Business Reporter
BULAWAYO quail breeders and farmers are set to form an association that will represent them and facilitate production growth.
Quail farming has taken the country by storm with a number of people in Harare and Bulawayo, among other places, embracing the venture.
Farmers and prospective producers from around the city yesterday met with a consultancy firm, Health Excellence, to deliberate on a number of growth strategies.
“We’ve gathered to deliberate on issues to do with quail production in Bulawayo and the formation of an association of quail breeders for the purpose of sharing information and representation,” training consultant, Dingaan Ndlovu, said.
“Through the association, we’ll be able to bring together local breeders or incubators so we may know each other and create a database.”
The platform will ensure connectedness of producers to buyers as well as sharing production practices, challenges and technical information on quail production.
Ndlovu said the association would be affiliated to the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union.
He urged farmers in Bulawayo to come together to create knowledge and ethics on quail production.
“At the moment, we’ve some people who’re selling a live quail at $7 while the eggs are being sold at $10 a crate. We consider such prices very high compared to chicken eggs, which are pegged at $3,50 a crate. Through an association we’ll say such producers aren’t being ethical,” said Ndlovu.
Participants deliberated on standards for incubation and adherence issues of bio-security and possible spread of diseases to other forms of poultry and measures to reduce mortality rate outside the hatchery. Quail farming is fast becoming a lucrative venture due to health and economic benefits the business brings to the farmer and the consumers.
On the production side, it has been noted that quail breeding is relatively economic compared to chicken rearing.
Experts say quail meat is a nutritious delicacy with high protein content while the eggs treat ailments that include hypertension, asthma, diabetes, liver and kidney diseases.
They claim consuming quail eggs helps the body to regulate and improve heart function, preventing cancer.
Khulekani Sibanda, a local veterinary distributor, said quails, like any other birds, were prone to diseases such as Newcastle.
In this light, he urged the farmers to be proactive when venturing into quail breeding to minimise the spread of diseases. “Like any other birds, quails are prone to a number of diseases and thus farmers need to consider issues of bio-security. When we talk of bio-security, we’re talking of the measures or methods that a farmer should use to prevent disease on livestock. Such measures include using hand sanitisers before touching the eggs or the birds, disinfecting and fumigating the incubators, brooders and the cages,” Sibanda said.