ceiling.
The equipment should consist only of a feeder and a drinker. Quails spend their entire lives on the ground and lay eggs in nests dug in the ground. They do not need perches in the cage; it is enough to put a bedding of shavings or straw on the floor and change it when it gets dirty.
When purchasing a family of quails for breeding, you need to choose young birds (1-1.5 months). You can buy very small chicks and grown young animals (3-5 weeks). In the latter case, quails will begin laying eggs within 1-2 weeks.
When choosing quails, special attention should be paid to the cleanliness of the plumage or down near the cloaca (under the tail). Contaminated fluff indicates diarrhea, which can occur due to poisoning and infectious diseases. A healthy quail should have clean paws and beak, shiny, tight-fitting plumage. The raised young animals should not be puny: in a properly raised bird, the breast bone does not protrude and is hidden by muscles.
Healthy quails of early age are characterized by mobility, willingly peck at food and constantly squeak quietly. It is almost impossible to distinguish small chicks by gender, so it is better to purchase a larger quantity than required. When the males begin to show themselves by caring for the females, it will be possible to select the required number of active individuals, and fatten the rest for meat.
Among the large number of quail breeds, there are 2 main directions:
- meat, or broiler (the most common breed is Pharaoh), are characterized by rapid growth of muscle mass and can reach a weight of 200-230 g;
- meat and egg (Japanese, black and white English, marble, kiteverse) - with less body weight, but capable of laying up to 400 eggs per year.
Having determined the desired direction of his mini-farm, the owner can make a choice in favor of one of the breeds. In addition to production birds, there are also decorative quails, which are kept for other purposes.
Rules for keeping and feeding quails
Raising quails at home for beginners may seem very simple upon first glance. In fact, caring for a bird includes many subtleties that can only be understood through personal experience when faced with any problem. But there are also general rules for caring for quails at home, which must be followed so that the pets are healthy and lay eggs well.
The most important thing for cold-sensitive birds is the room temperature. Quails will be able to tolerate small daily fluctuations within +16… +25ºС without harm. These are the conditions of an ordinary city apartment, where they can be kept with the same success as on a country farm. But a drop in temperature below +15ºС for 1-2 days can cause the cessation of egg laying. In a cold room that does not warm up above +10ºС, quails get sick and die.
Another important factor is the absence of drafts. Ventilation of the room where quails are kept will have to be done quite often, especially if the number of birds is large. But during ventilation there should not be a strong movement of cold air from the street. Sometimes novice poultry farmers complain that quails lose feathers. Most often, the reason for this is a draft.
It is unacceptable to have dampness in the room where you plan to raise quails. At home, it is difficult to determine the percentage of moisture without special equipment. You need to ensure that the bedding in the cages is clean and dry. Fogging of the windows in the room when the temperature outside drops can indicate air humidity. When keeping a large number of quails for industrial purposes, the recommended humidity in the poultry house is 60-70%. To determine its level, you will need a special device (psychrometer).
What to feed quail chicks?
The basis of the diet of young animals is crushed grain. The grinding fraction should be such that the quails can swallow the food without problems. A small number of birds at home can be fed food grade wheat and barley cereals. It is best to mix different types of grain in approximately equal proportions. It is not recommended to feed quails with millet: refined grain contains fat, which quickly goes rancid and can lead to poisoning. If desired, you can buy unrefined millet at the market and add it to the feed.
In order for the young to grow well, fish or fish bone meal can be added to the feed for quails at the age of 5-7 days. If it is not available, you can use inexpensive fresh fish by boiling it or passing it through a meat grinder. Fish additives are used at the rate of 1 g per head per day. As the bird grows, the amount of additives increases to 3-5 g. The fish should be mixed with dry grain at one of the feedings.
You can also use fresh herbs to make mash. Quails eat well crushed leaves of yarrow, dandelion, and young nettle. In winter, they can be given dried herbs, ground into flour, or sprouted grains, onions in boxes, and planted lettuce bushes.
A very important additive to the feed is coarse river sand. The fraction of sand grains should be 1-2 mm (like millet or crushed grain). When kept in urban conditions, you can purchase ASG or marble chips from a construction company by selecting the appropriate fraction. Mineral supplements are necessary for grinding grain in the bird's stomach. Sand is added directly to the feed mixture in an amount of 5% of its volume.
Feeding an adult bird
When quails reach productive age (45-50 days), their feeding should be varied and contain calcium-rich supplements. The bird spends a large amount of this substance on the formation of egg shells. If there is a lack of calcium in food, it is removed from the skeleton of the quail itself, which leads to brittle bones and disease. The egg shell becomes very thin or disappears completely. Collecting such eggs is difficult, and most of them are usually broken by the quails themselves.
You can enrich the diet with calcium by adding ground egg shells, chalk (feed or construction chalk), shell rock or marble chips to the food. It is best to have a separate feeder with a mineral supplement in the cage at all times. To enrich the diet with calcium, you can also use special premixes (“Ryabushka”, etc.) for laying hens.
If it is possible to purchase complete feed for laying birds, then there will be no difficulties with feeding quails. It is enough to follow the standards specified by the manufacturer and not to overfeed the quail. An overweight bird begins to lay eggs worse.
When making your own feed, you can use the following recipe as a basis:
- wheat - 30%;
- oats or millet - 25%:
- barley - 30%;
- sunflower seed - 10%;
- corn grits - 5%.
It is recommended to feed the bird 2-3 times a day, adding boiled potatoes (no more than 30% of the mash volume), raw grated carrots, beets, rutabaga, zucchini or pumpkin to the dry mixture. The amount of feed must be adjusted so that the quails eat it in 25-30 minutes. You cannot leave the mash for the next feeding. When keeping a large number of poultry, the diet is calculated based on the norm of 25-30 g of grain per head per day.
Water must be in the drinking bowls at all times. Sometimes, 1-2 times a week you can pour a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate. This disinfects the containers and is useful for the birds themselves as a source of trace elements.
How to breed quails at home?
Domestic quails do not have a brooding instinct. If a novice poultry farmer decides to continue keeping them, he will have to deal with the details of how to breed quails using an incubator. Currently, many modifications of these devices are produced with automatic control of the temperature and time of egg turning. All of them are designed for a small number of eggs and are intended specifically for non-professionals. Therefore, you should not create home-made structures using electric lamps and boxes that are not entirely suitable for this.
To obtain a hatching egg, it is necessary to have males in the herd at the rate of 1 quail for 4-5 quails. The egg can be collected and stored at room temperature for no more than 7 days. For incubation, you need to select round, even eggs weighing 9-11 g. What you managed to accumulate during the specified period must be simultaneously placed in the incubator chamber.
Before laying eggs, warm up the device and adjust it so that the thermometer located on the egg tray shows a temperature of +37.5…+38.5ºС. The incubator must contain containers of water to maintain the required humidity. Incubation period is 17 days. Around the 7th day, you need to inspect all the laid eggs, shining them through with a powerful lamp: unfertilized ones will remain transparent, it is better to remove them from the tray. Chicks begin to hatch on the 18th day of incubation. Usually the withdrawal lasts 5-6 hours.
The quail can be left to dry directly in the incubator, and then transplanted into a box where the temperature will be maintained at about +37ºС. For this purpose, incandescent or infrared lamps are used. At the age of 2 weeks, the chicks are gradually accustomed to room temperature, gradually reducing it over 7-10 days.
Breeding and keeping quails at home is not a particularly expensive undertaking. It is important to provide young and adult birds with acceptable conditions and suitable food. Healthy quails always respond gratefully to care and can lay even 2 eggs a day, regardless of the time of year.
Video - Quail from daily living to adults. Keeping and breeding quails
