Quail bird keeping an alternative to Chickens

In Malawi chicken rearing as a business has been in practice ever since time in memorial. Almost every household in the village keeps chickens and other domesticated birds. When someone mentions the word poultry, one may think of the chickens due to their popularity in the Malawian setting. We have known chickens, kept them, and ate them since we were kids. Even our grannies and ancestors had been keeping chickens as long as we can remember. This generation has come up with a new poultry rearing enterprise of small birds called Quails. Quails are small winged animals from the poultry family; they look like chickens or guinea fowl but very small in size. Naturally Quails are wild animals but thanks to the Chinese who natured them and produced domestic quails species. These species can now be reared in pens just like any other poultry bird.

To say the truth, Quail farming is not common here in Malawi. Many farmers shun keeping Quails because of their size; they doubt their ability to produce enough meat for the whole family. Most farmers venture into keeping large poultry birds for example chickens, and ducks because they are assured of many benefits they get from them.  Looking at the brighter side, Quails have many advantages over any other poultry animal you can think of.

Quails grow faster and mature quickly than any other poultry bird raised domestically. A day old Quail will only take six to seven weeks to mature and be ready for plate. On the other hand, hybrid broiler chicken which is claimed to be the fastest to grow takes a minimum of eight weeks to be fully matured. Judging from this scenario you can agree with me that keeping Quails is the best viable option for a local farmer struggling with few resources.

Not only are Quails liked for their fast growth rate, they also lay a lot of eggs than chickens and other domestic birds. They can lay eggs each and every day in their first year of growth though the rate keeps on decreasing till stoppage in their third year. A Quail in its entire life time can produce a thousand eggs which is the highest number of eggs in all poultry birds. These eggs are smaller in size and do not take up much of storage space and they can also be used in home decorations.

Another score that Quails have over Chickens is their ability to resist most of the diseases that attack poultry birds. Quails are genetically created with genes which are a little bit different from other birds, no wonder they originate from the wild. A wise farmer would choose to keep Quails other than Chickens to save costs on medicines and vaccines. On top of that, a farmer keeping Quails is assured of low bird mortality rate thereby increasing his/her profits.

Last but not least, Quails have lean white meat which is very low in animal fat but rich in vitamin B. Nowadays people are keeping watch their health and a lot of research is being done on food with low fat content. People are opting for foods with low fat content in order to combat diseases like high blood pressure. Quail meat is being recommended over chicken meat by those people suffering from high blood pressure and also the people desiring to lose weight. A farmer who chooses to venture into Quail keeping business is assured of making more profits than raising chickens.

Quails pen do not require a lot of space as it is the case with Chickens, a square meter can accommodate nine Quails. Even the pen itself is not as complicated and expensive as other poultry houses, it can be made of cheap Bamboo sticks and thatching grass only. This kind of house will suit a local farmer with low capital investment thereby making Quail farming a viable business especially in Malawi.