Complete Description about Quail Breeds.Advantages,Management & Farming

1. Quail Farming
Submitted by
Dr. T keerthana

2. Introduction
 Class : Aves
 Family : Phasianidae
 Genus : Coturnix
 Scientific name : Coturnix coturnix Japonica
 Hindi name : “Bater”

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

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.
• Popular in the countries like Japan, Hongkong, Singapore and
France.
• As a source of egg and meat production

5. Advantages of quail farming
 Requires minimum floor space (5 to 6 birds/sft)
 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

6.  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.
 Any type of weather condition is suitable for quail farming
and the most important fact is it can be raised along with
other birds successfully, but with a little risk factor
Advantages of quail farming

7. Quail farming as economically viable
and technically feasible
 Very short generation interval (3 to 4 generations per year)
 Quails are very robust to diseases
 No vaccination is required
 Low space requirement
 Early maturity
 Very high laying intensity- female starts laying at an age of 42 days
Practical Utility
 Quail offered an opportunity to alternative the chicken farming
 It is useful as table delicacy
 Pilot animal for research and education

8. GENERAL CHARECTERISTICS OF QUAIL
• Small size with weight of adult birds being 150 to
200 grams and weight of egg being 7 to 15 grams .
• Female bird can start laying eggs in 6 or 7 weeks
after birth and frequency is one egg a day.
• Average eggs that can be laid by the bird in the first
year is around 280.
• Egg production decreases after the first year of
laying .
• Meat is tasty and nutritious and contains low fat .
• Eggs can be of different colours .
• The bird does not incubate the eggs .

9. QUAIL BREEDS
For commercial and profitable business, there are 18 different species of
quail available and like the poultry breeds, they are also divided into egg type
and meat type. Among so many species 3 most important species are
The Common Quail:
Wild variety .
Height is 16 to 18 cm and weighs 70 to 135 grams.
Migrate from Europe to Africa.
Can be farmed under non-conventional
framework.

10. The Japanese Quail:
• Native to Japan.
• Plumage is mottled grey with brown speckles.
• A female bird is larger than the male.
• Can produce300 eggs in a year.
• Average egg weight is 180 grams when 50 days
old.
The King Quail:
• Measures 12 to 14 cm and weigh 40 grams.
• Raised as decorative bird .
• The throat of male bird has delineated black
and white pattern.
• The plumage of female bird is striped and is
brown and white in colour .
• The colour of the bird may be tawny, white,
silver, brown, black
Contd.,

11. Other Breeds
Some popular layer quail breeds are:
oTuxedo
oPharaoh
oBritish range
oEnglish white
oManchurian golden
Broiler breeds of quail are:
oBobwhite
oWhite breasted

12. QUAIL BREEDS
Quail varieties available at CPDOs:
• Brown
• White
• White breasted grey
• White breasted brown
• Grey spotted
• Brown spotted
• Grey brown cross
• Brown grey cross

13. QUAIL BREEDS
Quail varieties available at other institutions:
• Cari-uttam(broiler quail line)
• Cari-ujjwal (white breasted quail)
• Cari-pearl (white egg shell line)
• Nandanam quail
Cari-uttam Cari-ujjwal Cari-pearl Nandanam

14. Male vs female

15. Reproduction of quail
 The male to female ratio in breeding stock to be
maintained is 1:3 for the production of hatching
eggs
 Female quail start laying eggs at 7 weeks of age
and continue upto 22 weeks
 Usually egg laying happens during evening time of
the day
 Eggs can be collected before hatching i.e., 4 days
after keeping male and female breeder birds

16.  The quail egg usually weigh about 9-10 gms
 Eggs collected from the parents aged between 10-24 weeks are
highly fertile
 The eggs can be incubated with optimum temperature, relative
humidity, adequate ventilation and turnings
 The incubation period is 17-18 days
 Hatchability is about 60-70% under artificial incubation
 When males are sexually matured a large glandular or bulbous
structure appears above the cloacal opening
 If this gland is pressed it will emit a foamy secretion.
Contd.,

17. Brooding of quails
 Rearing of quails during first 3 weeks is called brooding
 Battery system of brooding is the best for quails
 Brooding temperature during first week of life is 37˚C which is to be
reduced to 3˚C on every 5th day till it reaches to 22˚C by the end of 3rd
week
 It is better to cover the floor with corrugated paper or clean gunny bag to
provide them foothold
 Continuous light may be provided during the first 2 weeks and then it is to
be gradually reduced from 3rd week of age to 12hrs during the growing
period
 Layer quails require 15-18hrs of light per day during laying period
Age (days) Temperature°c Light(hour)
0-7 37.7 24
8-14 35 24
15-21 32.2 12

18.  Care should be taken with small quails to prevent drowning in
water troughs
 Feather pecking or other forms of cannibalism occur
frequently when they are kept on wire
 Debeaking is the best preventive measure and other steps
like reducing light intensity, increasing dietary fibre and grit
can also reduce cannibalism
Contd.,

19. REARING MANAGEMENT
• After 15 days birds transferred to growing enclosures
• Donot expose birds to more than 12 hours of light
• On 35 day male and female birds can be identified
based on feathers and females segregated and
transferred to laying enclosures
• Male birds fattened up to 6p days dressed and sold.light
during this period is restricted to 6 to 8 hours

20. LAYER MANAGEMENT
• Quails are transferred to laying enclosures at end of 6weeks
• Production cycle lasts for 300 to 320days
• Removal of waste – high protein in feed so high ammonia
content
• light-16 to 18 hours
• Quail is sensitive to salt so optimum level of salt should be
0.7%

21. • Incubators that are used for hatching chicken eggs can be used
• Incubation period for quail eggs is 18 days.
• Eggs should be stored at 130C at 80% RH for 5-7 days
• Fumigated with formaldehyde gas for 20 minutes before
storage.
• A wire mesh or grid of 1.5 x 1 inch should be fitted on the
setter trays
Incubation and hatching
Duration (Days) Temperature (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 requirement are as follows:

22. Life cycle of quail
INCUBATION:
• Optimum laying is observed when light is provided for 18hrs
• Eggs that are smooth within matt shell should be incubated
• Before incubation eggs can be stored at 15C
• The incubation period is for 16 to 18 days
• Static hatching chambers or incubator with static ventilation is best
suited for this purpose
• Temperature for incubation should be around 38.5 to 39 C with a
humidity of 55 to 60% for 14 days. The humidity can be increased to
70% after the 14 day
• The eggs fragile during the first 3 days, so the incubator should not
be disturbed

23. HATCHING:
• 85 to 90% of the fertilized eggs hatch on the 16 or 18day
• Deformity rate is estimated to be 10% due to consanguinity
• The hatching incubator should not be opened until 15
• The day old chicks weigh around 5 to 6 g
• They should remain in the incubator for 24 hrs for drying
• No feed is required during this period
GROWING:
• Growth appears fast during the beginning days and feathers on the
third day
• Overcrowding should be avoided
• Quails of different ages are separately raised
• The temperature of the brooder should be around 38 to 40C
• After 3 days the temperature of the brooder should be reduced by 1C
• Feeder length should be around 120cm and water should be 40cm
• Huddling is an indication of low temperature in the brooder

24. Hatching
Growing

25. FATTENING:
• 3 weeks after the growing period the quails are placed in a
proper housing system and are raised there until 7 week
• Birds of the same age are housed together
• Small quail farms use newspapers or metal trays under the
cage for disposal of waste
• Bedding material in the quail farm can be replaced before
the next batch of hatching begins
• The mortality rate during fattening is 10%
• The birds with good fattening ability are used as breeders
SLAUGHTER:
• When the quails attain 45 to 50 days and gain 160 to 180 g
weight they are strangulated
• The parts are plucked and skin is removed for selling in the
market

26. Housing
Housing
Deep litter
system
Cage
System

27. Housing
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.

28. Cage System :
 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.
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
Contd.,

29. FEEDER
• It can be small pet bowl,small chicken feeder or
trough feeder
• Feeder space in trough feeders 2cm×1cm linear up
to 3 weeks
• 50% increase from 3 to 5 weeks
• 5 to 6 weeks-2.5 to 3.2 cm
Contd.,

30. DRINKER
• Clean and fresh water should be provided
• Nipple drinkers and cups are available for adult
quails
• Drinking space up to 3 weeks-1cm
5 to 6 weels-1.5 to 2 cm in trough
• One nipple or cup should be provided for every 5
birds.

31. Feed Management
Feed Ingredients Chick mash Grower mash
0-3 weeks 4-6 weeks
Maize 27 31
Sorghum 15 14
Deoiled RiceBran 8 8
Groundnut Cake 17 17
Sunflower Cake 12.5 12.5
Soya meal 8 -
Fishmeal 10 10
Mineral Mixture 2.5 2.5
Shell grit - 5
Feed can be formulated as follows :

32. 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.
Contd.,

33. Feeding
 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

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

35. Quail meat
• 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) (Ref.: Pande and Srivastava, 1987)
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%
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,
brine quail eggs etc.

36. Is quail meat preferred over chicken meat?
 Yes
 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 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

37. 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.
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.

38. Quail diseases
 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%

39. GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVE
PERFORMANCE OF QUIAL
Age(weeks) Average B.wt(gm) Total feed
consumption (gm)
Cumulative
feed efficiency
1 25.6 45.7 1.78
2 52.2 136.9 2.62
3 87.9 237.2 2.69
4 136.8 391.8 2.86
5 192.1 561.6 2.92

40. Farm management
• Maintaining a record of farm activities
• Events such as birth, death or loss, removals,
total egg count, eggs sold and number of
quails purchased along with their dates
should be recorded for reference.
• There should be record of treatments and
other medical activities with their exact dates
• The expenditure and income of the farm
should be recorded
• If the farm has an incubator then details such
as eggs hatched, temp, date etc., should be
noted.

41. Where to get parent birds or adult quails?
1. Director, Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar, Dist. Bareilly,
Uttar Pradesh, Pin: 243122
2. A.V.M Hatcheries & Poultry Breeding Center Pvt. Ltd.
25 / 327, Rangai Gauder Street, Coimbatore Pin: 641001
3. Director, Central Poultry Breeding Farm, Govt of India located at
a)Aarey colony, Goregaon (E), Mumbai.- 400065
b) Hessarghatta, Bangalore (North)-560088
c)Nayapalli, Bhubaneshwar-751012
d)Industrial Area, Chandigarh-160002
4. M/s Venkateshwar Hacheries Pvt. Ltd.
Quail Unit at Naigaon, Pune, C/o Dr. B.V. Rao, IPMT
At/PO - Urulikanchan, Pune – 412202