Breeding quail at home

How to keep quail at home? How to feed them properly, what temperature to maintain in the cells. What should be care and maintenance in the winter. How are eggs and quail meat useful? Interest in the production of quails is manifested for several centuries.

The first attempts at breeding quail were in Japan and China. It was there that noticed the extraordinary nutritional and vitamin properties of products.

Quail meat is very tender and fragrant, and eggs are considered to be a unique dietary, nutritious product.

Advantages and economical aspects of keeping quails at home:

1. The purchase of eggs and incubator or finished chicks does not require significant financial costs.
2. Simplicity in care and the maintenance of a bird. Quails need large areas and special growing conditions.
3. If the birds are raised for sale, then the return on investment will not take long (you can sell them for meat in 3.5-4 months).
4. Growing quail, you can get high-quality home products, which are much more useful than chicken.
5. Quails are rarely affected by diseases and pests.

The most popular breeds of quail

Depending on the purpose of growing quails, they are divided into groups (breeds):

• meat. It has only one appearance - the pharaoh. The weight of a quail is not more than 270-300 g. The number of eggs is only about 200 pcs. in year. With proper feeding, it grows fast and gains weight. The only minus of this breed is the color of the plumage, which can spoil the type of meat.
• meat and egg. Even at home can produce up to 280 eggs per year. Has sufficient weight - 180-220 gr. Products of this type can often replace chicken.
• egg breed. One of the popular species of this breed is Japanese quail. Breeding of the breed is very profitable: more than 300 eggs per year, the weight of quail is 120-160 grams. They practically do not require vaccination. Not less popular types: English quail, marble, kaytavers.

California quail home has partially lost the brooding instinct. Most often for the appearance of offspring requires an incubator. Then the breeders use the brooder, in which the chicks create all the conditions for growth.

A hen of this breed per year can carry up to 110 drop-shaped eggs. Breeders say that the gender of quails can only be determined after the age of 40 days.

Most of those who breed quails buy or make small incubators on their own. This is despite the fact that the occupation will be permanent and, possibly, will have an industrial scale. Incubators are also needed due to the fact that females of quails have no incubation instinct.

Conclusion of young chicks

The size of the incubator depends on the number of eggs that are planned to be laid. The average small-sized incubator is designed for 365-390 pieces. If the quantity is much smaller, then you can build it yourself on 70-100 eggs. Eggs that will be placed in it must be fresh, demolished not later than 6-7 days before the laying. Chicks are born almost simultaneously - in 16-17 days.

During incubation, the following conditions should be observed:

• The average temperature of the incubator is 37.7-38.5 °.
• In special trays the water level must be maintained, which controls the ideal humidity (65-75%).

Eating young

Already the first 1-2 days quail it is desirable to provide a complex vitamin mixture. From 3 to 8 days you can add corn grits or cottage cheese to food, you can also add special food for young animals. Up to 20 days they can only eat commercial feed, and then go on to adult food.

For watering use only special drinkers. The first days it is desirable to give them a solution of chloramphenicol as a prophylaxis. They grow only the first two months. After a month they are already able to rush, on average, they can go on laying in 40-50 days.

How to keep quail at home

To get a healthy bird you need to create its comfort.

For 10 quails enough area 200 sq. Cm. You can make a cage with your own hands and keep the birds there. The number of quails in the cage does not affect the number of eggs or the quality of quail meat. Quail cells must meet the following requirements:

1. As a material use only galvanized mesh.
2. Drinkers and feeders should be outside the cage and properly attached to it. In this case, the cage must be equipped so that the bird could stick its head out and get them.
3. The optimum height of the cage is 20-25 cm. Less - not desirable because quails love to jump and may be injured. If the space in the room is not much, the cells can be carefully put one on another.
4. Birds do not use sockets to be carried, therefore it is advisable to put special trays for them.
5. Tray can be put for litter. This will help maintain constant cleanliness.
6. Be sure to keep - good ventilation and perfect temperature (+ 21-23 °). Temperature not lower than 16 ° and not higher than 25 ° is allowed. The average humidity is 60-70%.
7. To achieve the desired egg production quail, you need to increase their light day with additional lighting up to 16-18 hours.

What to feed?

Do not require special food. Finance expenditure on quail feed does not exceed the cost of feed for chickens. Quail products are much healthier than chicken and their cost is also much higher.

Many ready-made feeds for adult quails are sold. For one individual enough 35 grams. such feed per day. To achieve the desired results, it is better not to lower the amount of the diet.

There is no perfect feed for adult birds. Experienced poultry farmers recommend supplementing it or replacing it with any kind of grain. Use only fine grain.

Greens will also be a good addition to the diet. Giving it should be no more than 2-3 times a day. For the rapid growth and strengthening of bones, poultry farmers add to food 2–3 times a week chalk, fish or bone meal, crushed egg shell.

For water use nipple drinkers. Use only fresh, clean, preferably filtered or boiled water.

How to care for quails

The main conditions for care and maintenance are: maintaining the optimum temperature, feeding on time, the right amount of hours of daylight hours.

An equally important factor is the maintenance of cleanliness: timely washing of drinkers and feeders, replacement of litter, cleaning of litter.

Drafts are not allowed in the room. They can cause illness or even feather loss. 1-2 times a week it is recommended to carry out a "general" cleaning in the cells.

Twice a week to put a tray with sand. They love to "swim" in it. This will have a positive effect on their health and growth. A timely inspection of the livestock is desirable. Diseases in quails - a rare case, but the cases of slander are common.

Winter care and maintenance

The main hazards of this period are a sharp drop in temperature or frequent fluctuations in humidity. If quails are bred in an apartment or a private house, there may be no problems with this.

But if a cottage or a shed is used for their breeding, it is better to warm them before the onset of cold weather. Alternatively, you can significantly increase the number of livestock for the winter. So they emit additional heat and warm each other.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that young animals more easily tolerate cold with the help of a still magnificent plumage. A correctly selected cell, which has only the front part of the grille, and the back and side - made of wood or plywood, can also save from severe frosts. So it is possible to maintain the desired temperature longer.

In winter, quails also need additional nutrient intake due to the high energy costs of heating. Therefore, during this period, it is better to introduce food containing protein or add sunflower oil to feed.

Spheres of use of products of quails

1. Used in the diet as prevention and treatment of diseases of the liver, kidneys, stomach, heart.
2. It helps strengthen bones, gives vitality. Regular consumption of eggs in food will help to normalize the amount of hemoglobin and cholesterol in the blood, remove toxins from the body, promotes rapid memorization, can stimulate potency in men.
3. Even in the elite restaurants, quail dishes are considered exclusive. Nutritional cocktails are made from eggs.
4. Components of quail eggs are part of many expensive shampoos and creams. They can be used for the preparation of masks, scrubs at home. They will help restore the skin of the face, hair, relieve face acne.

Even with perfect care, problems can arise from illness, weight loss, or a decrease in the number of eggs laid. Although this is not the case often.

The most common reasons for this are:

1. Infringement of the mode of lighting or temperature condition.
2. Poor quality, unbalanced feed or the transition from one food to another.
3. Stressful situations. For quail, it may even be transportation or relocation to another cage.
4. Refusal to rush during the week may be due to the change of the male in the herd.
5. Injuries or diseases: most often there is a molt or injuries as a result of falling or fights between individuals.

If signs of fights or injuries can be treated with iodine or brilliant green, then if there are signs of any diseases, it is better to contact a veterinarian.

Only by observing the above conditions can a healthy bird be raised and high-quality products be obtained. Or even make good money on it.

Description and characteristics of birds

There are two subspecies found in the wild - European and Japanese. The Japanese subspecies was domesticated and began to be kept at home in Japan several centuries ago. Currently, the descendants of this subspecies are grown to produce eggs and meat.

Breeders were taken two directions of birds - egg and meat. Birds raised for egg production have the following characteristics:

1. Weight is from 130 to 150 grams.
2. Egg-laying begins with one and a half months.
3. Efficiency can reach up to 340 eggs per year.
4. Egg weight 10-12 grams.

The meat direction of birds weighs from 250 to 500 grams.

Also there is a mixed, meat-egg quail direction.

There is a huge number of breeds of quail, so you can always pick up such a flock to keep quail in order to get optimal results on products.

1. Japanese - Egg direction, color yellow-brown.
2. Manchurian - meat-egg direction, also yellow-brown color.
3. English white - meat-egg direction, white color.
4. Pharaoh - meat direction, yellow-brown with stripes color.
5. Phoenix - meat-egg direction, yellow-golden color.
6. Texas white - meat direction, white with black spot color.

Quail productivity

Any novice farmer, before starting quail rearing at home, needs to understand the productivity of birds and calculate the further costs and possible income from breeding quails.

The productivity of these birds is very high, and the metabolism is intense. One quail lays more than 300 eggs per year, and this bird weighs about 120 grams. Moreover, the egg mass is 20-24 times greater than the weight of the female. Quail eggs are superior to chicken and in terms of nutritional value and diet. They lack cholesterol, and quails do not get sick with salmonellosis, so quail eggs can safely be eaten raw.

Of course, one chicken egg is as large as five quail eggs, but in these five eggs the content of vitamins and trace elements will be much higher. Quail eggs have a fragile shell, which is 7.2% of the total egg weight (whereas other eggs have 10%). The color of the shell varies from dark variegated to white. Quail eggs do not cause allergies, and also help in the treatment of a number of diseases.

Quail meat is also considered dietary, contains a lot of vitamin B, amino acids and minerals. This meat does not spoil for a long time and does not lose its useful qualities. It is recommended to patients with gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular and other diseases.

Breeding quail

Birds can stalk without a male, but in the case of breeding quail, individuals of both sexes will be needed. It is best to buy young birds from a month to one and a half. Young animals are easier to move and settle in a new place of residence.

Before you buy birds, you need to carefully examine them. Healthy individuals should have clean plumage, be of medium weight (neither too exhausted, but not overfed), the beak should be without deformations, breathing is clear.

For breeding, it is necessary to select females of 3–8 months and males of 3–6, you need to cross one breed with each other, while avoiding mating between close relatives.

Since in the process of breeding quails completely lost their maternal instincts and do not hatch eggs, the beginning farmer needs to attend to incubators for breeding quails. It is best to buy those models in which the eggs themselves turn over. For hatching, it is necessary to select eggs from females for 2–10 months, eggs should be fertilized and not older than a week, by weight 9–11 grams.

If the novice farmer does not have the opportunity to purchase an incubator, it can be done independently. To do this, you will need to take a cardboard box, place the litter in it, install a thermometer. A 40-watt lamp is mounted on top, which is adjusted so as to achieve a temperature of 37.5–38.5 degrees. Next you will need to put a plate with water to maintain the required level of humidity. A net is laid on the bottom, up to 20 eggs are laid out on the litter. They will need to be turned 3–5 times per day. After 17 days, the chicks will hatch, which should appear in 5-6 hours.

Cultivation, maintenance and care of chicks

Nestlings are born weighing 6–8 grams and are active right from hatching. They are already covered with down and have two brown stripes on the back. The chicks must be monitored and, at first, increased care is required so that they do not huddle in the cracks and do not suffocate or drown in a plate of water. It is necessary to wait until the chicks dry out, looking after them, after which they should be put into a room covered with a mesh grid. The size of this room depends on the number of quail.

It is easy to contain quail, they feed themselves, the main thing is to make a correct diet. It must be protein feedin the first days you can give chopped white and yolk five times a day. From the third or fourth day you can add cottage cheese and combined feed for chicks. A week later, the diet is added chopped greens. After 21–28 days, chicks can be fed exactly the same way as adults.

If you feed the chicks correctly and regularly, in two months they can increase their weight by 20 times. To feed the young need to use nipple or vacuum drinkersin which chicks will not be able to drown. Also worth giving quail levometicin solution. Growing chicks is not a very difficult task, the main thing is to keep track of all the nuances.

Lighting in the room for the young in the first two weeks should be around the clock, then you can reduce it to 17 hours. The temperature should be maintained 35-38 degrees, there must be ventilation. If the chicks are bunched up and squeak, it means they are cold and the lamp should be lowered lower. And if, on the contrary, they got up around the perimeter of the room and opened their beaks, then it is necessary to raise the lamp and lower the temperature. Within a week, the temperature can be reduced to 34 degrees, in two weeks to 30, and by the end of the month 22 degrees will suffice.

After 21 days, the chicks acquire sexual characteristics. Males have a red-brown color on the neck and chest, and in females in these places it is light gray and speckled. By the eighth week, the males cease to grow, and by the fortieth day they are ready for reproduction. Females mature longer - up to nine weeks.

Care for quails at home

How to keep quail at home: they need to be kept in cages or cages. However, some farmers even use cardboard boxes. For breeding birds will need an area of ​​30 to 30 centimeters (height from 20 to 25 centimeters) for the content of one male and three or four females. A beginner breeder should take into account that if you increase the size of the room, without increasing the number of birds, their productivity will decrease. The height of the cage should not be done more, otherwise you will have to upholster the ceiling with something soft, as the birds may try to fly up and smash their heads. For a minimum number of birds, quail keeping is possible even in an apartment.

When birds are bred on an industrial scale, then 700 birds account for up to 20 square meters in the aviary. Also used for the maintenance of cellular complexes, which can accommodate up to 250 birds. This complex consists of a number of cells in which there are drinkers, feeders and egg collectors. It is easy to make such a complex and beginner at home. This will require plywood, wire mesh and metal sheets.

Quails do not need equipment nests or perches. Яйца они откладывают прямо на пол, поэтому стоит разместить на полу настил. Для этого можно использовать бумагу, сено, солому или стружку. Главное, отслеживать чистоту подстилки и регулярно её менять.It is necessary to maintain a light day for no more than 20 hours, but not less than 17, otherwise the productivity of birds will decrease or their aggressiveness will increase. Ventilation is also required, but without drafts.

The room should be dry with a temperature of about 20-22 degrees. The temperature should not fall below 16 degrees, otherwise the egg-laying will stop completely, and at a temperature of less than 5 degrees all livestock will die. Humidity should be maintained in the region of 60–70%. Humidity can be maintained by spraying the air with water or pouring the floor. Along the perimeter of the room you need to install a bath with ash, where the quail will be cleaned and eliminate parasites from the feathers. Also need a tray for excrement. Cleaning up on the floor and in the trays will have to be done daily, and a full cleaning can be done once a week.

Feeding birds

For the equipment of the feeding and watering place it is worth using remote tanks. Drinkers and feeders placed outside, and the birds stick their heads through the net for feeding. This makes it easier to keep the room clean. To feed the birds you need 2-3 times a day, for one quail should be 25-30 grams of food. Overfeeding birds is not worth it, as this reduces their productivity.

The diet of quails should consist of the following products:

1. Compound feed, the same as in chickens.
2. Cereals.
3. Greens and vegetable cleaning.
4. Sunflower seeds.
5. Sliced ​​eggs and cottage cheese.
6. Fish meal, as well as minced fish.
7. Fish fat.
8. Shredded chalk, shredded eggshells and fragments of shells (a couple of times a week).

Walking in the open air, birds also eat snails and slugs. Let them out on the street, if the temperature is not below 18 degrees. If it is not possible to let the birds out for a walk, then they should be given live insects from pet stores.

Do not give the birds greens from tomatoes, parsley, celery and potatoes, as they cause indigestion in quails, also can cause poisoning stems and buttercups, rye and buckwheat. Symptoms of the disease can be tracked by bird droppings, if it is liquid and dark green in color, it means that the bird is sick. If the entire pack has diarrhea, then they should press the tincture on water or rice instead of water. Water should be given boiled and warm, always always fresh.

It is necessary to monitor the health of all birds, to monitor how they feed, how actively they behave. If the bird has deviations in behavior, it should be isolated from the rest and contact a veterinarian. It is also worth keeping the birds apart after any injuries until they recover.

Birds destined for slaughter are divided by sex. Their young are kept apart by gender. It is necessary to reduce the light and temperature in the room where they are kept. It is best to keep in the twilight at a temperature of up to 24 degrees. Under these conditions, the males will not conflict, will begin to move less and eat more. You need to feed them 3-4 times a day. In the diet of greens and grain with a five percent additive of feed fat. By the end of the second month, the broiler males are sent for slaughter, the females by the end of the first year, after the intensive egg-laying is completed.

At observance of all the rules of quail care and maintenance, their productivity will certainly bring results and will delight the novice breeder. Keeping quails at home is not a difficult task, so that in the future quail breeding may well turn into a promising business.

Characteristic

In the wild in our country there are European and Japanese subspecies. The latter was domesticated and made the object of quailing in Japan, where this tradition dates back several centuries. Now the descendants of the Japanese version are grown for meat or for obtaining egg products in small farms and industrial farms.

Breeders brought representatives of egg and meat directions. The cultivated variety grown on eggs is characterized by the following characteristics:

• quail weight - up to 130 g, females - up to 150 g,
• the beginning of the laying of eggs - from the age of one and a half months,
• productivity - up to 340 pieces weighing 10-12 g annually.

To produce a delicious diet quail meat, broiler breeding has spread throughout the world. Representatives of this direction weigh from 250 to 500 g.

Quails are grown egg, meat and meat-egg direction. Many breeds allow you to choose the right herd in accordance with the main product:

Quail breed Pharaoh

Fattening and slaughter

Quail, intended for meat, are separated by gender. Young males and females are kept separately. Lighting and temperature are reduced. Heated cells - up to 24 degrees. Light is better to muffle, creating twilight. In such conditions, the males do not conflict, mobility decreases, and food consumption increases. Eating 3-4 times a day. Quails are fed with greens, grain with a 5% supplement of feed fat.

Broiler males are sent to meat by the end of the second month of life. Females are slaughtered by the end of the first year, after the completion of intensive egg-laying. Before the process, the birds do not give to eat and plenty of water.

When slaughtered with a sharp blade of a knife or a kitchen hatchet, the head is cut off. Allow blood to drain, cut with scissors legs at the level of the tibia and wings to the second joint. Hold the carcass belly up, with your thumbs tear the skin and remove together with the plumage. Gut quail, snapping open with a knife or finger.

Quail carcasses must be thoroughly cleaned.

Additional Information

• birds are also used as warriors, in some localities quail singing is appreciated,
• in Japan, their breeding spread after the Hirasima and Nogasaki explosions (eggs entered the school menu to suppress exposure symptoms),
• if the birds are fighting, send off the instigator of conflicts to another cage or separate it from the herd by a partition,
• quails do not tolerate stress - take care of the absence of irritants,
• Do not lay paper or newspapers on the floor of the brooder so that the chicks do not disperse.

Growing quail at home, subject to the rules of care and feeding will bring the expected result. They are suitable for meat, egg products or breeding for decorative purposes. Considering unpretentiousness, a fast gain and a small expense of a forage, perepovodstvo will become favorable business.

Where it all began

Common quail is a small bird pheasant family, the smallest representative of the order of chickens. The length of its body is only 20 cm, and the weight of an adult individual is from 80 to 150 grams.

Feather color quail beige with spots and strokes. Males have a darker color of goiter, and around the eyes there is a pronounced dark spot that looks like a helmet. The females do not have these spots.

Virgin quail

By its nature, ordinary quail is very shy birdwhich in nature is very difficult to notice. Quails grow very quickly, they fledge by two weeks. From now on, the young birds try to fly. Quail - one of the migratory birds of the order chicken. Therefore, it is necessary to keep a bird in captivity in cages.

Breeders deduced many breeds of quail, which are bred in a private farmstead in order to obtain meat and eggs. Growth rates of these birds are pretty good. Live the mass of the male quail ranges from 110 to 180 grams, depending on the breed. And female quails are much larger than males. Their weight can reach up to 250 grams. Egg-laying starts early, at the age of 50 days. Some breeds begin laying later. Each female gives over 300 eggs a year, which are used for culinary purposes and for incubation. The weight of one egg is up to 14 grams.

Quails are grown not only at the dacha. In order to produce good carcasses of meat and dietetic eggs, quail farms were built. Quail breeding - This is the most profitable occupation, for a start, you can use a regular barn.

Varieties and their characteristics

Many types of quail were bred that conquer breeders with their qualities. Broiler breeds able to provide large quantities of meat at minimal cost. Egg breeds contain mainly for large eggs, which are in demand in the consumer market.

This breed of bird was bred for meat. Texas quails exceed other breeds. Broiler-type bird for creating which used meat breeds of quail.

Texas Quail

Special features

Texans have a snow-white color of the pen, for which they are popularly called albino or white giants. Sometimes on the white feather of a bird one can notice small black blotches. This is the norm.

Outwardly quail of this breed large. Breast pronounced meat type: round, wide. The bird's paws, tail and neck are short. The tip of the beak is dark, the eyes are black quail.

Manchurian

Manchurian quails are very beautiful birds. Pen color combines feathers of yellow and brown colors. People call these quails golden. On the female's breast, one can notice characteristic black blotches, which the male does not have.

Manchurian quail

To determine quail floor it is possible at 100% only by looking under the tail of the bird. In the male between the tail and the cloaca there is iron, when pressed, white matter is released. The females do not have this gland.

Bird productivity

Manchurian breed of quail is known for its meat and egg qualities. The egg production of females is up to 180 eggs per year, but they are much larger than others. The average egg weight is up to 18 grams.

Males of this breed gain weight 150 grams, but with proper fattening the birds are able to give high performance. Average carcass weight - 300 grams.

Meat quality

The average bird of this breed gives up to 250 grams of meat. With proper feeding and content, it is able to score up to 550 grams.

Egg production

First egg in females of this breed is formed by the age of two months. Eggs are quite large. In one year, the female is able to lay up to 280 eggs, with an average weight of 12 grams.

Manchurian

Manchurian quails are very beautiful birds. Pen color combines feathers of yellow and brown colors. People call these quails golden. On the female's breast, one can notice characteristic black blotches, which the male does not have.

Manchurian quail

To determine quail floor it is possible at 100% only by looking under the tail of the bird. In the male between the tail and the cloaca there is iron, when pressed, white matter is released. The females do not have this gland.

Bird productivity

Manchurian breed of quail is known for its meat and egg qualities. The egg production of females is up to 180 eggs per year, but they are much larger than others. The average egg weight is up to 18 grams.

Males of this breed gain weight 150 grams, but with proper fattening the birds are able to give high performance. Average carcass weight - 300 grams.

Meat quails of breed the Pharaoh

The main feature of these birds is a good one. meat carcass.

Quail breed Pharaoh

Characteristic

Externally, the birds of this breed resemble wild relatives. Plumage color Pharaohs are greyish brown. Females on the breast are characterized by white and black stripes. The weight of females is much higher than males.

Meat quality

Pharaohs refer to meat quails. Average female weight reaches 300 grams, and the male is somewhat smaller. The distinctive quality of this breed is early maturity. Already by two months can be slaughtered. Quails of this species need a balanced feed.

Egg-laying

Pharaoh's female begins egg-laying at about 45 days. However, it is not possible to use the first eggs for incubation. Egg weight makes up to 15 grams. The average female is able to lay up to 200 eggs in one year of intensive egg-laying. To produce eggs, females must eat well.

California

California quails are not widely spread and are mainly kept for beauty. Growing these birds is unprofitable. Low survival rate of young, poor growth rates.

California quail

It is necessary to contain this breed in the most natural conditions, otherwise the bird loses its decorative effect.

Japanese quail plumage has rusty brown color. The collar zone is darker for males than for females.

Japanese quail

Egg Incubation

For breeding quail need an incubator. This can be a homemade device or purchased in the store. In a typical small incubator, you can place up to 400 eggs.

Incubation period lasts an average of 17 days. On the 18th day, the incubation ends. At observance of the necessary temperature regime, the hatching of young stock is very high.

Quail eggs in the incubator

The entire incubation period temperature The chamber is maintained at 38–38.5 degrees. Humidity should be more than 50%. Under such conditions, the elimination takes place amicably and ends after 6 hours.

Rearing and care for chicks

Hatchlings are distinguished by their mobility. Contain quail need a special brooder, where they maintain the required air temperature. First 14 days the temperature should not fall below 38 degrees.

From 15th day the temperature in the brooder is reduced to 25 degrees. By the age of one month, chicks should be accustomed to normal room temperature, which is 20–22 degrees.

Quail chicks

24 hour light mode support for the first 14 days. Further, the bird is transferred to the usual daylight hours.

Feeding quail at home

From the moment of hatching, chicks need vitamins, minerals. Can use quality feed for the young, which contains all the necessary substances. In the absence of feed, boiled eggs can be given to quails, which are crushed and placed in a bowl.

From 4 days fine crushed corn grits, cottage cheese and high-grade compound feed for young animals are introduced into the feed.

Feeding quail

8 to 20 days in the main diet of young stock only feed. You can add greens, carrots, meat waste.

From the 20th day Feeding young quails is no different from feeding adults.

By week 10 young growth completes and begins puberty. With 45 days, most breeds begin egg-laying.

Feeding adult quail

For feeding adults feeders and drinkers taken out of the cell. Birds push their heads for feeding through the bars. This method of feeding reduces the cost of feed.

Adult quail eat

Adult birds fed 3 times a day, while consuming 30 grams of feed per individual.

For females, the best nutrition is a balanced feed for laying hens. Sometimes grain, garbage, greens and fruits are added to food. In the ration of the hens there must be crushed shells, chalk, sand, boiled fish.

Fattening birds for meat

When reaching quail month old they are separated by gender. Males and rejected females are planted separately and begin feeding for meat.

Fattening is carried out at a temperature of 22 degrees and low light. Feeding mode for these birds is different. Quails are fed 4 times a day, with large doses. In the first half of the day add green food, and in the evening give grain waste. The fattening period is about 60 days.

Fattening quail

Slaughter is carried out as soon as the bird reaches the required body weight. Before slaughter, quails are not given food for 6 hours. Leave only the water in the drinkers.

Quail Diseases

Most often livestock begins cheer because of the change of feedbad conditions of maintenance, poor-quality feed, lack of nutrients.

Quail on the walk

Improper nutrition and maintenance

Quails are sick with avitaminosis, which develops when there is a shortage of nutrients or a violation of the diet, changing food.

Symptoms of the disease include:

• ruffled feathers,
• the loss appetite,
• lethargy,
• drooping heads,
• stretching neck.

The birds are changing their diet, they inject more nutrients, they follow the feeding regime.

Quail in a cage

In violation of the conditions of poultry subject to the following diseases:

• dropping out oviduct,
• cannibalism,
• dropping out feathers,

Enough to correct conditions of detention and the birds bounce back. Change the brightness of the light, reduce the number of individuals in the cell and introduce the missing vitamins and minerals.

Reviews breeders about quail

Many breeders prefer raise quails breed Pharaoh and white Texan. Birds grow well, are not susceptible to pecking, they are gaining weight well.

Youngsters It is distinguished by good vitality, immunity and rapidly growing, so even a novice breeder will not have much difficulty in rearing full-fledged individuals.

Breeding quail is no more difficult than chickens. The main task of the breeder - maintenance of cleanliness, compliance with the conditions of detention and feeding. With a competent approach to growing quails, poultry are productively carried and give good growth rates.

Economic aspects of quail breeding

Interest in quails in amateur poultry farmers caused:

• insignificant costs for the purchase of eggs for incubation,
• the simplicity of keeping birds
• quick impact of invested forces.

How to start breeding quail at home for novice poultry farmers? What difficulties are waiting for them, and what should be taken into account when creating your miniature farm?

The bird is bred for two purposes:

This should be taken into account when choosing a specialization of the future quail farm and determining the breeds for breeding.

Небольшое стадо перепелок может полностью обеспечить семью яичной продукцией. But is quail breeding profitable or not as a business? If we compare poultry meat and egg direction, then the first produce a carcass weight of up to 300 grams with a relatively small, up to 200 pieces, number of eggs. In the second case, the weight does not exceed 200 grams, but from a quail, you can get up to 300 eggs weighing about 10–12 grams per year.

Within a month and a half after the birth of the quail, the quails are ready to nest, and it takes just 18 days from laying eggs into the incubator until the chicks have pecked. Such precociousness "never dreamed" of chickens, which directly indicates the economic feasibility of breeding quail at home.

Home quail conditions for beginners

If chickens, ducks, geese and other birds in the yard are easily mastered and can be grown using pasture range, then quails are very difficult to domesticate. Therefore, this type of bird is kept in cages.

The premises for keeping quails in the country house are chosen dry, ventilated and warm, but at the same time reliably protected from drafts, which the birds do not tolerate. For the active development and maintenance of egg production birds need lighting. The best can be considered the 17-hour duration of daylight hours:

1. If the cells are illuminated longer, at first the number of eggs will increase, but the bird is quickly depleted.
2. A short daylight hours, without the use of additional lighting will not give the desired results from the layers and young animals. In the dark, birds reluctantly feed, which leads to savings in feed, but at the same time inhibits growth.

The simplicity of the bird, a small space occupied by the cells and the rapid return of dietary products - these are the reasons for the popularity of the content of quail in the country, in a private house or even in an apartment.

However, in living quarters breeding a large number of birds is undesirable:

• because of the risk of developing diseases that are dangerous both to birds and humans,
• the complexity of creating the proper conditions for illumination and ventilation,
• due to the imminent violation of the rules for the use of housing in apartment buildings.

In the summer cottage or in their own backyard, a poultry farmer can grow a couple of generations of quails in one summer season and get useful and tasty eggs from them. The only thing that may cause the need for additional costs is the breeding and maintenance of quails in the winter, however, a video on the organization of the process will help to understand the nuances to prevent mistakes even to beginning bird farmers.

How to breed quail?

Home quail farm begins with the acquisition of weekly chicks or hand-incubated chicks. Emerging quails need special care and conditions. Before breeding quails, for tiny chicks, they build or acquire a draft-protected cage equipped with lighting and heating.

Small quails in the first week of life need to maintain elevated air temperature at 35–36 ° C. Then, in a brooder, the air is gradually cooled, reaching 30 ° C by the end of the second week. Heating of small quails at breeding at home is important to arrange so that the temperature in the cage changes smoothly, without jumps, threatening the rapid weakening and death of the young.

In addition to heat, quails in the first two weeks leave around-the-clock coverage. This technique allows you to stimulate the activity of the bird, it is often suited to the feeders and develops faster. From 3 weeks of age, chicks are gradually transferred to 12 hour coverage. From 1.5 months, when quails begin to fly, the birds are placed in cages with a 17-hour day.

In the summer, birds can be carried out into the air, but there is no open walking area for quails. And here they are contained in the mesh cells.

When keeping quails at home, novice poultry farmers need to pay special attention to the feeding regime and diet, as well as maintaining cell cleanliness. So that cleaning delivers less hassle, the cells and brooder for babies are equipped with a double bottom and are made of materials that are easily amenable to both dry reading and wet hygienic procedures.

Arrangement of cells for quail

For feeding birds in places of detention provide comfortable drinkers. For young stock, vacuum-type designs are highly desirable. For adult birds, you can leave the existing equipment or install nipple drinkers that do not give quail access to the water. As a result, drinking moisture will always be clean, and the quails themselves will not suffer from hypothermia.

The number of drinking bowls and feeders when breeding quails at home is calculated based on the number of livestock so that in hot weather or during a mass meal, pets do not quarrel over feed and do not trample down the weak. For chicks in a brooder set tray feeders. As they grow older, they are replaced by grooved structures outside the cells.

Content of adult quail

At three weeks of age, chicks are seated in cages for adults. Females are preparing to become hens, and males are sorted for breeding and fattening for meat. At this point, there are changes in the diet.

For feeding quails at home, protein-rich ingredients are added during feeding. For future hens, this will help increase egg production, and quail males will gain weight faster. By the age of one and a half months, the young livestock is divided by gender and form parent groups or families, and experienced poultry farmers advise taking eight males for eight quails. In this case, the selected individuals are immediately placed in a single cell. Subsequently, it is better not to change the males, because the chickens perceive it very sharply and may even cripple the novice.

If a group is formed only from hens, then a strong active male can be brought to them as needed. In this case, it is easier to control which birds are covered, and egg productivity, with proper supervision, is higher.