A visit to a friend inspired singer to invest in quails

My name is Phionah Natoolo, a resident of Zzaana along Kampala-Entebbe road. I started rearing quails, after being inspired by a Kenyan friend who had done it for nine years. After visiting his farm and learning how they are looked after, I did more research on quails and how to utilize their eggs maximally.

The start
In March this year, I decided to start. I bought 1,300 quails from Kenya at Shs5,500 each.
For the first two weeks, I talked to friends and relatives about quails. Being birds that lay eggs daily, I needed to create a customer base.

When it is time for laying eggs, quails should not be stressed. When they are disrupted during egg formation and laying, which can involve inadequate feeding and noise, they may not give the expected number of eggs and or nothing at all.

Feeding
Quails also need natural light, which is why I used transparent material for their cages because it allows penetration of sunlight. I put their drinking water in small containers so that they do not step in it, compared to when it would be put in the long troughs. When they are also feeding, I put their feed in long metallic troughs, with averagely sizeable holes through which they can pass their heads to reach it.

The metallic troughs enable maximum feed utilisation. When a bird eats and it is satisfied, it leaves the feeding place and the others feed as well. When they are kept in a meshed cage, it should be built in such a way that the birds do not have to step in their waste. It should be a mesh so that when they excrete, it sieves through.
What is unique about quails is that it has laid, it does not notice that it has produced an egg. The eggs should be collected in time because the birds may step on them and they break.

Caring for them
Unlike chicken and other birds, quails feed less (two times a day) and the smell of their waste does not irritate, which simplifies the task of cleaning their cages which is done after a period of one to two days.
They do not easily get ill that you will have to worry about their treatment.

The only challenge is that they do not well with a lot of wind or being in the cold. If you are rearing them in a windy place or cold environment, you will need a tarpaulin fence to shield them from the wind.
The weather also determines the number of eggs produced but the most hindering period is when it is cold because then, there is a decline in egg production.

Currently, I have 900 birds, inclusive of Texas A&M and Japanese Coturnix type. In a day, I collect approximately 500 to 800 eggs.

After picking eggs from the cages, I pack them in small egg trays that can contain 12, 15, 20 and 30. Each egg costs Shs800 to Shs1,000. And a 100kg bag of quail droppings is at Shs100,000. Their droppings can be thoroughly sun dried and mixed in maize bran that pigs feed on, which makes them grow healthy and fertile. When vegetable farmers use quail dung, it makes their crops very fertile and yield more.

Better business
In a season, I make Shs1.7m to Shs2m from selling eggs. But this also depends on the number of birds laying eggs because if there are more birds, egg production also increases. When I sell the birds; those that are laying eggs go for Shs25,000 to Shs30,000 while those that have started laying eggs are from Shs18000 to Shs20,000.

At the end of the month, I make approximately Shs900,000 from selling quails, with a profit of Shs400,000.
When you compare quails to other birds, for example, chicken, you find that one hen consumes 150gms of feeds in a day. The same amount feeds seven quails.

A hen will produce eggs between 5-6 months, and each costs Shs300. But for a quail, you are assured of eggs daily where one costs between Shs800 to Shs1,000. They require little space compared to chicken, which need a lot more space. Therefore, rearing quails is a better business for a farmer who is establishing him/herself.