The quail is small and expensive. Raising quails at home - tips for beginners Why it is worth raising quails - economic benefits

The cage where the quails live is quite large. It seems to me that they are free there. How to calculate how much space a bird needs? A cage for one quail up to 3 weeks of age will require 50 square meters. cm floor area. From 4 weeks of age, quails are seated at a rate of 90 square meters. cm per 1 head, and keep it this way until the end of the growing period.

The cage where the quails live is quite large. It seems to me that they are free there. How to calculate how much space a bird needs?
V. Levkina, Stavropol Territory

In a cage for one quail up to 3 weeks of age, you will need 50 sq. cm floor area. From 4 weeks of age, quails are seated at the rate of 90 sq. cm for 1 head, and so keep until the end of the growing period.

It is very important that the floors of the cage are made of mesh with a cell size of 10x10 mm. When growing outdoors, the recommended planting density is at least 90 square meters. cm per 1 head.

The stocking density of adult birds in cages should be 70 heads per 1 sq. m of floor(140 sq. cm per 1 head), and when kept on the floor, one head should have at least 150 sq. cm. cm.

is a bird from the partridge subfamily. The length of an adult bird is about 20 cm, and its weight is 150 g. Females and males differ in color. The male has dark red cheeks and a red craw. The female has a pale buffy chin and black spots on the sides and lower part of the body. Raising quails at home or in the country is an alternative to chickens, and therefore chicken eggs and meat. If you decide to raise a small number of quails, then even your apartment will do. Keeping quails is no more difficult than any other domesticated bird.

Did you know? Quail meat was fed to workers during the construction of the pyramids.

Why are quails bred?

Interest in quail breeding dates back to ancient China. The Chinese believed that it was a source of food and valuable ingredients for healing potions. Quail farming then became popular in Japan. It was Japanese scientists who proved the usefulness of quails as a food product. At the moment, quails are bred both for their own consumption and for business. Eggs and carcasses are now expensive, and bird droppings are used to make organic fertilizer for the garden.

If you have enough time to care for quails, you will have to invest a small amount of money in them, but the result will be quite profitable. In addition, it should be noted the high speed of production of quail products. Egg production of quails at home begins at approximately 1.5 months. In a year you can get about 330 eggs from one quail.

Did you know? The quail got its name due to its coloring and the ability to crouch to the ground in danger.

Room and cages for quails

The optimal room for quails should be warm. Depending on the number of birds, either exhaust ventilation or supply ventilation should be installed. You also need to maintain optimal temperature conditions. The temperature should not be higher than 25 °C or lower than 12 °C, as the bird will no longer lay well. In hot weather, quail may lose their feathers, and in low temperatures they may die.

Quails need to be properly kept in cages, so we present you with a list of requirements for the premises:

1. The height of the cage should not be more than 20 cm. Quails often jump up and can sometimes get injured.
2. The cage must have a special tray for receiving eggs, and there must also be a special container for droppings. This will reduce the risk of diseases and contamination of quails. The tilt angle for collecting eggs should be approximately 10°.
3. The main elements of the cage should be made of galvanized mesh and metal.
4. The bird landing area should be approximately this – 10 birds per 0.2 sq/m.
5. The cage dimensions should be 100 cm by 40 cm. For quails, which will later be used for meat, the dimensions should be 5 cm larger.
6. The height of the back wall should be approximately 20 cm, and the front - 25 cm. The front wall is also a door. It is better to secure it with wire.

These instructions for creating a cage for young quails will help you create your own incubator. In terms of time, the cage can be assembled in 2-3 hours. The main material for a quail cage is galvanized steel mesh. The blank for the cage has the following dimensions: 105 x 70 cm.

From this mesh, two side walls (blanks) measuring 30 x 30 should be cut out. They should be bent in this way: the height of the front wall should be 16 cm, and the back wall should be 14 cm. The width of both walls should be 30 cm. The rest of the mesh is suitable for the egg collector. The end walls of the cage can be secured with plastic clamps. The end of the egg collector should not be higher than 3 cm. A fine mesh should be placed on the bottom of the cage. A door should be cut out on the side wall and attached to a wire.

The side walls of a quail cage can serve as both an exit and a necessary space for a litter box. It can be made from plywood or wooden slats. After creating the litter box, it should be treated with an antiseptic, as over time it can emit an unpleasant odor, even when it is empty.

Did you know? A quail egg will never go bad, as it contains lysozyme, a useful amino acid that does not allow microflora to develop.

To grow quails at home, you also need to adhere to the right lighting. Lighting does not require large expenses. If you have a 4 x 4 cage, then a regular 40-watt lamp will be enough for it. You can also use energy-saving fluorescent lamps. For quails, you need to create both day and night. Some quail breeders do not turn off the light at all, thinking that the birds will rush better. At the first stage, quails can lay more eggs, but the bird’s body will quickly get tired of this. You should also not do it in the dark for more than two hours. Due to their fast metabolism, quails feel hungry. And if you create a night for 4 hours straight, the bird will be very hungry and may eat more food than normal. This can lead to blockage of the crop.

We offer the following lighting schedule for quails:

1. It should be light from 2 to 4 am.
2. From 4 to 6 it is better to turn off the lamps.
3. From 6 to 24 lamps must be turned on.
4. It should be dark from 24 to 2 am.

Important! The night for quails should last no more than 4 hours. It is better to divide this time into 2 hours.

For egg production, the following lighting mode is required: the light turns on from 6 to 23 hours. This is the ideal mode for obtaining hatching eggs. When raising quails for fattening, you need to follow a different regime: the light regime for males should be 10 hours, and for females – 12 hours. If you keep quails of both sexes - 11 hours.

Did you know? The image of a young quail in Ancient Egypt served as a hieroglyph and denoted the sounds “v” and “u”.

The previous instructions for creating cages are designed for raising adult birds; for young quail you need to buy an incubator. Incubators come in different types of designs, but they must be equipped with a thermostat and be thermally insulated. You also need automatic egg turning, but you can do it yourself.

We recommend raising small numbers of quail as they are easier to work with. You can use household incubators that are designed for 280 eggs. Don't expect that if you put 100 eggs in an incubator, the same number of chicks will appear. The embryo's development may not go as smoothly as it should, meaning that only about 75% of the chicks hatch healthy.

Before laying the eggs in the incubator, it needs to be prepared. Fill the tray with water. This tray is located under the eggs. There is a mesh over the container with water. Quail eggs are laid on it.

Let's move on to choosing eggs for incubation:

1. The weight of the breeding bird should be 15 g.
2. The mass of poultry that will be used for meat is 13 g.
3. Shape index – 70%.
4. The absence of shell defects, that is, irregularities or growths.
5. The surface should be matte.

Eggs also need to be viewed through an ovoscope. This will help you determine if there is blood in the eggs. Also, the yolk and white should not be mixed. Using an ovoscope, you can also determine the incorrect location or size of the air chamber.

First stage Incubation lasts only two days. This is a period of calm. The optimal temperature at this stage is 37.7 °C. Air humidity should be 70%. There is no need to ventilate or turn the eggs.

Second phase, which lasts 13 days is called the active growth period. The temperature and humidity should be the same as in the first step. On the third day of incubation, you can start turning the eggs. From 3 to 15 days, turning over is necessary in order to avoid the embryo from drying to the shell. You need to turn your eggs 6 times a day unless you have an automatic incubator.

Third stage incubation is called hatching. The temperature should be approximately 37.5 °C, while the humidity should be increased to 90%. Two days before hatching, the eggs do not need to be turned over and laid out more freely. Also in recent days, you can spray eggs from a spray bottle. After the chicks are born, they need to be transplanted into a disinfected and heated brooder. This will help them dry and warm faster.

Breeding quail at home also includes proper care and feeding of young chicks. The first days the feeder and drinker should be inside the cage. After a week they are placed outside the cage. The mesh floor should be covered with paper and the top sheet should be changed every day.

The temperature should always be around 37 °C, as quail are sensitive to cold at this time. In the second week the temperature should be 32 °C, and in the third - 26 °C. Subsequently, the temperature should be 24 °C. You also need to adhere to the light regime. For the first two weeks, the quails should be provided with constant lighting. When the quail reach six weeks of age, lighting should be reduced to 17 hours.

For day-old quails, you need to adhere to a certain feeding and feeding schedule. We recommend taking special food for small quails. It should be fresh and suitable for babies from the first days. All manufacturers call food for quails “Start”. Use specifically for broilers, since separate feed for quails is not produced.

This food is very large for small chickens, so it needs to be ground and fed to them for the first 4 days. In the first week, each chick should be given approximately 4 g of food per day. You can put it on a napkin or cloth. On the second and third days, you can use feeders. A little later you can install regular ones.

They can also be covered with fine mesh so that the quails can easily take food and not climb on them. From the first hours of life, chicks need water. You should not use drinking bowls at first; it is better to use regular jars with vacuum drinking bowls. You can also take special drinking bowls for quails. In the second week, feeders can be replaced with grooved ones. Their sides are curved inward. They need to be fed often and even at night. It is better to fill the feeders to 2/3 of the depth.

The daily diet for young quails should include approximately the following components:

1. Corn. One quail should receive approximately 40 g per day.
2. Wheat – 8.6 g.
3. Wheat bran – 5 g.
4. Sunflower meal – 10 g.
5. Fish meal – 35 g.
6. Feed yeast – 3 g.
7. Meat and bone meal – 5 g.
8. Herbal flour – 1 g.
9. Chalk – 1 g.
10. Premix – 1 g (P-5-1).
11. Table salt – 0.4 g.
12. Dry skim milk – 2 g.

As a result, one quail should be given 100 g of each of the ingredients from this list every day. All this can be mixed with food. For one chick in the first week you need to allocate about 4 g of food. By the age of one month, daily feed consumption increases to 16 g.

Quail care

When studying the question of how to breed quails at home, do not forget about the features of caring for this bird. Quails are unpretentious to care, but in order for productivity not to decrease, it is necessary to maintain the correct temperature and light conditions, as well as proper feeding. The growth, development, productivity, health and reproduction of quails depend on the light regime. The day for them should last up to 20 hours. 24-hour lighting increases egg production, but quails are often hungry, and the productive period is shortened. When daylight hours are up to 17 hours, egg production decreases due to lack of nutrition.

Important! You should not use bright lighting at home, as birds may peck each other from hunger.

The optimal temperature for quail is 22 °C. In winter, the temperature should not fall below +10 °C. Air humidity should be kept at 70%. To prevent infection with various diseases, the cage must be cleaned regularly. Daily cleaning of litter is especially necessary. Once every three months it is necessary to carry out disinfection and general cleaning of the cage.

How many quails can you keep in one cage?

How many quails can you keep in one cage?

30.04.2018

How many females are there per male?

When breeding Japanese quail with one male, you can keep one, two or even 6 females. Quails of other species are kept in pairs.

When are pairs and groups of quails selected?

By the time they reach sexual maturity, the entire flock of quails can be kept together. Then they separate the males from the females based on the color of their plumage and form pairs or groups. Californian quails are separated and selected at the age of 6 months, Japanese and Chinese - at the age of 38-42 days. The breeding season for Californian quail begins only in the second calendar year, for Japanese and Chinese quail - at the age of 52 days.

How to distinguish a male from a female?

By the cloaca, it is possible to distinguish a male from a female already at a daily age. An auxiliary feature can also be the color of the down around the cloaca, which is pink in males and bluish-gray in females. The sex of quails can be reliably determined after the plumage changes, when the males become darker. The male Japanese quail has a salmon-colored chest with a large horseshoe pattern. In general, males of all breeds are 20% (or more) lighter than females.

What is the egg production of quails

The egg production of Chinese and Californian quails is only 8-18 eggs, while the Japanese quail can lay 150-300 eggs, depending on housing conditions. With good feeding, lighting lasting 18 hours a day, and at a constant temperature of about 20°, egg production can reach the upper limit. The weight of the first eggs is 5-6 g; The 10-14th eggs weigh 10-11 g.

Sometimes a female quail lays two eggs a day. The main color of the egg shell is white, greenish or brownish, with dark spots of varying sizes and intensity. The egg shell is fragile, the membranes under the shell are strong.

What are quail eggs

Quail eggs are tastier than chicken eggs, although their chemical composition is almost the same. Quail eggs contain more iron and some specific substances. They are credited with medicinal properties.

Most species of quail thrive in an environment that resembles their natural environment.

Egg-laying Japanese quails are kept in cages, the rest are kept in enclosures, indoors in winter and in sunny places in summer.

Duration of keeping quails

Japanese quail with high egg production are kept for a year, with low egg production - two years, Chinese - 5-6 and Californian - up to 8 years.

How to deal with aggressive males?

After breeding pairs and groups are formed, the male often attacks one of the females. This behavior should be distinguished from the way in which the male achieves mating. The male is sometimes capable of beating the female to death. Therefore, you should either remove the female from his group, or, if he constantly attacks females, cull him.

Quail is a tender and delicious meat. And quail eggs are a dietary product that can be consumed by everyone, young and old, even allergy sufferers and people after serious illnesses. Keeping quail is no more difficult than keeping any other poultry. And they can be kept in small quantities even in an apartment.

We are preparing the room. To keep quails, you need a warm, dry room, with good ventilation, but without drafts. The optimal temperature for keeping quails is 20-22 degrees. Fluctuations of 16-25 degrees are acceptable. Quails do not like bright light, so the cages are not placed opposite the window. But at the same time, the daylight hours should be 16-17 hours (with the help of additional lighting), if the lighting is less than 12 hours, this affects egg laying. Cages are placed in such a room: they can be in one row, or they can make racks and place them on several “floors”. Select a cell. The type and size of the cage for keeping quails depends on the number of birds and the method of placing the cages. You can make them yourself or buy ready-made ones from quail breeders.

Incubator. When breeding quails, this is a necessary thing, since, unlike chickens, they do not hatch the eggs themselves. You can also buy it, or you can make it yourself. You need to take care of your electricity right away, especially if you experience frequent power surges or power outages.

It is best to start breeding quails by purchasing adult birds. But if you decide to start by buying eggs, then you need to take into account that eggs from the store will not work, they are not fertilized. During transportation, the internal structure of the eggs is disrupted, and this leads to a decrease in the percentage of brood: the greater the distance, the lower the percentage. If you decide to buy ready-made chicks, then you must have a housing room, cages, food, drinking bowls, etc. ready.

The incubation period is 17 days, the hatching of quails occurs actively and ends in 4-6 hours, although individual quails from the same batch can hatch 1-2 days after the main hatch. This is a deviation from the norm. Hatched quails weigh 6-8 g, are covered with brown down with light longitudinal stripes on the back, and are very active.

Healthy quails are kept in plywood or cardboard boxes - brooders; their size depends on the number of chicks. They must be clean, the bottom is covered with paper, which is changed as it gets dirty, and a 5 by 10 mm mesh. The mesh prevents the phenomenon of “splits” in chicks - it serves as a stop and prevents the legs from moving apart. Lighting should be around the clock for continuous feeding. Several incandescent lamps are placed above the boxes; they serve both for illumination and for warming the young animals.

It is very important to maintain a stable temperature within 20-22 degrees, otherwise the chicks will die. From the first hours of life, quails are able to feed themselves. Since they grow and develop very quickly, they require feed with a high content of protein, vitamins and minerals. Therefore, it is best to feed with special compound feed from the first days. In two months, the chick increases its mass 20 times and almost reaches the size of an adult bird.

When keeping quails for the purpose of obtaining food eggs, cages up to 20 cm high are usually used. The bottom area depends on the number of quails placed in the cage and is selected at the rate of 180-200 square meters. cm per head. If you need dietary food eggs (i.e., unfertilized), then you can keep only hens in the cage. They will lay eggs in the same way as with a cockerel.

For feeding, trough-shaped feeders are used, attached externally, or automated (for dry food). The main component of the feed is crushed corn and 15 percent all types of grains with small or crushed grains, egg feed, and greens. The food is added systematically as it is eaten.

Water must be present constantly; if the drinkers are automated, then the water in them is changed at least once every 4-5 days, the drinkers are thoroughly washed. Periodically, you need to place a bowl of sand in the cages, where the quails bathe.

Thus, growing quails is not particularly difficult, especially in small quantities. The main thing is to decide for what purpose you breed them: eggs, meat, chicks. And, having decided, prepare all the necessary equipment, and you can safely get down to business.

The Japanese from ancient times (14th century) learned to breed quail at home. Breeders paid attention to this bird only at the beginning of the 19th century and developed a breed that is now known as the “Japanese quail”.

Externally, the “selected” quail is practically no different from the wild one. There is a big difference in productivity. If a wild female enters sexual maturity only at the 12th month, then a domestic female begins to lay eggs at 35-40 days and can produce about 300 eggs in a year. Japanese quail weight: males - 120, females - 140 g.

Domestic quail originated on farms in many countries. They managed to bring the live weight of quails up to 230 g, and some females - up to 300 g or more. This is how much the quail of the Pharaoh breed, which was bred in the USA, weighs. The egg production of meat quails is, of course, lower than that of egg quails, but not significantly.

Breeding this bird is quite profitable. Five females by weight produce the same number of eggs as one hen. But what a difference in early maturity! Quail grows three times faster than chicken and consumes less feed. Quail is distinguished by a rapid change of generations and very high productivity.

Quail eggs are much tastier and much healthier than chicken eggs. They contain more vitamins A, B1 and B2, iron, potassium, cobalt, copper and essential amino acids. They can be eaten raw, boiled, fried and pickled. In Japan, quail eggs are a mandatory product in the diet of schoolchildren.

It is worth noting that quail droppings are a wonderful fertilizer. It is better to store it dried.

Recently, many countries have begun to show interest in such a profitable business, especially since quail can survive the winter in the conditions of an ordinary apartment. Small cages with cute and active birds fit well into the interior of the apartment. They take up little space. In the summer there is no hassle at all with them; you need little space for them. In order to have an abundance of quail meat and eggs on the table for one small family throughout the warm period of the year, you can leave two males and four females for the winter.

How to breed quails

Mainly, select the freshest eggs for incubation. If you did not mark the date of their demolition, place them in water at room temperature. Fresh, healthy eggs will sink to the bottom. It is better to store them for no more than 8-10 days at a temperature of 2 to 15° and air humidity of 60-70%. For incubation, take clean eggs, not very dark and not too light in color. It is better to choose eggs from females aged 2-6 months. If there is no incubator and hens, then eggs can be placed under chickens, for example, bantams. The incubation mode is as follows: temperature - 37.5°, humidity - 65%, turning eggs - after 1-6 hours for 14 days. Then the trays can be transferred to the output chamber.

Incubation duration is 16.5-17.5 days. At the time of pipping and hatching, it is better to increase the humidity slightly so that the shell membrane is not so dense. If these conditions are met, the conclusion is amicable, usually within 4-6 hours. A little ozonation of the air is useful: it helps the development of embryos.

At first, quails need a high temperature: for daily - 37 °, week - 35 °, two-week - 31 °, three-week - 27 °, four-week - 21 - 25 °. Then you need to maintain a temperature of 19-21° with a humidity of 55-60%. For heating, in the first two weeks you can turn on the lamps around the clock, and then for 14-15 hours a day. At the same time, it is better to turn the light on and off at the same time. Quails are watered from time to time with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate. They are usually fed 4 times a day. The first week they give quail or chicken eggs, hard-boiled and grated along with the shell. You can also add ground feed, boiled fish, crushed crackers, and from three days - live food.

Chicks cannot tolerate dampness, drafts, or sudden changes in temperature. There should always be clean sand and water in their cage.

Each quail consumes approximately 8-9 kg of feed per year, and 0.8 kg for rearing until slaughter age. An adult bird needs approximately 25 g of feed per day.

To obtain food eggs, females can be kept without males, but for incubation I leave about 2-4 females per male. Good mating results occur when there are two females in one cage and one male in the other. In the morning I place one female next to the male for 15-20 minutes, and two hours later - the second.

An adult bird can be fed 2-3 times a day. She should receive a flour mixture - 12 g, protein food (cottage cheese, fresh fish, minced meat, etc.) - 10 g, succulent food - 10 g. It is good to give vitamins A, D3, E. Quail feed is consumed both dry and and wet form. Greens can be given without restrictions. Twice a week you can add boiled liver to the feed. Japanese quails prefer sweet and sour foods.

At three weeks of age, females can be distinguished from males. Males have a dark brown chest and brown neck, a tubercle at the top of the cloaca, and the surrounding skin is light pink. Females have a white neck and a gray chest with black spots. The skin of the cloaca is bluish-gray.

Month-old young animals are separated by sex: excess males are for meat, and females are for egg-laying (they lay eggs for 10-12 months, after which they begin to be fattened).

Equipment for keeping quails

It is better to have a small-sized incubator on your farm (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1 Scheme of a small-sized incubator:

1 - reservoir (bucket); 2 - water; 3 - filter; 4 - incandescent lamps; 5 - metal partition; 6 - tray for eggs; 7 - tank cover; 8 - electric contact thermometer; 9 - fan

Holes with a diameter of 10 mm were drilled into the walls of a cone-shaped polyethylene bucket at a height of approximately 80 mm. They are necessary to limit the level of water being poured and to ventilate the workspace. By changing the level and area of ​​the water surface, as well as the depth of immersion of the filter paper, the humidity is adjusted. Two 15 W incandescent lamps serve as an excellent source of heat, and a metal partition with holes is used as a safety grille and a heat accumulator. The lid contains an electric contact thermometer and a fan. Turn on once for 1-2 days. For thermal regulation, a circuit with a thyristor switch is used, which, unlike circuits with an electromechanical relay, operates silently. The RT-1 thermostat, complete with an electric contact thermometer, has proven itself well.

Energy costs can be reduced if the bucket is wrapped in heat-insulating material. But the design without insulation is convenient because through the transparent wall of the bucket you can easily monitor the condition of all elements of the incubator.

Rice. 2 Automatic feeder made from cans

Small-sized cells can be placed in several tiers. Their floor area is determined at the rate of 80-110 cm2 per bird. The height of the cells is 200 mm. With a multi-tiered cage, it is better to make it a little higher, so that it is more convenient to care for the livestock. For young animals, cages are made from mesh with a cell of 10x10 mm. In the first week, the mesh floor is covered with a cloth, thick paper or a plastic mesh. Under the drinker at this time, you can use inverted glass jars placed with a gap on a saucer. Then it will be more convenient to have a pipe with a diameter of 30 mm with drilled holes, connected to a vacuum drinker. The depth of the water layer is 15 mm.

Trough feeders are hung from the outside with a length of 7-10 mm per bird. To make it more convenient for the quail to get food, the distance between the bars on the groove should be at least 20 mm. You can change the size of the feed gap with a rubber hose placed between the bars of the grate.

Rice. 3 Automatic drinker:

1 - three-liter glass jar; 2 - polyethylene cover; 3 - overlay; 4 - funnel; 5 - rubber hose; 6 - tube with holes for drinking

The mesh floor in the cages is made with an angle of inclination to the feeder of 5-7°. At the edge of the floor there is an egg collector lined with soft material. There should be a tray for droppings under the floor. The cells are illuminated using incandescent lamps with a power of 25-40 W. Bright light is not advisable because it can lead to pecking.

Recipe for a dish that is especially useful for people with liver disease

Wash the carcasses, salt, pour hot milk and cook over low heat until fully cooked. Quail baked in Uzbek style is delicious. The carcasses are placed in warm salted water for one hour. Crushed spices, including also black pepper, coriander, are sieved through a sieve and sprinkle the meat with this mixture. After that, they are wrapped in parchment paper, placed on a baking sheet and baked for about 35-40 minutes, pouring water on the paper so that it does not burn. Delicious served with fresh vegetables.

P quail breeding specialists

Keeping quails at home is no more difficult than any other poultry. With a small number, they can be kept even in a city apartment, in cages for parrots or canaries. Maintaining and caring for them is quite simple. The only condition for normal quail egg production is compliance with the conditions of detention (temperature and light conditions), as well as the use of specially balanced, high-protein feed. Otherwise they are quite unpretentious birds.
If you want to start breeding quails yourself at home, then the first thing you need to know is that domesticated female quails have lost their incubation instinct, so artificial egg incubation is used to hatch young animals, so you will need an incubator.
For the incubation of quail eggs, any small-sized household incubators of the systems are used: "Universal", "Nat", IPH, ILU-F-03 and others. Such incubators can be purchased at any market or specialty store.
The capacity of these incubators varies, and is usually indicated based on the number of chicken eggs. Such incubators can accommodate 4 - 6 or more times more quail eggs than chicken eggs. So, for example, 370 - 395 Japanese quail eggs are placed in the tray of the Universal-45 incubator. For many amateur poultry farmers, using homemade industrial incubators for incubating quail eggs may not be practical, since such incubators are too large for their needs. Therefore, for those who raise young quails in small quantities, homemade incubators with a smaller capacity will be more suitable.
The incubation period for quail eggs is 17 days (for chickens - 21). The hatching of quails occurs actively and ends in 4 - 6 hours, although individual quails from the same batch can hatch 1 - 2 days after the main hatch.
Newly hatched common quail chicks are covered with brown down with two light stripes along the back. They are very mobile, although their mass at this time is only 6-8 g.
Healthy quail are raised in plywood or cardboard boxes. The sizes of the boxes depend on the number of quails. If the number of quails you have is small and the entire hatch is 20 - 30 quails, then for these purposes you can use any suitable plywood box, for example a standard parcel box. But if you are going to seriously engage in quail breeding, and therefore - independently and constantly breed your chicks, then it is better for you to make a universal brooder box.
The boxes must be clean, the bottom must be covered with clean paper, which must be changed as it gets dirty. I immediately plant the quail from the incubator in a box, at the bottom of which there is a mesh with a cell of 5 x 10 mm. This prevents the appearance and development of the so-called “twine” in quails, when the quail’s legs begin to move apart in different directions (the mesh on the bottom allows this to happen, acting as a support for the legs).
Maintaining temperature conditions is very important. Quails are very sensitive to low temperatures and the slightest cooling leads to increased mortality of young animals.
Quail chicks are able to feed independently from the first hours after hatching. In general, the entire life of these birds, from the very first day, is aimed at absorbing and searching for food. Due to their very rapid growth and development, they require feed high in protein, vitamins and minerals. In the first days of life, they can be fed with finely chopped boiled eggs, cottage cheese sprinkled with breadcrumbs, chopped herbs, as well as bird feed for young animals aged 1 to 10 days.
Quails grow very quickly. In two months, they increase their mass by more than 20 times and almost reach the size of an adult bird. For comparison, over the same period, chickens increase their weight by only 14 times, but they still have to grow and grow to become an adult bird...
When keeping Japanese quails for the purpose of obtaining food eggs, cages up to 20 cm high are usually used. The bottom area depends on the number of quails placed in the cage and is selected at the rate of 180 - 200 square meters. cm per head. If you need dietary food eggs (i.e. unfertilized), then you can keep only chickens in the cage. They will rush in the same way as with a cockerel.
To make efficient use of space, several of these cells are usually placed on top of each other (like a rack).

Like all chicken quails, these quails willingly bathe in dry sand, which must be taken into account when keeping them and periodically placing a bath in the cage with a layer of sand 5-7 cm thick for this purpose.
The room in which quail cages are installed must be warm, dry, with good ventilation to provide fresh air.
The supply of fresh air should not be accompanied by a draft. One of the first signals about the presence of drafts is the loss of feathers in birds.
In rooms where adult quails are kept, the relative air humidity should be in the range of 55 - 75%. 60 - 70% is considered optimal.
The temperature is maintained at 20 - 22°C, fluctuating from 16 - 25°C is acceptable.
Japanese quails are fed all types of grain feeds with small or crushed grains, egg feed and greens. They eat well feed with a high protein content, which has a positive effect on their productivity. Food is added to the feeders regularly as it is eaten.
Quails are fed 2-3 times a day. Feeders and drinkers are in the form of ordinary gutters, which are strengthened on the outside of the cages. For dry feed mixture, it is advisable to use automatic feeders. The dry mixture is poured into a bunker, which is mounted above the cells, for a day, or even for several days. As food is eaten, it pours from the bunker through tubes into feeders.
For watering, you can also use automatic drinkers; their preparation is quite simple - based on the principle of communicating vessels. Water can be poured into them for several days, but at least once a week, the drinking bowls should be thoroughly rinsed before refilling with water.
For succulent feed, you should have an additional feeder, also reinforced on the outside.
When keeping 100 female quails, the daily feed consumption is 2.5 - 3 kg. About 90 kg of feed will be required for a month. During this period, quails will lay 2200 - 2300 eggs.

Quail Raising Guide

Quail common (genus Coturnix coturnix) is a bird of the pheasant family, order Galliniaceae. He is the smallest representative of the gallinaceae order. Its body length is 16 - 20 cm, weight - 80 - 150 g.
The color of the plumage is brownish-brown, with light spots and streaks. In males, the color of the crop and around the eyes is red, in females it is lighter. This is clearly visible in this photo - on the left is a male cockerel, on the right is a female hen.
The common quail is distributed in Europe, Africa and South-West Asia: In Russia it lives in the territory from the Black Sea to Lake Baikal. Is the object of hunting. Lives in fields, meadows, plains and mountains. Birds are very shy and it is very difficult to notice them in nature. They nest in open areas with developed grass cover. As a rule, the nest - a small depression in the ground - is found and equipped by the female herself. She incubates the eggs and protects the chicks for the first days after hatching. In one clutch there are from 8 to 24 speckled, yellow-brown eggs, weighing 10 - 12 g. The chicks hatch in 17 - 18 days and as soon as they dry out, they immediately begin to peck at food. They grow very quickly. After two weeks they acquire feather cover and begin to try to fly from one place to another, and by one and a half to two months they become fully grown independent birds. The common quail is perhaps the only migratory bird among chickens. With the onset of cold weather, it flies south.
In addition to the common quail, it is also called the European quail, and the dumb or Japanese quail (Coturnix Japonica) also lives on the territory of Russia. It was domesticated in Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is the main bird on quail farms.
Currently, several breeds of Japanese quail have been obtained through selection: marbled, pharaoh, etc., which are bred for the production of eggs and meat, both on a domestic and industrial scale.
The live weight of male domestic quail is about 110 g, females up to 150 g. Japanese domestic quail begin to lay eggs at the age of 50 - 60 days (for comparison, chickens begin to lay eggs no earlier than 180 - 210 days). Each quail can lay up to 300 or more tasty and healthy eggs per year, each weighing 10 - 14 g.
The production of quail eggs is cheaper than chicken eggs, and quail farming is the most profitable poultry farming. A female quail with a live weight of 125 g, an egg production of 250 - 300 eggs, has an egg mass that is 20 - 24 times greater than the bird itself (in chickens it is 8 times). In addition, quails serve as “suppliers” of high-quality meat, which is considered a dietary product. It’s not for nothing that in Rus' quail dishes were considered royal food.
In order to breed domestic quail breeds in many countries since the mid-20th century. Specialized quail-breeding farms (farms) have been created, the profitability of which is quite high. Even specialized breeds of Japanese quail of different directions have been bred - egg-laying and broiler (meat) breeds. Broiler quail quickly reach a weight of up to 200 - 250 g, while the weight of egg-laying birds rarely exceeds 150 - 180 g.
Quail eggs are superior to chicken eggs in many nutrients. Five quail eggs, equal in weight to one chicken, contain 5 times more potassium, 4.5 times more iron, 2.5 times more vitamins B1 and B2. Quail eggs contain significantly more vitamin A, nicotinic acid, phosphorus, copper, cobalt, limiting and other amino acids. Quails have more protein in their eggs than other breeding birds. For example, chicken eggs contain 55.8% protein, quails - 60%.
In most breeding birds, the egg shell makes up more than 10% of the mass of the entire egg, in quails it is only 7.2%. The shell of quail eggs is pigmented, very fragile, but has a strong and elastic undershell film. The color of the shell of quail eggs varies from very dark, yellow-brown to pure white. The density of quail eggs is less than the density of chicken eggs, which is obviously due to the lower relative mass of the shell.
Quail eggs are a concentrated biological set of substances necessary for humans; these are real ampoules of health. There is information in the literature that in ancient times, quail eggs and meat were used in Eastern folk medicine. This was one of the reasons for the domestication and selection of quails in Japan. Even during the time of the pharaohs in Egypt, quail meat was credited with medicinal properties. In Japan, raw quail eggs mixed with orange juice are still used to treat asthma.
Quail eggs are a valuable food product that can be recommended in the diet of children and adults for a number of diseases. They do not cause allergic reactions even in those people for whom chicken eggs are contraindicated.
In Central Asia, it is believed that the quail brings wealth and prosperity to the house where it is kept in a cage. In addition, quails are valued for their beautiful songs. In the old days, in the Kursk province they even kept domestic song quails, and for their songs they were valued no less than Kursk nightingales.

Breeds and varieties of domestic quail
At home, amateur quail breeders keep various types of quail. In Russia and European countries these are mainly the following quail breeds: Japanese, marbled, British black and white, “Pharaoh”, as well as various crosses from crossing these breeds.
Japanese quail- got their name because they were bred in Japan and are successfully bred there to this day. Breeding quails of this breed has been going on for more than a hundred years. One of the factors contributing to the development of this breed was the atomic bombing of Japanese cities, and as a result, the search for alternative food products that would help remove radionuclides from the body. Studies have shown that quail eggs are a natural product that maximizes the removal of radionuclides from the human body.
The selection of quails was aimed at increasing their egg production. The plumage color of domestic Japanese quails is the same as that of wild ones. The live weight of males is 115 - 120 g, sometimes up to 130 g. Females weigh on average 138 g, and in some cases up to 150 g. They begin laying eggs at the age of 40 - 60 days and can lay up to 300 eggs or more in a year. The average egg weight is 9 - 11 g. They are undemanding to the maintenance regime and are resistant to a number of diseases. Most amateurs who are involved in quail farming breed Japanese quails.
Marbled quail- a mutant form of Japanese quail. The birds have light gray smoky plumage without a pattern. According to their productive qualities, marbled quails belong to the egg type of quails. In terms of live weight and egg production, they differ little from Japanese ones.
British black quail have black plumage with a brown tint. This variety was obtained in England as a result of a mutation from Japanese quail. In terms of live weight, British black quails exceed Japanese quails by 5 - 7%, but are inferior to them in growth rates and egg production.
Quail breed Pharaoh belong to the meat breed and have the same plumage color as Japanese quail. The live weight of females is on average 235 g, ranging from 160 to 310 g, and males weigh 200 g, ranging from 160 to 265 g. Females begin laying eggs at the age of 40-50 days and lay up to 220 eggs per year, with weighing from 12 to 18 g. These birds are effectively used for the production of quail - broilers. At 45 days of age they reach a live weight of 150-180 g.
In England, the USA and other countries there are varieties of quail: American broiler albino, English white, English golden, Tuxedo or tuxedo quail. But as a rule, they are all mutant forms from Japanese quails.

Where to begin?

So, you have seriously decided to breed quails. How to form a livestock, what expenses are expected and what, ultimately, can be earned from this. Read the answers to these and some other questions on this page.

First, some general tips.
Do not attempt to incubate eggs purchased from grocery stores. This egg is unfertilized, the so-called dietary one, and, of course, nothing will hatch from it...
If you choose the incubation option, then you should have everything ready in advance, and the incubator, especially a self-made one, should be tested for accuracy and stability of temperature maintenance. If you experience frequent power outages, consider ways to ensure uninterrupted power to your incubator. Obviously, you will need a generator or incubator with battery backup. Fortunately, the industry produces such incubators. All this is due to the fact that the hatching egg has a short shelf life of 5-7 days, and besides, it is not known how long it has already been stored, so the egg will need to be incubated immediately.
During transportation, the internal structure of the eggs is damaged. If you transported an egg over a distance of more than 200-300 km, then be prepared for the fact that the hatchability is unlikely to exceed 50%. And this is with strict compliance with all other requirements.
If you decide to buy 3-day-old chicks, then you should also have everything ready to receive them: premises, cages, food, drinking bowls, etc. This is due to the fact that young chicks are very demanding of food, and even minor interruptions in nutrition can significantly weaken them. As soon as you deliver them, you need to immediately transfer them into cages and start giving them water and food.
When increasing your livestock, correctly assess your capabilities - maintaining a large herd (more than several thousand heads), although more profitable, is less profitable, because there is a need for additional labor, transportation costs increase, requirements for premises, the arrangement of cages, drinking bowls increase, the question arises of disposal of litter, storage of feed reserves, etc. In the case of mass mortality, losses are significantly greater than with a small population. Although, this happens extremely rarely - you shouldn’t completely discount it...
Beginners are sometimes frightened by issues related to incubation, but they are all completely solvable. And after a while they cease to cause any serious difficulties. The main thing is to strictly follow the technology - after all, everything has been known for a long time and is described in detail on the pages of this site - and you will achieve success...

Premises requirements
The room can be anything, the main thing is that it meets some basic requirements:
The room should be well ventilated - fresh air is a must! And also keep in mind that quails do not like drafts and bright light. For this reason, the cage should not be placed near a window. Bright light and flying birds cause stress in quails, which in turn is one of the reasons why they may stop laying eggs or begin to peck at each other.
It is important that the room temperature is not lower than +16°C - the optimal is about 18-20°C.
Lighting should be moderate for 16-17 hours a day. A daylight period of less than 12 hours leads to the cessation of egg laying.
You also need to exclude the access of other animals: birds, cats, dogs and other animals. There is no need for quails to worry too much. This reduces egg production and can still cause pecking.

Cage requirements
There are no strict requirements for the structure of the cell, except, perhaps, two important conditions:
The floor area of ​​the cage per adult should be 100-120 sq.cm. With a tighter or more spacious content, they rush worse.
It is important that the height of the cage is no more than 20-25 cm. Otherwise, when the quail takes off, they will gain high speed and may get injured on the top of the cage.
During the breeding of quails, the design, size of cages and materials used in production have changed somewhat. I currently use double cages with a drinker in the middle. The design of the cage is quite simple, and they are not difficult to make yourself.
In cages where quails are kept for meat, the floor has no slope and there is no egg collector. This is due to the desire to reduce the cost of materials and manufacturing time. If, in addition to males, you also left females for fattening, collecting eggs in such cages, despite the absence of an egg collector, will not take much time, because they will start to really rush from two months.
With a population of more than several hundred quails, as well as in cages with laying hens, it is still better to make an egg collector. The advantages of this design are obvious: egg collection is simplified, and the egg itself is much less dirty with droppings, which improves its presentation.
When making cages, I use wooden blocks with a cross-section of 20x40 mm and galvanized metal mesh. I make pallets from fiberboard and plywood, but it is better to use sheet (not corrugated) fiberglass - pallets made from it are very durable. Other materials may also be used.
For the floor, a mesh with a cell of 10x10 mm is best suited. In places of access to the feeder 20x40 or 20x50 mm.
To save space, cages should be arranged in 3-4 tiers. It is advisable to place the first tier at a height of at least 80-100 cm from the floor. Quails do not like drafts, and at a lower height, they would have to crawl on all fours when servicing. You should not make more than 3-4 tiers. To get to the top cage you will have to stand on something, which is also very inconvenient.
And this is a variant of a decorative cage. Such a decorative cage can be placed in an apartment in the kitchen or balcony, or in a country house on a veranda or gazebo.

Incubator
The literature describes many options for self-manufacturing incubators and temperature control devices. You can buy a ready-made industrial incubator, or, for example, purchase only a thermostat and make the incubator yourself. In general, almost any incubator will do, the main thing is that it allows you to set and maintain the temperature within 37-39 °C.

Since quail eggs are much smaller in size than chicken eggs, in incubators designed for chicken eggs, quail eggs can be placed in one tray in two rows, and they will fit about three times more than chicken eggs.
Another necessary condition for successful incubation is periodic turning of the eggs. It is good if the incubator automatically turns the eggs, otherwise you will have to do this manually 6-8 times a day, but at least 4 times. If this condition is not met, the chick will stick to the inner walls of the egg and will not be able to hatch.
Whatever incubator you use, industrial or home-made, keep in mind that you will have to deal with the phenomenon of a temperature difference between the upper and lower trays. Physically, this is explained by convection, i.e. warmer air rises, and colder air, accordingly, sinks. To reduce this effect, a fan is mounted inside the incubator. But even the presence of a fan does not guarantee uniform heating, therefore, before using the incubator, it is necessary to control the temperature at at least two points: on the lower and upper tray. For larger incubators there may be more control points.
The temperature should be measured with a medical thermometer (it is more convenient to use two at once). Outdoor and indoor thermometers should not be used for this purpose, because. they do not give the required measurement accuracy. Control is carried out several hours after turning on the incubator, when it reaches operating mode. You can do several measurements, for example, in half an hour or an hour. This way, you will not only know the temperature difference between the upper and lower trays, but also check the stability of maintaining the temperature over a long period of time. And do not forget that the medical thermometer must be “shaken off” before each measurement.
The maximum temperature difference should not exceed 2-3 °C, otherwise for some trays the temperature will go beyond the permissible 37-39 °C.
If, however, a significant temperature difference is observed, it is necessary to analyze the design of the incubator and take measures to reduce this effect. The reasons may be the following: insufficient fan efficiency; poor thermal insulation of the walls of the incubator; internal structural elements interfere with air circulation or the distance between the trays and the walls of the incubator is too small; too powerful heater. As the latter, ordinary incandescent lamps of suitable power are often used. Using more lamps of lower wattage will achieve more uniform heating. In addition, lamps with a lower power (25-60 W), as a rule, last longer than lamps with a power of 100 W or more.
In the incubator, it is necessary to maintain a certain humidity. A psychrometer is used to control humidity.
If such a factory-made device is not available, then install two ordinary household thermometers, the so-called “dry” and “wet”. The name speaks for itself: the lower part of the “wet” thermometer is wrapped in a thin layer of damp gauze. To ensure constant hydration, the other end of the gauze is dipped into a small container of water. Due to the evaporation of water from the surface of the gauze, cooling occurs, and the temperature on the “wet” thermometer drops. The lower the humidity, the greater the difference in readings of such thermometers, and, conversely, at 100% humidity, the readings of both thermometers are the same. To avoid salt deposits on the wet bulb thermometer, it is recommended to use distilled water. There is a so-called psychrometric table, from which, knowing the readings of thermometers, you can determine humidity.
This is, so to speak, the scientific way. In practice, it is enough to install trays or some other containers with water at the bottom of the incubator. For normal humidification, it is necessary that the area of ​​water evaporation be about 2/3 of the area of ​​the floor (bottom) of the incubator. At first I used a psychrometer, but soon I became convinced that containers with water provided the necessary hydration, and this device was no longer needed.
During the hatching period, trays with water must be removed or covered so that the chicks do not drown if they fall into them.
Some use a dropper design for moisturizing. A drop of water periodically falls on a fan, which circulates air inside the incubator, thereby achieving humidification. I have not tried this method myself, but I think that in this case you need to use filtered or at least boiled, settled water, otherwise a coating of salts will soon appear on the incubator parts.
During the last two days before hatching, more intensive moistening of the eggs is used.
On my farm, I use two industrial incubators as working incubators and one self-made incubator as a brood incubator. For its construction, inexpensive available materials were used: timber, fiberboard, etc., the thermostat was of industrial production.

Incubation.

Obtaining hatching eggs.
To obtain hatching eggs, the so-called hatching flock (or livestock) is kept. It is necessary, of course, that the egg be fertilized. To do this, they keep males and females together, with 3-4 females per male. A smaller number of females per male leads to excessive consumption of feed and useful space in cages, and a larger number leads to a decrease in the percentage of fertilized eggs, and as a result, a decrease in the overall percentage of hatchability. See How to distinguish a male from a female?
Eggs for incubation are taken from birds from 2 months of age for 8 months. Subsequently, the percentage of egg fertilization decreases, although egg production still remains quite high, so eggs from females older than 10 months are used as food. (At the age of approximately 12 months, egg production decreases, and females are slaughtered for meat. The taste of meat from 2 and 12 month old quails is practically no different).
Selection of eggs for incubation.
A medium-sized egg weighing 10-14 g is suitable for incubation. It must be intact and of the correct shape. Large eggs are rejected because it can be with two yolks. Small eggs are also rejected - the quails hatch from them less viable.
Storing hatching eggs before placing them in the incubator.
Despite the fact that the shelf life of food eggs reaches 3 months, the shelf life of hatching eggs is much shorter.
Before being placed in the incubator, the egg is stored at a temperature no higher than 22°C (optimally about 18-20°C) for 5-7 days, with a hatchability rate of 85-90%. After 10 days - about 70%.
It is not advisable to store longer, since more and more embryos in the egg die, and the hatchability rate quickly drops.
Bookmark in the incubator.
The eggs are placed vertically in the tray, with the blunt end up, in a checkerboard pattern. In trays designed for chicken eggs, quail eggs can be placed in two rows, and on the eve of hatching, transferred to brood trays.
After filling the tray, it is advisable to disinfect the eggs. The most accessible method is treatment with a household ultraviolet emitter for 5-8 minutes. from a distance of 40 cm.
Incubation temperature conditions.
The normal incubation period for quail eggs is 17 days. Typically in the literature it is recommended to adhere to the following regimens:

Incubation days	Air temperature C.		Relative humidity, %
	dry bulb	wet bulb
15 - 17 (before biting)
during the withdrawal period

In practice, you can stick to a temperature of about 37.5°C. This is due to the fact that the accuracy of household thermometers is low and it is impossible to measure temperature with an accuracy of tenths of a degree. Before starting use, it would be a good idea to check the thermometer against a medical thermometer, the accuracy of which is much higher, and in the future take into account the error, which can be several degrees. I note that the medical thermometer itself is not suitable for continuous temperature monitoring, since it must be “shaken” before each measurement. The presence of a verified control thermometer is necessary, even if the thermostat is industrial and has a setting scale, since the set temperature may differ slightly from the real one. Good results can be obtained with less stable temperature maintenance, but within the range of 37-39°C.
Maintaining average temperature and humidity conditions is also due to the fact that in a large incubator, you have to place trays of eggs several times when incubation of previously laid eggs is already in progress. In this case, the yield is slightly less than under optimal conditions and is about 80%, which is quite acceptable. But the temperature must not be allowed to rise above 39°C, otherwise the embryos will die.
In the event of an emergency long-term power outage, you need to open the incubator and cool the eggs. This will save most of the embryos from death, but the hatching of the chicks will be delayed and lasts a little longer, sometimes 1-2 days.
In case of frequent power outages, which often happens in rural areas, it is advisable to take care of backup power in advance, i.e. about the generator.
On the 15th day, the eggs are transferred to the brood incubator or to the brood trays of the working incubator, where the eggs are already located lying down and not so tightly. From this point on, more intensive moisturizing is used, i.e. simply spray the eggs with a flower sprayer. Spraying is done twice a day, combining this procedure with periodic cooling of the eggs, which is continued in the remaining two days before hatching. This simple technique, suggested to me by a poultry farmer, softens the eggshells, making it easier for the chicks to hatch and, as a result, the hatchability rate increases.
For quail eggs, hatchability can reach 95% against the usual 85-90%, but a more noticeable effect when spraying is observed for chicken eggs, additional moisture of which also begins two days before hatching. Here hatchability can rise from 60 to 90%!
If there were no significant deviations from the optimal regimes, hatching of the chicks begins on the 17th day and ends after 4-6 hours. After which the chicks are left in the incubator for another 4-6 hours so that they dry well, then they are transplanted into circles or into cages for young animals.
It is useful, during the incubation process, to compensate for the uneven heating of the upper and lower trays, to rearrange the trays in a circle once a day, i.e. the bottom one to the very top, the top one - a little lower, etc. Thanks to this, the hatching begins almost simultaneously in all trays, and ends quite quickly, rather than stretching out over 1-2 days.
Periodic cooling of eggs.
You need to cool the eggs twice a day, morning and evening, preferably at the same time. To do this, simply open the incubator door for 10-15 minutes.
Turning eggs.
During the incubation period, it is necessary to turn the eggs 6-8 times a day. If the incubator does not have automatic egg turning, you will have to do it manually at least 4 times a day. Otherwise, the chick will stick to the inner walls of the egg and subsequently will not be able to hatch and will die.
If few chicks hatch...
There may be several reasons. Most likely, the storage conditions of hatching eggs or the incubation temperature conditions were violated. Perhaps there was initially a low percentage of egg fertilization or the internal structure of the eggs could have been damaged from shaking during transportation, if any.

Getting eggs
To obtain eggs, an egg-laying stock (herd) is formed. It consists mainly of chickens over 1.5 months of age. The presence of cockerels is possible, but not required. Productivity does not suffer from this, in addition, it is believed that the unfertilized egg has a slightly higher nutritional value (this is what some sources claim, anyway). In addition, the absence of males is important when keeping quails in an apartment, since they “scream” quite loudly, and the females only “coo” quietly.
Japanese domestic quails begin laying eggs at the age of 30-40 days and lay about 250-300 eggs per year, i.e. egg production is 70-80%. This means that 100 laying hens will lay 70-80 pieces per day. eggs

Please note that when changing the environment or food, the quail may stop laying eggs for 1-2 weeks.
After about a year, egg production begins to decline. If this figure falls below 50%, then the laying hens are replaced with young ones, and the old ones are slaughtered for meat, because further maintenance becomes unprofitable.
Feeding laying hens is no different from quails, which are fattened for meat. Unless the feed is added first as the feeders are emptied, short breaks in feed do not affect productivity. For the latter, food is constantly available, which promotes rapid growth.
Read about how much money you will need to maintain 50 laying hens and what benefits you can get from it here.
Read about what dishes can be prepared from quail eggs here.

Getting meat
To raise quails for meat, you should separate the cockerels from the hens at one month of age. (see how to distinguish a male from a female?) The stocking density in cages may be slightly greater than for laying hens (see cage requirements). Low lighting is used, food and water are constantly present.
Selection for slaughter begins at one and a half months; first, larger individuals are taken, and by two months, all the birds remaining in this batch are slaughtered. Since quails reach their physiological maturity by two months, further maintenance is pointless (unless, of course, another goal was set besides obtaining meat), and leads to unjustified consumption of feed and production space.
12 hours before slaughter, feed and water should be removed so that the birds’ intestines are cleared.
Slaughter is carried out by cutting off the head with scissors or pruners. After all the blood has disappeared, you can begin processing the carcass.
The carcass is scalded by dipping it for a few seconds in a container with hot water at a temperature of about 60-70°C. After which the feather is easily plucked. If the water is too hot, the skin may rip, which will affect the presentation of the carcass.
It is much better to use paraffin for processing. To do this, take a fairly high vessel (bucket, pan, kettle) and melt paraffin or wax in it. After which the carcass is also dipped into it for a few seconds, then, allowing the excess paraffin to drain, the carcass is left for a while until the paraffin hardens. After which the paraffin along with the feather is easily separated. With this method, the quality of processing is simply excellent.
If the water or paraffin is too hot, the skin may rip, which will affect the presentation of the carcass.
The carcass is gutted in the same way as any other bird.
For storage, carcasses are placed in plastic bags, tightly tied or sealed so that the carcass does not freeze, and frozen.
I pack my products in plastic bags of 10 carcasses each, seal them and freeze them. The weight of such a package is about 1.1-1.2 kg.

Diseases
It’s sad to realize, but your domestic quails can get sick. In this case, I think you will find some advice from Doctor Aibolit useful (after all, he was a veterinarian!)
1. In order to prevent the disease in a timely manner, as well as to be able to effectively treat your pets, it is necessary to identify the disease as early as possible. And for this, do not forget to examine your pets every day when feeding. Pay attention to the appearance of the bird, the condition of the feathers, skin, and the mobility of the head, wings and legs.
2. The behavior of healthy birds is their everyday state to which you are accustomed. Healthy quails are always active, move a lot, and have a good appetite. Their plumage is smooth, shiny, clean, and brightly colored.
3. Sick birds have ruffled feathers, they may have trouble standing on their feet or squatting. There may be disturbances in the motor functions of the wings and legs. A sick bird sits alone in a cage, ruffled, does not approach the feeders, and its eyes may be closed.
4. If you notice that something wrong is happening with your quail, and its condition corresponds to any symptoms of the disease, then immediately isolate the sick bird from the healthy ones. To do this, place it in a separate cage, or a separate box - an infirmary. Give her first aid and be sure to consult a veterinarian. If possible, invite a veterinarian to your place, or take your bird to see him. And together with him, determine treatment measures for sick birds and preventive measures for healthy birds.
5. You should know that in birds, in particular in quails, all diseases are divided into non-contagious and contagious. Non-contagious diseases of quail include various injuries to the bird, as well as diseases caused by violations of dietary regimes and diets, improper maintenance and care. These diseases are not transmitted through the air or through contact with sick birds. Contagious diseases of quails are those diseases that are transmitted as a result of various infections. Poultry mortality due to infectious diseases can reach 100%.
Quails suffer from infectious diseases much less frequently than other poultry. But the possibility of their illness cannot be completely excluded. As a rule, contagious diseases arise as a result of exposure to various infections caused by any pathogenic pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The causative agents of these diseases, under favorable conditions, can easily and quickly multiply in the bird’s body, and as a result, your healthy, full of life quail turns into a sick and drowsy bird. And the saddest thing of all is that the mortality rate for infectious diseases can reach 100%. As a rule, infectious agents and fly larvae are concentrated in poultry droppings, so timely cleaning of droppings is one of the preventive measures to prevent infectious diseases of your quails. Various antibiotics and antiseptics are used to treat infectious diseases.
Antibiotics are organic substances formed by microorganisms and having the ability to kill pathogenic microbes or prevent their growth. Antibiotics include: penicillin, tetracycline, streptomycin, oxyteraccycline, terramycin, biomycin, etc.
Antiseptics are agents that have an antimicrobial effect. They are also used to combat pathogenic microbes. Antiseptics include: boric acid, furatsilin, hydrogen peroxide solution, rivanol, potassium permanganate solution and chloracid.

All non-communicable diseases can be divided into three groups:
- diseases caused by poor diet;
- diseases caused by violation of the regime of detention;
- diseases caused by injuries, bruises and damage.

DISEASES CAUSED BY IMPAIRED NUTRITION
These diseases occur when quail feeding rules are violated. Improper composition of quail feed can deprive quails of essential vitamins and minerals. Or vice versa, an overdose of various mineral supplements and vitamins in the feed leads to excessive feeding with these substances. Both a deficiency and an excess of all this can cause various diseases in quails.
Violation of egg shell formation
As a rule, the cause of this disease is an insufficient amount of minerals, calcium and vitamin D in the diet of quails. With this disease, quails lay eggs with a very thin and soft shell, or without a shell at all, but only with an under-shell film.
Treatment: Increase the mineral content in the quail's diet. Add the required amount of chalk to the food, as well as crushed shells. Crushed shells from used quail eggs can be used as a mineral substance.
Various beriberi
This disease occurs when there is a lack of vitamins of groups A, B, C, D in the body of quails. Thus, if there is a lack of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the body, there is a slowdown in the growth and development of young animals and impaired feathering. In adult quails, egg production decreases, and the quality of the shell also deteriorates.
Treatment: add to the diet the required amount of feed containing vitamins - fish and meat and bone meal, feed yeast, green feed.
Prolapse of the oviduct along with the egg
This disease can occur both as a result of improper nutrition and as a result of improper maintenance. It occurs if, when keeping quails at the age of 30-45 days, they use full nutrition for an adult bird and intense lighting for 20-24 hours. In this case, early sexual development is stimulated and early egg laying occurs (at the age of 30-35 days). In female quails that have not had time to frolic physiologically, there may be cases of oviduct prolapse along with the egg. In this case, as a rule, the quail dies. The same diseases can occur in adult birds if there is a lack of vitamins A and D2 in the diet.
Treatment: To eliminate this disease, add a double dose of vitamins A and D2 to the quail diet for a week.

DISEASES CAUSED BY VIOLATION OF CONTENT REGIME
These diseases occur when the rules for keeping quails are violated. Violation of poultry stocking standards (usually increased density of quail planting), bright light, placement of a cage with quails in direct sunlight or in a draft, non-compliance with the light regime or feeding regime can cause various diseases.
Occurrence of cases of cannibalism or pecking
The reason for the manifestation of this disease, as a rule, is the crowded keeping of the birds, as well as bright lighting. Quails behave restlessly, fight, peck at each other. Moreover, the damage is usually inflicted in the head area. If measures are not taken, the damage inflicted by quails on each other may be such that their heads are pecked off, their eyes are pecked out, and some may be pecked to death. This often manifests itself when a new male is placed in a female’s cage.
Treatment: First, isolate the injured bird in a separate cage. Reduce lighting and reduce planting density. Follow a complete diet for quails, including fish and bone meal. For no reason, try not to rearrange birds in cages (transplanting birds from one cage to another, i.e. from one group of quails to another).
Feather loss (bald patches)
This disease appears when there are drafts in the quail keeping room, as well as when air humidity is low (less than 50%). In quails, feathers fall out on their backs and heads, and islands of bald patches appear, that is, unfeathered areas of skin. Feathers become brittle and feather tips are destroyed.
Treatment: Eliminate the causes of the disease (drafts and low humidity). For prevention, add B vitamins to your diet - feed yeast.

DISEASES CAUSED BY INJURIES, BRUISES AND DAMAGES
These diseases usually appear as a result of the bird being frightened and suddenly trying to fly up in the cage. In this case, the bird may involuntarily injure itself on the roof or walls of the cage.
Injuries, damage and bone fractures.
These injuries occur when parts of the cage are struck. Depending on the severity of the injuries, decisions about treatment (or not treatment) may be made. If, as a result of an injury, the bird received an open fracture of the wing or paw, and it is not a selection specimen, then it is better to use such a bird for meat. If the bird is of interest from a breeding point of view, then you can try treatment.
Treatment: First of all, isolate the bird from the rest of the inhabitants of the poultry farm. In case of injury, carefully trim the feather around the wound with scissors. Treat the wound with a solution of potassium permanganate or furatsilin. Lubricate the wound with iodine tincture and, if possible, bandage the wound. After 2-3 days, unwind the bandages and inspect the wound, if necessary, lubricate with iodine again. If there is a fracture, carefully straighten the ends of the bones and disinfect the skin around the damaged area. Apply cotton wool and a splint of thin sticks to the broken bone. Bandage everything carefully.

Questions and answers on this topic

Where can I buy quails or quail eggs for incubation?

Quails (or quail eggs) can usually be bought at the market, at a pet store (they are very rare) or at the zoo. You can buy eggs and try to hatch them yourself. The only thing is that when buying eggs (in a store or at the market), find out whether they are dietary (dietary - unfertilized, unsuitable for incubation).

Where can I buy cages for keeping quails and what is their price?

The cages for their maintenance are usually homemade, so the price for them is equal to the cost of the materials from which they are made + labor. You can use ready-made cages for poultry (parrots, canaries, etc.). In one cage with a bottom area of ​​20 x 40 cm you can keep one family (3-4 hens and a rooster).

In the area where I live 6-8 months of the year it is quite cold and only in the summer months is it warm (sometimes up to 35 degrees Celsius). Is it possible to breed quails in our area? Of course, quails will not be bred on the street, but in the garage.

In principle, quails can be bred in any climate zone. The only condition for their maintenance is the ability to ensure positive temperatures in the cells. If you place quails in the garage, then you will need to insulate the area where they are placed. After all, quails don’t really need natural light; they live quietly under artificial lighting.

If you raise quails in the garage, what about the smell (from droppings), noise (from singing) and are there any such or other problems?

If you remove the droppings every two to three days, there will be no smell from the droppings. As for the noise from quails - it is not very big, only the cockerels crow, if you keep only hens, then there is no noise at all. There are no other special problems either.

To start quail farming, do you need to register as an entrepreneur?

If you keep a hundred or two of them, then I think there is no need to register. This is the same poultry as chickens, ducks, etc. If you breed in large industrial quantities (keep several thousand), then it will probably be necessary. But for this you will also need appropriate production space, i.e. no longer a mini-farm, but an industrial farm.

Why place the bottom of the cage at an angle?

The tilt is needed so that the eggs roll towards the front wall. This eliminates the possibility that quail can crush them by stepping on them, and they are also less dirty with droppings because they lie under the wall. And it’s more convenient to get them when they are nearby, especially from the top tier of the cage.

What kind of water should I give to quails?

For quails under 3 weeks of age, it is advisable to give boiled water. Older quails can be given tap water, raw but settled. In addition, periodically (from once a week to once a month - you choose) you need to add a little potassium permanganate to the water. Just a little so that it has a slightly noticeable pink color. It is also useful to use any antibiotics for birds for prevention, for example Brovaf.

Why do you need a partition dividing the cage into sectors, when you can keep 30-40 quails in one cage, and make 2 doors (for ease of assembling eggs)?

You can keep everyone in one cage (without a partition), but when there are several sections, it is possible to place the quails according to age (usually with a small hatch there are up to 20 of them, just for one section); if necessary, it is possible to place one or the other from one section to another (after all, they also have incompatibility, when one of them starts to be beaten in the head by the other, but he seated the fighters in different sections - and the problem is solved.

What percentage can be affected by the correct light regime when receiving eggs?

I didn’t calculate it as a percentage, but if you provide day-night lighting (without turning it on for 2 hours at night), then egg production decreases somewhat, this is for sure, it has been tested in practice. In addition, in the autumn-winter period, with short daylight hours (without additional lighting), quails practically stop laying eggs.

How can you distinguish a hen from a cockerel in white or black quails?

Black quails have the same coloring as hens and cockerels, so it is almost impossible to distinguish them by the color of their plumage. In traditional Japanese quails (brown), the male has a chest and neck, and cheeks that are reddish, as if singed. You can distinguish females from males in quails with dark (as well as light - white) color by the following characteristics:
- from observing them - firstly, the cockerels scream quite loudly (pulling their heads up). In addition, the droppings of cockerels will be colored with a white mass, so if you deposit them, you can also distinguish a hen from a cockerel by the droppings (although this is more difficult than distinguishing by screaming, i.e. singing).
- having some experience, you can distinguish them by the structure of the cloaca. In a chicken, the cloaca opening is smooth and straight, but in a cockerel there is a slight thickening behind the cloaca, as a result of which the cloaca opening seems to be turned forward;

To get a hatching egg, do you need to place the pair in a separate cage or can you use those that will be obtained in the regular section?

To obtain hatching eggs, quails must be kept in families: for 3-4 hens - one cockerel. In some literature I have come across a recommendation to keep the hens separately and place the cockerel in them a couple of times a day for an hour, but I have not tried this myself. Basically, if you keep 1 hen and 1 rooster in a pair, the likelihood of getting fertilized eggs increases. At the same time,
the costs of maintaining extra males increase, since to obtain the required number of hatching eggs it is necessary to keep about 10 such pairs. And to do this, it is necessary to equip the cages for the appropriate number of pairs, and you need almost twice as much food. From personal experience - this winter I had two sections free in the cell battery. And so I planted a pair of quails (a hen and a cockerel) in one (and then in the other). So, with such a planting, the hens laid eggs almost every day, producing 25-27 eggs per month.
Although you can also use eggs for incubation that you collect from the regular section. True, their fertility is lower, but there are more of them and you can win with numbers. The only condition for this: you need to maintain the ratio of hens and roosters (3-4 hens + 1 rooster). Those.
if you have 12 hens in one section, then there should be at least 3 cockerels there.

Yesterday I hatched my first quails (what should I do) how should I feed them and what?

In the first days, quails can be fed with hard-boiled quail eggs, finely ground corn, and cottage cheese. I prefer to feed quails up to 2 weeks of age with factory-made feed for young poultry (up to 10 days). Feed must be added as it is eaten. When feeding raw food (cottage cheese, hard-boiled quail eggs), it is necessary to remove excess uneaten food, because it quickly turns sour and can cause infection.

I have 106 females a day with an average of 35 eggs (this has happened for the last week, but in general there were 60 eggs on average). Tell me what's the matter.

Regarding egg production. If we take the normal egg production of one quail as 22 eggs per month (30 days), then there should be 0.73 eggs per day. Therefore, 106 quails should produce about 70 - 73 eggs per day. But this is an ideal figure, with strict adherence to diets and feeding standards, and
also content. If they produce 60 eggs on average, this is normal, but 35 is clearly not enough. There may be several reasons - first of all, food, daylight hours and temperature conditions. Try changing your diet and increasing daylight hours.

My quails started laying eggs at 3.5 months. This is fine?

On average, quail begin to lay eggs after 2 - 2.5 months, but there are groups of quails that begin to lay eggs later. It depends on the food and conditions of detention. At one time I had quails that were kept in enclosures and also did not lay eggs until 3.5 months. Until I put them in cages, they didn’t get carried away. Early egg production can be caused by the use of food for adult quails. In this case, they may begin to lay eggs before 2 months. But this is fraught with the fact that the birds have not yet fully matured sexually and some of them experience prolapse of the oviduct, as a result of which the bird dies.

How to make an incubation tray?

The tray is made of wooden (plywood) plates, 60-70 mm high and 8 - 10 mm thick. The size is selected depending on the depth and width of the incubator, as well as the number of trays in a row (one or two). The bottom is a welded galvanized mesh (24 x 24 mm), covered with a nylon mesh with a mesh size of 2 - 3 mm. Corrugated cardboard or fiberboard can be used as partitions between laid quail eggs.

What is the ratio of males and females during hatching and are there “rejected” females that do not lay eggs?

Regarding the ratio of males and females - according to statistics, on average they are 50 to 50, although in different conclusions this figure can fluctuate by 10 - 30 percent in one direction or the other. Healthy females that do not lay eggs are usually not found, although there are females that rarely lay eggs (once every few days).

What ratio of hens and cockerels is required for optimal egg production in quails?

If you don't need hatching eggs, then you don't have to keep any cockerels at all. To obtain a hatching egg, the ratio should be one cockerel to three to four hens. To obtain optimal egg production, it is rather necessary to maintain not the ratio of hens and cockerels, but the maintenance and feeding regimes. Although if you keep a pair of quails (hen and cockerel) separately in a cage, egg production is the best, but such maintenance is not
justifies due to increased feed consumption.

Which quail eggs are healthier for nutrition - fertilized or not?

For nutrition - I think it makes no difference, but for some recipes and treatment regimens it is advisable to use only fertilized eggs.

How long can a quail lay eggs after being isolated from a cockerel?

Until he dies.

What conditions are necessary for quails during transportation (the nearest place of possible purchase of quails is ~1000 km from the city)

Plus temperature in cages, absence of drafts, strong shaking (vibrations), availability of light, water and food.

Is it possible to eat quail eggs with the shell? Does this help increase calcium in the body and cleanse the body?

Eating quail eggs with shells actually helps increase calcium levels in the body. I can’t say anything about cleansing the body; I haven’t heard of it.

How does the egg production of a quail depend on the number of birds in the cage?

To obtain optimal egg production, the floor area per quail should be from 180 to 230 cm2. With a decrease in floor area per quail, egg production decreases. A significant increase in area per head (for example, cage keeping) also reduces egg production.

At what minimum ambient temperature do quails still continue to lay eggs?

The optimal temperature for keeping quails is 20 - 22 ° C, permissible fluctuations are from 16 to 25 degrees. When you go beyond these limits, egg production drops. Regarding the minimum temperature: at one time, when I kept quails in an unheated room (barn), the winter temperature in the cage area was within 5 - 12 ° C, while the quails continued to lay eggs. There were cases when the temperature briefly dropped to almost 0 ° C, but even at such temperatures individual birds managed to lay eggs, although there is no talk of mass production of eggs at such temperatures...

Is it possible to use sea sand for bedding of young animals?

I think it's impossible. Considering that the young quail from the first day begins to actively feed and peck everything around, it will simply eat this sand and die. For example, I completely abandoned bedding in my brooder boxes; I immediately plant the young animals on the mesh floor.

Is it possible to use mesh instead of plywood for the back wall and partition?

Can. It’s just that if the cage is located near the wall and has a back wall made of plywood, then the wall of the room is less dirty. In addition, the plywood back stacks and partition eliminate (or significantly reduce) drafts in the cage, even if there is active air circulation in the room. And quails really don’t like drafts.

Is it possible to make all cage parts and equipment from plastic?

I haven’t tried it, but it’s probably possible, the main thing is that these plastic parts ensure: - rigidity of the structure, - hygiene (the bottom made of plastic mesh will probably get dirty faster), - normal access for the bird to the feeders (the cell size of the cage must be of the appropriate size). In addition, with a large cell size, the deflection of the rods should not be large to prevent birds from crawling through them.

If it’s not difficult, please also send me the specification of the consumables required for the manufacture of one copy of a three-tier, six-cage battery for 100 quails.

About the material:
- galvanized mesh for cages (24 x 40 mm) - 3.75 - 4 m (mesh width 1 m);
- galvanized mesh (or wicker) for the bottom (10 x 20 or 10 x 10 mm) - 1.6 (1.8) m (mesh width - 1 m);
- plywood (or fiberboard) - 3 pcs. size 17 x 100 cm, 3 pcs. size 25 x 50 cm;
- corner 25 x 25 mm - 1 m;
- galvanized iron for pallets - 1.8 m (width - 1.1 m);
- round rod with a diameter of 12 mm (reinforcement) - 11.2 m;
- round rod with a diameter of 8 mm (reinforcement) - 29.5 m;*

· This is the amount of materials when using a wicker mesh for the bottom of the cells. It requires a frame of 8 mm rod. If you use a welded mesh (10 x 20 mm) for the bottom, the number of 8 mm rods can be reduced (up to 16 m).
In addition, the frame of the cell battery can be made of wooden slats. In this case, you can do without fittings.

Culinary recipes for cooking quail

Since time immemorial, dishes from quail meat have been prepared in Rus'. In ancient Russian cookbooks there are recipes for such dishes as quail with cherries, quail fried on a grill, quail with breadcrumbs. The delicate aroma and unique taste of quail meat combined with juiciness and tenderness are especially highly valued by lovers. Substances that impart a specific taste to quail meat stimulate appetite and increase juice secretion.
Recipes for cooking quail meat
Preparation of quail carcasses for the manufacture of culinary products and canned food
Before preparing quail meat dishes, the gutted carcasses are washed with cold water and molded (of course, unless the recipe specifies a different method). To do this, the bird's wings are tucked onto its back. To fill the legs, the peritoneum is cut another 5-6 mm from the existing longitudinal incision. First, one leg is inserted into this incision, and the other one under it. Then the carcass is rubbed with salt. After this, the carcasses are cooked. They are fried over smoldering coals or in infrared ovens, deep-fried or baked in the oven. The frying temperature can range from 150 to 230° C. The duration of frying depends on the temperature and method of preparation.
We would like to add that quail meat is very nourishing and, despite the small weight of the carcass (only 110-120 g), 2-3 carcasses are enough for one serving.

Baked quail
The best way to cook young quail is baking. This makes the meat more juicy, tender and tasty. It is better to stew old quails in pans with a tight-fitting lid. Quenching is carried out at a temperature of 150-180°C. The meat is covered with a crust, as with the dry processing method.

Deep fried quail
Wash the carcasses and salt them. Place the carcasses in a saucepan with boiling fat (butter or melted butter and margarine) so that they are completely covered with fat, cover the saucepan with a lid and bring to a boil. Then place the pan in the oven on medium and then low heat for 50-60 minutes. To determine the readiness of the meat, take it by the leg; it should easily separate from the carcass. Before eating, fry pieces of black bread in a frying pan in the fat in which the quail was stewed. Place the fried bread on a dish, place the prepared carcass on each piece of bread, garnish with herbs and serve hot.

Fried quail
Salt the washed carcasses and fry in a deep frying pan. Cover with a lid and place in the oven. On low heat, the quails will be ready in 40-50 minutes. Periodically they need to be watered with the resulting juice. Garnish the dish with hard-boiled quail eggs.

Stuffed quail
Quail 12 pcs.,
lamb 400 g,
onion 240 g,
egg 1 pc.,
green cilantro 40 g,
spices and salt to taste.
The quail is plucked, singed and carefully gutted, washed thoroughly in cold water, and the legs are cut off. Place for 1 hour in a solution prepared from water, salt and red pepper.
Fatty lamb is passed through a meat grinder, finely chopped onion, raw egg, cumin, black pepper and chopped cilantro are added. Mix all this well. The resulting mass is stuffed with quails, placed in manti-kaskan and steamed for 35-40 minutes.
When serving, place 2 quails and a tomato salad on each plate.

Quail tobacco
Cut the washed carcasses lengthwise on the belly, beat them, tuck the legs into pockets. Add salt, lightly grate with garlic, brush with sour cream and fry in a frying pan until golden brown. Tobacco quail comes with green salad and hot sauce.

Quail in milk
Wash the carcasses and lightly salt them. Pour hot milk and cook over low heat until done. This dish is recommended for people with liver disease.

Grilled quail with spices
For 4 servings:
1 clove of garlic; salt;
1 teaspoon each of cumin and coriander;
0.5 small onion;
1 tbsp. a spoonful of finely chopped coriander;
a pinch of ground cayenne pepper;
2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil;
8 quails;
grape leaves; parsley; lemon slices.
Place all ingredients except quail and garnish in food processor. Mix them into a homogeneous mass, coat the quails with it. Cover with a lid and leave for 2 hours. Grill, turning regularly, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the quail are cooked through and crispy. Serve on grape leaves, parsley and lemon slices. You can use an oven instead of a grill.

Quail in sour cream with cheese quenelles
20 quails;
200 g oil for frying;
3 tablespoons flour;
500 g sour cream;
250 g of cheese;
100 g semolina;
4 eggs.
Salt cleaned, gutted and well-washed quails, fry in a frying pan in oil, browning well on all sides. Place in a saucepan, add broth, and simmer over low heat until fully cooked.
In the frying pan where the quails were fried, add flour, salt, mix well with the remaining fat from frying, pour in 2 cups of broth, boil the mixture until thick, mix with sour cream, add salt to taste and pour this sauce over the stewed quails. Keep steaming until serving, without letting it boil.
Serve cheese quenelles as a side dish.
Preparation of quenelles: grind the yolks, mix with grated cheese and semolina, add salt, let stand for 2 - 3 hours. Then mix with the beaten egg whites and place on a wet napkin, giving the mixture the shape of a roller. Wrap tightly in a napkin, tie the ends tightly and, securing the edge with thread, place the roll in boiling salted water. When the roll floats to the surface, carefully remove it by unrolling the napkin. Cut the roll into round pieces, place it around the dish with the quails and pour the sauce over it.
In addition to these recipes, quail meat can be prepared in the same way as meat from other types of poultry.

Recipes for cooking quail eggs
Quail eggs are eaten raw, boiled, fried or pickled. They are used in cooking to make omelettes, scrambled eggs and mayonnaise. Children love quail eggs and readily eat them. Children are attracted by the unusual color of the shell and its small weight. Quail eggs are very healthy and do not cause side effects (diathesis) even in those people for whom chicken eggs are contraindicated.
Peeling boiled eggs from their shells
To peel hard-boiled quail eggs, you need to put them in a solution of table vinegar (2/3 vinegar and 1/3 water). After a few hours (about three hours), the egg shells will completely dissolve. The remaining shell film is easily removed before use.
We would like to add that after 20-30 minutes of this treatment, the eggs completely lose their color and acquire a uniform white color. Such eggs can, for example, be painted as Easter eggs.

Pickled eggs
Place peeled eggs in the marinade. The marinade must be clean, without herbs, otherwise the eggs will take on an unpleasant dark or greenish tint. After 10-12 hours, the eggs are ready. They can be stored for several days. Before use, remove the film and string the eggs onto sticks to make them easier to pick up.

Pickled eggs - 2
Quail eggs;
water 1 glass;
vinegar 1/2 cup;
black peppercorns 10 pcs.;
cloves 3 pcs.;
cinnamon;
sugar 1 tsp;
salt 1/2 tsp;
garlic 3-4 cloves.
The required number of eggs is boiled, cooled, and shelled.
The marinade is made: water and vinegar, salt and sugar in equal proportions. Bring to a boil, add spices (to taste: peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves). 2-3 minutes after the start of boiling, remove from heat.
Place a few cloves of garlic, eggs in a jar and pour marinade over it. There is no need to roll up the cans.
After two days, the product is ready for use. Keep refrigerated.

Raw egg drink
Take 4-5 quail eggs, beat in a glass, add fruit juice, red wine or coffee, add honey or sugar to taste. This highly nutritious drink can be consumed daily.

Fried quail eggs
Break the eggs, one at a time, into a hot, greased frying pan, fry over low heat, sprinkle with salt and finely chopped onion and pepper. Serve with fried potatoes or salad.

Fried eggs
Boil eggs hard, peel, remove film, beat 2-3 raw eggs until foamy. Soak hard-boiled eggs in beaten eggs, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in hot oil. Remove to a sieve with a slotted spoon, place in a mound, and garnish with parsley.

Omelette
Beat 12-15 quail eggs with milk (3/4 cup), add salt, finely chopped onion, and, if desired, also sausage, ham, and smoked fish cut into small cubes. Melt one tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, pour in the prepared mixture, and let it curdle over low heat or in the oven. Serve hot.

Sandwiches with quail eggs
Spread thin slices of white or black bread with butter, cover them with a layer of finely chopped salted fish, and put quail eggs cut in half on top, sprinkle with finely chopped herbs and onions.

Quail eggs with rice or mashed potatoes
Place boiled, crumbly rice or mashed potatoes on a dish in the form of a circle, and place eggs, boiled without shells, in the middle. Serve with sour cream sauce and tomato salad.

Quail eggs, boiled without shell
To do this, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt to 1 liter of boiling water. Break the eggs one at a time, place them in boiling water and let them curl for 2 minutes.

Quail eggs with caviar
Boil the eggs, peel and cut lengthwise into two parts. Place black or red caviar on the yolk, garnish with herbs and serve.

Salads
Salad "Russian Forest"
Cut the fillet of boiled quail, chicken or any meat, pickled or fresh cucumbers, peeled apples, boiled potatoes and hard-boiled quail eggs into thin slices. Mix, season with sour cream or mayonnaise, salt to taste, you can add lemon juice or vinegar, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. For decoration, make “mushrooms” from hard-boiled quail eggs and red-skinned apple pieces, stick parsley or dill sprigs between them.
Ham salad
12-15 quail eggs,
100 g sausage, ham or smoked fish,
1 pickled cucumber
1 cup green peas,
2 potatoes,
200 g sour cream or mayonnaise,
1 teaspoon hot sauce,
salt, dill, parsley leaves.
Cut the products into small cubes, mix with sour cream or mayonnaise, add seasoning to taste. Sprinkle finely chopped herbs and grated cheese on top of the salad.

Raising quails

General information
The common quail is a bird of the pheasant family, chicken order. It is the smallest representative of the gallinaceae order. Its length is 16 - 20 cm, weight 80 -150 g. The color of the plumage is brownish-brown, with light spots and streaks. In males, the color of the crop and around the eyes is red, in females it is lighter.
The common quail is distributed in Europe, Africa and South-West Asia. In Russia it lives in the territory from the Black Sea to Lake Baikal. Is the object of hunting. It lives in the fields, meadows, plains and mountains.
Birds are very shy and it is very difficult to notice them in nature. They nest in open areas with developed grass cover. As a rule, the nest - a small depression in the ground - is found and equipped by the female herself. She incubates the eggs and protects the chicks for the first days after hatching. In one clutch there are from 8 to 24 speckled, yellow-brown eggs, weighing 10-12 g. The chicks hatch in 17 - 18 days and as soon as they dry out, they immediately begin to peck at food. They grow very fast. After two weeks, they acquire feather cover and begin to try to fly from place to place, and by one and a half to two months they become fully grown independent birds. The common quail is perhaps the only migratory bird among chickens. With the onset of cold weather, it flies south.
In addition to the common quail, it is also called the European quail, and the dumb or Japanese quail (Coturnix Japonica) also lives on the territory of Russia. It was domesticated in Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is the main bird on quail farms.
Currently, several breeds of Japanese quail have been obtained through selection: marbled, pharaoh, etc., which are bred in the chain of egg and meat production, both on a domestic and industrial scale.
The live weight of male domestic quail is about 110 g, females up to 150 g. Japanese domestic quail begin to lay eggs at the age of 50 - 60 days (for comparison, chickens begin to lay eggs no earlier than 180 - 210 days). Each quail can lay up to 300 or more tasty and healthy eggs per year, each weighing 10 - 14 g. The production of quail eggs is cheaper than chicken eggs, and quail farming is the most profitable poultry farming. A female quail with a live weight of 125 g, an egg production of 250 - 300 eggs, has an egg mass that is 20 - 24 times greater than the bird itself (in chickens it is 8 times). In addition, quails serve as “suppliers” of high-quality meat, which is considered a dietary product. It’s not for nothing that in Rus' quail dishes were considered royal food.
In the breeding chains of domestic quail breeds in many countries since the mid-20th century. specialized quail-breeding farms (farms) have been created, the profitability of which is quite high. Even specialized breeds of Japanese quail of different directions have been bred - egg-laying and broiler (meat).
Broiler quails quickly reach a mass of up to 200 - 250 g, while the mass of egg-laying birds rarely exceeds 150 - 180 g.
Quail eggs are superior to chicken eggs in many nutrients. Five quail eggs, equal in weight to one chicken, contain 5 times more potassium, 4.5 times more iron, 2.5 times more vitamins B1 and B2. Much more vitamin A, nicotinic acid, phosphorus, copper, cobalt, limiting and other amino acids in quail eggs. Quails have more protein in their eggs than other breeding birds. For example, chicken eggs contain 55.8% protein, quails - 60%. In most brood birds, the egg shell is more than 10% of the mass of the entire egg, in quails - only 7.2%. The shell of quail eggs is pigmented, very fragile, but has a strong and elastic undershell film. The color of the shell of quail eggs varies from very dark, yellow-brown to pure white. The density of quail eggs is less than the density of chicken eggs, which is obviously due to the lower relative mass of the shell.
Quail eggs are a concentrated biological set of substances necessary for a person, these are real health ampoules. There is evidence in the literature that in ancient times, quail eggs and meat were used in oriental folk medicine. This was one of the reasons for the domestication and selection of quails in Japan. Even during the time of the pharaohs in Egypt, quail meat was credited with medicinal properties. In Japan, raw quail eggs mixed with orange juice are still used to treat asthma.
Quail eggs are a valuable food product that can be recommended in the diet of children and adults for a number of diseases. They do not cause allergic reactions even in those people for whom chicken eggs are contraindicated. In Central Asia, it is believed that the quail brings wealth and prosperity to the house where it is kept in a cage. In addition, quails are valued for their beautiful songs. In the old days, in the Kursk province they even kept domestic song quails, and for their songs they were valued no less than Kursk nightingales.

Breeds and varieties of domestic quail

Today, people are increasingly striving to switch to growing their own vegetables, fruits, and animals. And if everyone knows how to raise and care for chickens, then there are many nuances in raising quails that should be taken into account. Not only are quail eggs and meat several times healthier than chicken meat, but quail also take up much less space.

You don't need to build a whole chicken coop to raise quails. Fifty of these birds can easily be placed in an area of ​​1 square meter.

Conditions for keeping birds

Regardless of the place in which you will be breeding and raising quails. There are several factors that need to be taken into account.

The key to excellent well-being of birds is a well-chosen temperature regime. The air temperature should be stable, around 20°C. If this does not happen, then in hot weather the bird will lose its plumage and stop laying eggs. If the temperature suddenly drops below 8 °C, this can even lead to death.

The second, but no less important condition for raising quails is a comfortable cage. You can easily make it yourself or buy it.

But you need to remember that the cage should be specifically for quails. Under no circumstances should you use the cages of your former pets (parrots, canaries, etc.) for them.

A cage for breeding quails must meet certain requirements. For example:

• all elements of the cage must be metal or steel;
• all feeding devices (drinkers, feeders) must be located outside the cages; they are usually placed on the front wall of the cage and the birds stick their heads between the bars to eat;
• the height of the cage should not be more than 25 cm, because if it is higher, the birds can jump high, which will inevitably injure their heads;
• to collect eggs, the bottom of the cage should be equipped with a special receiving tray;
• Don’t forget to provide a litter tray for the birds, this will help keep the cage in a cleaner condition.

Experienced farmers advise choosing a cage area of ​​0.2 m per 10 quails. If there are fewer birds, they may stop laying eggs.

Growing in an incubator

If, when purchasing quails, your main goal was to breed them, then it would be much more advisable to acquire an incubator. With its help, you can hatch quails from eggs yourself, without the help of an adult quail.

As for rearing, those who have at least once tried to hatch chickens from an incubator know that even in the newest devices there is a minimal temperature fluctuation, which is why eggs constantly need to be moved around the edges. And thanks to the small size of quail eggs, they all fit in the middle of the platform, and you don’t have to change their places. Thanks to this, you can buy any inexpensive incubator to breed quails, and it will work great.

It is recommended to buy eggs for the incubator only fresh (no older than 5 days) and preferably from farmers. During the incubation process of quail eggs, you will not find many differences from chicken eggs. If only for a period, a quail egg should be kept for up to 17 days, turning up to 6 times a day. For the first week and a half of incubation, it is advisable to maintain a stable temperature - about 39 °C. And then the temperature should be reduced by one degree, to 38 °C. The day before the chicks hatch, the recommended temperature in the incubator is 37 °C.

Hatching quail has one big advantage. Unlike chicks, all chicks hatch at the same time. If there are quails that hatched on average 12 hours later than the others, try to get rid of them, because according to statistics they die in the first week. And in this way, you will save yourself both time and nerves.

Feeding the quail

The technology for breeding and feeding quails is almost the same as for chickens. The main difference is only the feeding vessels. For quail, it is advisable to install small containers with low sides for feeding and a vacuum drinker. If the drinking bowl is too large or deep, inexperienced chicks may drown in it. At the beginning of a baby's life, a special place in their diet should be given to hard-boiled and crushed eggs. Later, it will be possible to gradually introduce specialized food into their diet.

Usually small quails are moved to a specialized container for warming. In order not to constantly change their habitat, you can simply move 20-day-old chicks slowly into a cage for adult birds, but first it should be insulated and care should be taken for ventilation.

Diet

Basically, cereal crops such as oats, corn, barley, etc. are used to feed quails. The complete feeding technology is to provide the birds with a balanced and proper diet (you can find out about the average feed consumption per laying hen).

The main source of health for birds is corn. Due to the high percentage of starch content, corn has a fairly high energy value, which allows birds to be satisfied faster and for a long time. But you should remember that it contains few vitamins, so it is advisable to add meal or fish meal along with corn.

It is impossible not to note the usefulness of oats. Due to its high content of vitamins, this food is dietary and is included in complementary foods for quails even in the first weeks, although it is first crushed and cleaned. Millet has almost the same properties, but its energy value is slightly higher.

Legumes are an excellent plant food for quail. They contain a large amount of proteins necessary for growth and development, but a smaller amount of vitamins and fats. When feeding, you can use peas, soybeans, lentils and other legumes.

As useful additives, you can give quails a small amount of flax or hemp seeds. But you definitely need to monitor their quantity.

For successful and efficient keeping of birds, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime, proper lighting, and also ensure the absence of unnecessary irritants that may disturb the pets. Also, special attention should be paid to the food. It should be balanced and contain a high percentage of protein.

In order for quails to actively lay eggs, they do not need a male at all. Birds just need to be provided with comfortable living conditions.

If you want to keep quail for decorative purposes, then it is advisable to place the birds in pairs or small groups.

Many novice poultry farmers have a lot of questions:

What is the optimal temperature in the room where quails are kept?
The optimal temperature in such a room is considered to be +17-23 degrees. However, they can also tolerate lower temperatures normally, but they will lay fewer eggs and eat more.

How many hens and roosters should there be in one cage?
This primarily depends on their breed and the purpose for which they are kept. If you want to engage in breeding by raising hatching eggs, then you need one male for three females. In this situation, egg fertilization is up to 90%. If your goal is to get only one egg, then you don’t have to get males at all; the quality of the eggs will not suffer and their quantity will not change.

How many eggs can a quail lay?
On average, one adult quail can lay 23-25 ​​eggs per month. If quails lay fewer eggs and this is not enough for you, then you need to find out the reasons for this. Quails usually lay eggs in the evening, so after lunch you need to check each bird by pressing lightly on the lower abdomen and feel whether there is an egg there or not. Quails without eggs must be separated from all the others and observed for 10 days.

If the quails are more than 55 days old and have not laid a single egg yet, then most likely they are males, but you also need to check the conditions of their keeping. Usually, quail egg production decreases at temperatures below +15 degrees, so you need to be careful in late autumn and winter and avoid low temperatures at this time. Quails should also not be overfed; their obesity negatively affects egg production. You need to feed the birds no more than three times a day and make sure that after feeding there is nothing left in the feeders, and if there is any left, you need to sprinkle less food. Quails do not like innovation in food. Each new product introduced into their diet is stressful for their body, due to which it negatively affects the number of eggs laid. If all the conditions are met, but there are still few eggs, then it is worth replacing the food. It is important that there is a sufficient amount of fiber in it, since a lack of it can cause constipation in the bird and the eggs may not come out. If phosphorus and calcium are not present in the feed, then the eggs will have very thin and large shells, or may be completely absent.

By examining the egg, can you determine the sex of the future quail?
Yes, you can. The sex of the future quail is determined by the shape of the egg: if the end of the eggs is sharp and slightly rough, and the circle is clearly visible, then cockerels come from such eggs, and if the end of the egg is sharp, but smooth and the circle is barely noticeable or is not there at all, then from such Chickens come out of eggs.

Can quails see colors?

Of course, they can, because if you hang a lamp with a green light in the house, the feed will not be consumed as quickly as with a lamp with a white light. Green light also reduces bird mortality. Red color is beneficial for adult quails, especially laying hens. It makes the birds calmer and minimizes their cannibalism.

In red light, if the other birds have wounds, the quail see blood worse, and as a result, pecking at each other and feed consumption decreases.

What greens should you feed quails?
Quails can be given dandelions, nettles, green onions and lettuce, but they prefer lettuce and dandelions most of all, and will also be less willing to eat beet tops and cabbage leaves. Nettles must be crushed and poured into feeders.

In addition to feed, can you give grated beets?
It is possible if they prefer fodder beets, and if this does not affect the quality and quantity of eggs, but you cannot give them too much.

Is it possible to feed adult birds only with starter feed?

You can’t, it negatively affects the bird’s liver, and egg production in laying quails is significantly reduced.

Why can quail peck each other and how to prevent it?
If quails peck at each other, it is necessary to reduce the lighting in the room, because bright white light unnerves the bird and leads to fights. It is also necessary to give them protein regularly; it is found in boiled chicken eggs, as well as bone and fish meal.

How many years do quails live?
With good care in captivity, quails live on average 9-11 years, but this is if they are kept as ornamental birds.

Why do quail feathers often fall out?

Primarily due to a lack of vitamins in the feed, as well as due to strong drafts. They may also rub their necks against the metal bars and the feathers will fall off.

Why can quails huddle in a corner, clinging to each other?

Most often this happens from too bright light in the room, in which the birds become nervous and begin to run around the cage, looking for the darkest corner. And they are pressed against each other because the temperature in the room is insufficient.

What drugs should be chosen to disinfect the cell?

If no more than 100 quails live in a cage, then it is not necessary to disinfect the cage; it is enough to remove the webs with spiders and wash the trays with plain water, provided that everything is in order.

What else do you need to know about care?

In our store you can purchase quails and everything you need to keep them.