All About Quail Farming y The Quail y Quail Eggs y How to acquire Quails y Other Requirements y Sample Project

Report The Quails Quail Eggs Quail egg is roughly one-fifth the size of a chicken's egg and weigh around 10gm. The eggshells are spotted, with colors ranging from white to brown. Nutritionally, the quality of these eggs is at par with that of chicken eggs; rather they contain less cholesterol. The proportion of yolk (the yellow inside part) to albumen (the white part), at 39:61, is higher compared to chicken eggs. Composition of Quail Egg (Whole, Raw) Water 74% Protein 13% Fat 11% Carbohydrate 1% Total ash 1% Calorific Value 649 k J/100g liquid

For more information on nutrient content of Chicken Egg you can visit: http//www.aeb.org/food/nutrient.html What is the acceptance or popularity of Quail meat and egg? Quail meat / egg or as such the products are now widely accepted in India. The popularity can be judged by the factors like growing number of farms and market price which is Rs.16/ per live adult bird of 100200 gms (Rs. 90-110 a kg Dressed meat) and Rs.0.15-0.20/ per egg. Small size of quail egg limits its popularization as alternative to chicken egg. However, they make attractive snacks or salad ingredients. Value addition is possible with products like egg pickles, brined quail eggs etc. Is quail farming a suitable option in terms of meat and egg production? Quails have certain distinct characteristics that made them suitable for both egg as well as meat production. These are: y y y y Early marketing age (Five weeks for meat purposes, which is slightly below six weeks for broiler chicken) Early sexual maturity (They require six to seven weeks of age to produce eggs) High rate of lay (280 eggs per year) Occupation of a minimum floor space (Eight to ten birds can be kept in the same space housing a single chicken)

Quail possess a dressing proportion of about 70% (just like chicken), with the breast and thigh portion contributing nearly 68% of the total carcass. Egg production starts when the female quail reaches six to seven weeks of age and it touches 85% production by the end of 10 weeks. Where to get parent birds or adult quails? You can approach following organizations.

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, Government of India located at : o Aarey colony, Goregaon (E), Mumbai.- 400065

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Hessarghatta, Bangalore (North)-560088 Nayapalli, Bhubaneshwar-751012 Industrial Area, Chandigarh-160002

An improved strain of Japanese quail (Nandanam Quail-2), which attains body weight of 160 gm in five weeks, has been developed by poultry breeders at the Poultry Research Station, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Nandanam, Chennai.

4. M/s Venkateshwar Hacheries Pvt. Ltd.

Quail Unit at Naigaon, Pune C/o Dr. B.V. Rao, IPMT At/PO - Urulikanchan, Pune - 412202 Ph: 020 65782252, 26926509 Email : ipmtpune@vsnl.com How to identify male and female Quails? Sexing is not done in one-day-old quail chicks. Only after 4 weeks of age, the female can be differentiated from the males. Females are larger than males and they have black spots on face, neck and in the breast region. Can I produce quail chicks? Incubators that are used for hatching chicken eggs can be used for quail eggs with little modification. A wire mesh or grid of 1.5 x 1 inch should be fitted on the setter trays, to keep very small quail eggs in the incubator. Incubation period for quail eggs is 18 days. Incubation requirement are as follows: Duration (Days) 0-14 15 to 18 Temperature (deg.F) 99.5 98.5 Humidity (%) 60 70 Turning of Eggs Through 45 deg. 5-6 times a day. Not required

If you are going for such operations of producing chicks at your farm, following information may be of help to you: y y y y 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 for incubation. Eggs should be collected very frequently and carefully, as shells of eggs are very thin and they break very easily. Eggs should be stored at 55 deg.F with 70% relative humidity before incubation. You need to fumigate the eggs before incubation.