Quick Guide on Quail Management

Quail probably the smallest avian species used for production of table eggs and meat. Because of prolific egg production and meat yield, it attains the status of viable commercial poultry enterprises. Quail has unique qualities of hardiness and adaptability to diversified agro-climatic condition. Several attributes of this species making it ideal for rural poultry production for creation of rural employment, for solving gender issue in employment and to provide supplemental income and protein requirement to rural farmers.

Salient features of quail:

·       Low space requirement (5 - 6 adult quail can be reared in one sq. ft.)

·       Short generation interval (3 - 4 generation in a year)

·       Fast growth (170 - 190gm body weight at 5^th week)

·       Low feed consumption (550 - 600gm of feed/ bird up to 5^th week)

·       Early maturity (egg production starts at 6 - 7 weeks of age)

·       High rate of egg laying (280 eggs in a year/ bird)

·       Low cost of production

·       Resistant to common diseases of chicken

·       Meat and egg is a table delicacy, nutritious

·       Quail has an aphrodisiac effect.

Chicken Egg vs. Quail Egg:

·       Chicken eggs are considerable larger

·       Quail eggs are packed with vitamins and minerals.

·       Even with their small size, their nutritional value is three to four times greater than chicken eggs.

·       Quail eggs contain 13% proteins compared to 11% in chicken eggs.

·       Quail eggs also contain 140% of vitamin B1 compared to 50% in chicken eggs.

·       In addition, quail eggs provide five times as much iron and potassium.

·       Unlike chicken eggs, quail eggs have not been known to cause allergies or diathesis.

·       Actually they help fight allergy symptoms due to the ovomucoid protein they contain.

Health Benefits:

·       Regular consumption of quail eggs helps fight against many diseases.

·       They are a natural combatant against digestive tract disorders such as stomach ulcers.

·       Quail eggs strengthen the immune system, promote memory health, increase brain activity and stabilize the nervous system.

·       They help with anaemia by increasing the level of haemoglobin in the body while removing toxins and heavy metals.

·       The Chinese use quail eggs to help treat tuberculosis, asthma, and even diabetes.

·       If you are a sufferer of kidney, liver, or gallbladder stones quail eggs can help prevent and remove these types of stones.

Complementary Benefits:

·       Children eating quail eggs are less inclined to suffer from infectious diseases than other children do.

·       In men, quail eggs provide the prostate gland with phosphorus, proteins, and vitamins that can be a powerful stimulant for sexual potency.

·       Women find that the egg improves skin colour and strengthens hair. This is why quail eggs are in facial and in hair care products.

Layout of Quail House

Orientation:

·       East West; in hot climate & North South-in cold climate.

·       Should not open to sea side-in coastal area & should not be located on or near top of the hill-in hilly area.

Size:

·       Length; does not influence. Width; should not be more than 9m.

·       If more than 9m chimneys or ridge, ventilation is must.

Roof:

·       Shed type; 3 - 4m wide. Gable & Pagoda type-9m. Over hang-1.5m.

Walls:

·       Height of side wall: 2.5 - 3.0m above the ground. Mid-height: 4 - 5m.

·       Lower part should be solid & rest may be wire mesh (1 x 1”).

Floor:

·       2 - 3 ft. above the ground with cement/concrete & good drainage system.

Door:

·       Two doors at two solid long axis ends; in compartments door should be 0.7m wide x 1.8m height.

Light:

·       2 ft. from the ground

Raising quail on floor

Up to 3 weeks

·       Brooder guard: 30cm high

·       Floor space: 75cm² hover & 75cm² run space up to 3 weeks

·       Feeder space: 2cm/bird

·       Water space: 1cm/bird

·       Light: 24 hrs for first 2 weeks & thereafter-12 hrs.

Adult

·       Floor: 200 - 250cm²/bird

·       Linear feeder space: 2.5 - 3.0cm/bird

·       Linear waterer space: 1.5 - 2.0cm/bird

·       Litter thickness: 10cm

·       Laying nest: one nest/5 - 6 quails

Sexing of Quail

·       Sexing at day old is possible but difficult

·       Auto-sexing at 3 weeks by plumage colour

·       Male-brownish red (cinnamon) breast feather

·       Female-tan (grey) feathers marked with black speckles

·       Vent sexing is also possible after ASM

·       Through squeezing the vent milk colour semen will discharge from phallus

Raising quail in Cages

·       Size: up to 3 weeks

·       Multideck or single deck

·       Each deck should be

·       Length: 120cm

·       Width: 60cm

·       Height: 25cm

Rearing: up to 5 - 6 weeks

·       60cm width

·       60cm depth

·       2cm height

·       1cm x 2.5cm of 14 SWG

Cage for adult-above 6 weeks

·       Length: 60 - 90cm

·       Width: 60cm

·       Height: 25cm from front & 17cm from back

·       Floor gradient: 8cm in 60cm

Feed & Feeding of quail:

Nutrients	Starter (0 - 3 weeks)	Grower (4 - 6 weeks)	Layer/Breeder (7 weeks onward)
ME (Kcal/kg)	2750	2750	2650
Protein (%)	25 - 27	22 - 24	20 - 22
Calcium (%)	1.0	0.8	3.0
Phosphorous (%)	0.45	0.45	0.45

 

Recommended feed allocation for quails:

Age (weeks)	Feed consumed (g)
1	5
2	12
3	15
4	18
5	20
6 & above	25

 

Diseases of quail:

A Japanese quail suffers from various diseases like chicken. They are quite resistant to RD, Fowl pox, ascaridiasis etc.

·       Ulcerative enteritis: The causative agents are Corynebacterium perdicum, clostridium perfringes and other gram positive and negative bacilli and rods of bacteria. In acute form mortality may go up to 100% in young quails. Its occurrence is more on litter than wire. Birds die without any typical sings with feed in crops. The important symptoms are watery droppings with urates, birds became dull, humped up, ruffled feather, partially opened eyes. Important lesions are ulceration in intestine and caeca. Haemorrhagic enteritis in the upper part of intestine seen. Liver lesions vary from yellow spots to yellowish areas of necrosis along the edge of liver. Spleen may be enlarged and haemorrhagic. This can treated with bacitracin, streptomycin, chloromycetin.

·       Bronchitis: Caused by filterable virus serologically distinct from infectious bronchitis. Disease characterized by tracheal rales, sneezing and coughing but no nasal discharge. It may cause 80% mortality in young birds. Here prevention is better than cure.

·       Aspergillosis: Caused by aspergillus fumigatus.

·       Coccidiosis: Sporadic cases have been observed but not so aggressive like chicken.

·       RD: Sporadic cases have been observed. But the same has been controlled through Lasota vaccination.

Vaccination:        

No vaccination is required for quails. But some sporadic RD cases have been reported. In such cases, it recommended for Lasota vaccination through drinking water is essential in RD prone areas.

Legal issues:

Initially Japanese quail was under wild Life (Protection) Act up to 1972. Ministry of Environment & Forest (GoI) vide letter No.3-22/84 FRY (WL) dated 27.06.1997 delegated the power of issuing licenses for Japanese quail hatcheries to the officers of the Department of Animal Husbandry (GoI) not below the rank of Assistant Livestock Officer and Officers of the State Animal Husbandry Department not below the rank of Veterinary Assistant Surgeon under the Wild Life (protection) Act, 1972. Keeping in view of its potential in the country, Department of AHD & F (Ministry of Agriculture) started commercial farming of domesticated quails. In between, quail growers faced a lot of legal problems, harassment; even some farmers closed their activities. Finally, Ministry of Environment & Forest vide their Notification S.O.3653 (E) and vide letter F.No.1-15/2013-WL dated 6^th December, 2013 deleted the Japanese quails from Wild Life Act. Now it is free to farming as other poultry birds.

Reference:

·       Livestock Development Council (LDC)