Growing quail at home
Growing quail in Russia is becoming more and more popular every year. And this is not surprising, because quail eggs are considered a healthy and dietary product. Finding high-quality and environmentally friendly poultry meat sometimes seems impossible, because modern technologies so skillfully create a kind of naturalness that an expert will not immediately distinguish it. In most cases, it is this reason that makes you think about independent quail breeding. Why exactly quails, and not, for example, chickens? One of the main advantages is the small size of the bird, which allows you to grow quail even in an apartment.
Growing quail at home
The unpretentiousness of quails is also important. Growing domestic quails from scratch at home is not difficult, and even a farmer with minimal experience can cope with this task. With the right plan, the profitability of such a business will quickly pay off. The main thing is to calculate the costs before introducing birds and conclude whether it is profitable to get quail eggs at home or not. Also, do not forget that for the full-fledged growing and keeping of birds, you will need special equipment, a good house, perches, feeders.
How many quails do you need
The first thing to worry about is where the bird is kept. The backyard of birds should be well staffed. A private house has a significant advantage, where an unlimited area can be allocated for quails, but what about the owners of apartments? Practice shows that it is realistic to grow quails in an apartment, following simple recommendations. Another question is whether you have previously encountered raising poultry or not.
If there is no such experience, then you should not immediately start too large livestock. For a start, it is enough to have 5-6 females. Such an amount will completely provide eggs and certainly will not create any discomfort in the content, and even more so it will not take up much space. Too high a cage for quails is not at all necessary, the main thing is that it is wide enough. Having mastered the basic principles of caring for quails, you can increase their number. A livestock of 20 quails will provide eggs for a whole family, the main thing is that it will not displease neighbors: there will be no smell or noise from it.
But a larger number of birds are unlikely to want to be kept in the living room, so it is often decided to take a balcony for breeding quails. In this case, you should worry about darkening windows and maximum sound insulation. In such conditions, you can keep up to 50 heads of quail. Remember that along with the increase in the number of livestock, the smell also increases, which can cause discontent among neighbors.
Choosing a quail breed for breeding
Quail breeds are divided into egg, meat and meat-producing. Accordingly, the choice depends on the purpose of breeding the bird.If the main thing for you is getting an egg, then it is better to choose the Japanese quail breed. It has the highest egg production. But there is not much meat from such a quail: the bird is too small. The breed is easy to care for, which is very important for beginners. Eggs usually weigh between 7 and 10 grams. A significant advantage of quail eggs is that they are safe to eat raw, since quails do not suffer from salmonellosis. Quail eggs do not cause allergies, on the contrary, the active substances contained in them help to cope with the disease.
Broiler breeds are more suitable for meat production: Pharaoh, Turkish Pharaoh or Texas white. Compared to quails of the egg breed, broiler quails are 2-2.5 times larger. But this does not mean at all that the beef quail breed will not lay eggs. Broilers give a large egg up to 20 g, but there is much more trouble with such a breed: the selection of feed and conditions of detention needs to be especially careful.
All other breeds are classified as meaty. Among them, the Estonian quail has proven itself well, it is much larger than the Japanese one, but has an identical color. This option is convenient for a novice poultry breeder. In general, the color range of quails is very rich. So, when choosing a bird for your livestock, you must remember that crossing 2 different species is undesirable, it is better to have individuals of the same suit. How to choose the right hens and males, you can look at the photo or video.
Cell selection
The choice of a quail cage depends on the breed chosen. A beef bird needs a cage 10 cm higher than, for example, an egg quail, because from the first days the young are gaining weight and growing actively. Parrot cages are not suitable for laying hens. The main condition is that the floor of the cage must be solid or made of a mesh with a small cell. The best option is a 1 x 1 mesh, so the bird will not get stuck with its paws and injure. It is very important that the floor is not made of parallel rods, because this also will not be able to avoid the falling of the birds.
What are the cells:
- wooden;
- metal.
Making a cage with your own hands will not be difficult, especially if the livestock is small. Some craftsmen use all kinds of materials at hand, from plastic to ordinary plywood. The main point that needs to be considered when making a cage on your own is its practicality in cleaning. The most convenient designs are with a tray for droppings, and the bird itself, and its eggs will always remain clean. In the summer, you can keep your pets in an unheated house in the fresh air, or more often let them go for a walk in the warm season.
Proper care of quails
Growing quails at home should be carried out in accordance with all the rules, then the birds will be healthy and the farmers will get the desired result. Taking care of birds is not tiring and does not present any particular hassle. All that is required is feeding, keeping the cages clean and collecting eggs daily.
Feeding
The correct choice of compound feed is the key to success in raising birds. It is impossible to replace it with herbs or cereals alone, therefore, good results should not be expected. But these foods work well as a supplement. For the same purposes, they use finely chopped boiled quail eggs, grated carrots, beets or boiled fish. The daily rate for the egg breed of laying hens is 30 g of compound feed, for the meat breed - 40 g. You need to feed the bird 3 times a day, preferably at the same time, adhering to the daily rate.
The peculiarity of quails lies in the fact that they scatter feed, therefore, it is necessary to prepare feeders with limiters in advance. It will be most convenient to place the feeders on the outside of the cage: this way the feed will be consumed more economically. Do not forget about adding a small amount of chalk to the diet of an adult bird. It is the basis for a strong egg shell and healthy plumage.Layers especially need chalk in winter. For better digestion of feed, the bird needs gastroliths - small pebbles that will help grind solid feed, so a container with sand is needed in the cage. Sea or river sand with an admixture of small shells is ideal. The quail itself will eat the amount it needs.
The most common quail diseases are often associated with an improperly selected diet. If it became noticeable that the bird is lethargic, its feathers are ruffled, it chooses a dark corner, perhaps the body lacks nutrients. In this case, it is necessary to add vitamins to the daily quail feed, especially in the spring. Sometimes it is necessary to completely change the feed.
Drinking bowls
On industrial poultry farms, nipple drinkers are most often used. They are the most convenient, as the water is used more efficiently and stays fresh longer. But the cost of such drinkers will hit your pocket hard. You can make comfortable drinking bowls for poultry yourself, paying special attention to the limiters so that the quails cannot climb into them.
The water in such drinkers needs to be changed more often than in nipple ones: due to the ingress of feed particles into it, droppings, it becomes contaminated faster, which can ultimately lead to poultry illness. It is better to choose a drinker with low sides: they are the most convenient. Drinking water should be changed as often as possible, at least 3-4 times a day. Water should be drinking or boiled, at room temperature.
Lighting
Bright lighting is enemy number one for birds. Such conditions for quails are simply unsuitable: the quail becomes restless, pugnacious. Due to improper lighting, egg production problems can arise, so all existing windows in the room with quails need to be darkened. If there are no windows, you can provide a comfortable light mode using a conventional fluorescent lamp.
Keeping quails in your home
Growing quails in your home greatly simplifies the task of the poultry farmer: a large livestock will not cause trouble for either households or neighbors. It is important to immediately create and further maintain a thermal regime in the room where the quails will be kept. If a separate heated room in the house is allocated for them, then no additional devices will be needed. But the heating in a separate shed or annex in the winter should be taken into account. The optimum temperature for quail is between 16 and 24 ° C.
An increase in temperature will not affect the comfort and health of the bird in any way, which cannot be said about a decrease. Temperatures below 16 ° C can negatively affect the egg production of quails. Ventilation of the room is as important as temperature. Ammonia vapors, rising upward, can harm quails, so the air flow should be directed from top to bottom. This will remove poisonous fumes most effectively. When arranging ventilation, the main thing is not to overdo it and not create a draft that quails cannot stand: because of this, feathers may begin to fall out.
Breeding quails in the apartment
Breeding quail in a house and apartment differs only in the number of chicks hatched. If it is planned to keep in the country in the fresh air, then this will even better affect the quality of the young. To breed quails of the egg breed, a family of 3-4 quails and 1 quail will be required, for broiler breeds there are 2 quails for 1 quail. Females should be selected at the age of 3 to 8 months, and males - from 3 to 6 months. Unlike chickens, domestic hens do not have an instinct for incubation, so you cannot do without an incubator when raising your own livestock.
When selecting eggs for the incubator, those that are irregular, damaged or too large should be laid. They can be used for food, but they are not suitable for raising chicks. The optimum weight of an egg for setting in an incubator is 11-14 g, depending on the quail breed.A product of less weight will no longer work: the quails will hatch, but they will be very weak and small. It should also be taken into account that not all eggs will hatch quails: out of 100%, only 75% will be fertilized, some of them will be unviable after hatching, and some will hatch by males, so it is better to take 3 times more eggs from the number that will need to be replaced livestock of quails.
Incubation of eggs
You can collect the required number of eggs for the incubator no more than 5 days, only if the eggs are stored at a temperature of 18 ° C. This will provide the quail with the most efficient hatchability. The longer you store the harvested eggs, the less chance of hatching chicks. It is strictly forbidden to wash eggs before placing them in the incubator. The fact is that on the surface of the shell there is a protective film that prevents infections from entering the egg. At the same time, the eggs must be clean, free from droppings or dirt. Since the quails are rushing to the floor, and not like chickens in a nest, it is important to cover it with straw: this will keep the eggs clean.
Incubation will take 18 days. The process takes a lot of free time from the poultry farmer, so it is best to purchase an incubator with automatic temperature and humidity control. The first two weeks of incubation should choose a temperature of 37.8 ° C, the first week it is necessary to maintain the humidity at 50-55%, and in the second, reduce it to 45%.
We must also remember about turning eggs: the first week they are turned over 4 times a day, the second - 6 times. In the period from 8 to 14 days, eggs should be cooled 2 times a day for 20 minutes. Starting from the 15th day and until the hatching of the chicks, the temperature in the incubator is lowered to 37.5 ° C, and the humidity is increased to 65-70%. You no longer need to turn and chill eggs. Chicks hatch almost simultaneously, in most cases within 5-6 hours. How to breed quail correctly, you can look in more detail on a photo or video.
Growing quail at home
Farmers when breeding quail at home should know some of the features of the process. It is necessary not only to successfully bring out the flock of young animals, but also to provide her with further competent care in the courtyard. For these purposes, certain equipment is used. The hatched chicks are transferred to a brooder - a box or box with a constantly maintained temperature of 25-28 ° C. It is not difficult to make a brooder: it is enough to insulate the outside of the plywood box with foam. A mesh with a fine mesh is installed at the bottom. For the first week, cover the bottom of the brooder with a soft cloth and replace it as it gets dirty to prevent infection from multiplying.
If the chicks scattered around the corners of the brooder and breathe through an open beak, this is a signal that they are too hot. In this case, you need to either reduce the power of the light bulb, or simply raise it higher. Frozen chicks, on the contrary, will bunch up in a heap near the lamp, then you will need to lower it or replace it with a more powerful one. Economical and LED bulbs for heating poultry are not suitable.
From the first days and for 14 days, the quails need round-the-clock lighting, and later the light will only need 17 hours. Over time, the temperature in brooders is reduced, and the grown-up quails are seated in cages. It is better to plant young growth separately from adult quails.
Nutrition of young animals
At first, the quail is fed with a special starting compound feed. This stage is especially important: the starter feed contains all the necessary vitamins and components for not yet matured chicks, which allows you to maximize the survival of the future livestock. It is better to use water for young animals settled or filtered. Unlike cages for adult quails, feeders and drinkers in a brooder are placed inside.
Starting from 21 days, quails are gradually transferred to compound feed for adults. At the same time, the bird should be provided with sand, since such food is more solid.In the summer, it is important to provide the grown quails with greens in order to support the normal development of the bird. With proper care from the first days, the grown young are distinguished by persistent immunity and in the future does not cause any trouble to the owner.
Mastering the intricacies of growing quail at home is not such a laborious and costly task, it is quite within the power of even for novice farmers. In particular, it is important to observe the diet, rest, give additional food in winter and insulate the room. The main expense is the incubator, which will save a lot of time for the poultry farmer and help create the ideal conditions for hatching future flocks. And given the market value of ready-made quail meat and eggs, you can seriously think about a small family business, which will not only significantly replenish the budget, but also provide the family with a truly natural and healthy product grown by their own hands.