Introduction about quail Advantages of quail farming Housing Feeding Egg and meat production Nutrient content in egg and meat Incubation and hatching Chicks management Quail diseases and its management Centers for parent quails and interesting facts about quail etc.,

1. A.Suresh

2. Class : Aves
Family : Phasianidae
Genus : Coturnix
Scientific name: Coturnix coturnix Japonica
Introduction

3.  First domesticated in Japan in 1595.
 There are two species of quail in India:
a) The black-breasted quail found in jungle
b) The brown-coloured Japanese Quail
 Introduced in India in 1974 from California.
 There are 45 species of quail although the
Japanese quail is the largest species
History

4. Why quail farming?
 Easy to handle
 Adopt to varied environment
 Fast growing bird and short generation
interval
 3-4 generations in a year
 Pilot animal for genetic, nutritional and
physiological studies.
 As a source of egg and meat production
 Popular in the countries like Japan,
Hongkong, Singapore and France.

5.  Requires minimum floor space
 Needs low investment
 Quails are comparatively sturdy birds
 Can be marketed at an early age ie. five weeks
 Early sexual maturity - starts laying eggs in about six to seven weeks of
age
 High rate of egg laying -280 eggs per year
 Quail meat is tastier than chicken and has less fat content. It promotes
body and brain development in children.
 Nutritionally, the quail eggs are on par with that of chicken eggs.
Moreover, they contain less cholesterol.
 Quail meat and eggs are a nutritious diet for pregnant and nursing
mothers.
Advantages of quail farming

6.  Quails are very robust to diseases
 Very short generation interval
 No vaccination is required
 Low space requirement
 Early maturity
 Very high laying intensity- female starts laying at an
age of 42 days
Quail farming as economically viable and
technically feasible

7. Practical Utility
 Quail offered an opportunity
to alternative the chicken farming
 It is useful as table delicacy
 Pilot animal for research and
education

8.  Females are heavier (200-250 g) than male (180-200g)
 Female: long & pointed feathers with black speckles on
the throat and upper breast.
 Male: rusty brown throat and breast feathers, cloacal
gland.
Female/Male Japanese Quail
Difference b/w Male & Female

9. Deep litter system
 6 quails can be reared in a sq.ft. of floor
space.
 After 2 weeks, Quails can be reared in
cages.
 This will help to gain good body weight.
Housing

10. Each unit is about 6 feet in length and 1 foot in width,
and subdivided into 6 subunits.
The cages can be arranged up to 6 tiers high.
Bottom of the cage is fixed with removable wooden
plates
Long narrow feed troughs are placed in front of the
cages.
Water troughs are placed at the back of the cages.
Commercial egg layers are usually housed in colonies of
10-12 birds per cage.
Cage System
Age Cage Size No.of birds
First 2 weeks 3 x 2.5 x 1.5 ft. 100
3- 6 weeks 4 x 2 .5 x 1.5 ft. 50

11. Feed Ingredients
Maize
Sorghum
Deoiled Rice Bran
Groundnut Cake
Sunflower Cake
Soya meal
Fishmeal
Mineral Mixture
Shell grit
Feed Management
Feed material should be made
of small particles
 A 5 weeks old quail consumes
about 500 gms of feed
 Quails of 6 month old,
consumes about 30-35 gms of
feed per day.
 Quails require about 400 gms
feed for the production of 12
eggs.
 The particle size is reduced by
grinding the feed for one more
time.

12.  Classified as, Starter (0-4 wks), Finisher (4-6wks) and layer or breeder (6 wks
onwards).
 Starter period is more crucial and needs special management and feeding care.
 Balanced and higher nutrient is required
 Feed conversion ratio (FCR) is an average 1.75-1.80
Nutrients Broiler Quails Layer Quail (For Egg)
Starter
(0-4 wks.)
Finisher
(4-6 wks.)
Starter
(0-4 wks.)
Grower
(4-5 wks.)
Layer
(> 6 wks.)
Energy (Kcal
/Kg)
2800 2800 2750 2750 2700
Protein % 27 24 24 20 19
Calcium % 0.8 0.6 0.8 0.6 3.0
Phosphorus % 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.45
Feeding

13.  Smaller eggs than chicken
 Average age at first egg production is about 50 days
 Average egg production 280-300/year
 Eggs laid between 3-5 pm
 Eggs are multicoloured (dark brown, white, buff, blue etc)
 Eggs wt. is 10-12 g
 7-8% of the hen’s body weight.
Egg production

14. Composition of Quail Egg (Whole, Raw)
Water Protein Fat
Carbohy
drate
Total
ash
Calorific
Value
74% 13% 11% 1% 1%
649 k
J/100g
liquid

15. 
 Dressed quail meat weighs 70-73% weight of live quail.
 Hundred grams of quail meat is usually obtained
from a quail weighing 140 g.
The Comparision in Composition (Raw Meat)
Moisture Protein Fat Carbohydrate Minerals
Quail 73.93% 20.54% 3.85% 0.56% 1.12%
Chicken 73.87% 20.66% 3.61% 0.78% 1.08%
Quail meat

16. What is the acceptance or popularity of Quail meat
and egg?
 Quail meat / egg are now widely accepted in
India.
 Small size of quail egg as alternative to
chicken egg.
 They make attractive snacks or salad
ingredients.
 Value addition is possible with products like
egg pickles, brined quail eggs etc.

17. Quail meat it is tastier than chicken.
 Quail meat promotes body and brain
development in children
 Best balanced feed for pregnant and
nursing mothers.
 Less fat content (Low calorific value) but
more of phospholipds.
Is quail meat preferred over chicken meat?

18. Is quail farming a suitable option in terms of
meat and egg production?
• Early marketing age
• Early sexual maturity
• High rate of lay (280-300 eggs per year)
• Occupation of a minimum floor space
• Eight to ten birds can be kept in the same
space housing a single chicken

19. o Incubators that are used for hatching chicken eggs can be used
o A wire mesh or grid of 1.5 x 1 inch should be fitted on the setter
trays
o Incubation period for quail eggs is 18 days.
oEggs should be stored at 130
C at 80% RH for 5-7 days
oFumigated with formaldehyde gas for 20 minutes before storage.
o Incubation requirement are as follows:
Duration (Days) Temperature (deg.F) Humidity (%) Turning of Eggs
0-14 99.5 60
Through 45 deg. 5-6
times a day.
15 to 18 98.5 70 Not required
Incubation and hatching

20. If you are going for such operations of producing chicks at
your farm, following information may be of help to you:
 Male / female ratio in the parent stock should be 1:2
or less.
 Quails start laying eggs at the age of 6 weeks, Quails
lay most of the eggs during evening hours (Between 3 to
6 PM).
 Fertile eggs from the female of age 10 to 20 weeks can
be collected
 Eggs should be collected very frequently and carefully
Eggs should be stored at 550
F with 70% relative
humidity before incubation.

21. Management of quail chicks
 The day old quail chicks usually weigh 8-10 g.
 The quail chicks need more temperature.
 Absence of adequate temperature and exposure
to high speed cool wind leads to clustering of young
ones, which results in high mortality.

22.  Quails are very sensitive during first 2 wks of their life
 Quails are not vaccinated
 No dewormer used
 Resistant to 8 starins of Eimeria pathogenic to chicken
 Brooder pneumonia reported in quails (use calcium
propionate@2kg/tonnes feed).
 Ulcerative enteritis (Clostridium colinum)
 Sterptomycin, bacitricin, and neomycin @50-
100g/tonnes of feed.
 Mortality rate 5-10%
Quail diseases

23. 1. Central Avian Research Institute, Uttar Pradesh.
2. A.V.M Hatcheries & Poultry Breeding Center Pvt. Ltd.
Coimbatore.
3. Central Poultry Breeding Farm, Govt of India located at
a. Mumbai.
b. Bangalore
c. Bhubaneshwar
d. Chandigarh
4. Venkateshwar Hacheries Pvt. Ltd.
Pune.
Where to get parent birds or adult quails?