Quails
Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa
Over the past months the quail craze has hit Bulawayo at an alarming rate making it the talk of the city.
Various media platforms are always carrying articles on these small birds.
As the news is spread, quail farming is either being met with praise and serious criticism.
Knowledge of whether it is a profitable business or not remains unknown to the beginner.
The situation is not helped by those who have been in the quail game for a while as they are not willing to share the secret.
I did, however, took a look at quail farming in Kenya, a leader in this form of farming.
Kenyans knew or cared much for quail birds since for a short while the birds held the key to many people’s dreams of attaining riches.
For many others, in the bird’s eggs may be found the answer to long sought after cures for a variety of ailments.
It became common occurrence for young Kenyans to leave employment in pursuit of the promises of fortune represented in rearing these birds that consume little food and demand less attention than chickens.
Poultry farmers in many parts of the country abandoned chicken-rearing in favour of the low maintenance quails that take 17 days to incubate, and mature and lay eggs in six weeks.
However, the promised riches did not materialise and the price of the fragile, mottled brown eggs fell from a high of 130 shillings (1.5 US dollars) to less than 50 shillings.
One newspaper called the sudden collapse of the market a “quail meltdown.”
According to Bill Odidi in an article titled, “Kenyans’ dreams of making a fortune from quail evaporate”, the media itself was largely responsible for driving the national quail frenzy with frequent stories of Kenyans making millions from rearing.
The popularity of quail was therefore tied to the desire to make a quick buck and the marketing of the supposed medicinal properties of the bird’s egg.
There are claims that quail eggs can help treat a range of ailments: heart disease, ulcers, kidney stones, depression, asthma, hypertension, anaemia and even erectile dysfunction.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which issues licences for rearing game birds, said it was receiving up to 200 applications a day from people interested in quail farming.
According to a top KWS official, one could easily mistake the huge number of applicants at their offices for visitors attending a conference.
The quail rush also presented an opportunity for the government body to cash in, and the cost of the annual licence fee rose from 500 to 1,500 shillings.
People questioned the viability of quail farming, drawing parallels with pyramid schemes.
Looking at the simple economic principles of supply and demand, the initial farmers were creating demand through hyped advertisements which are making the wealth hungry citizen to invest in the quail business for quick cash in the near future.
So, at the end of it all, its farmers selling among themselves and given the reproduction rate of those birds, sooner or later, every farmer will be stocking them with very little options for sale.
The main reason for the hype behind quail farming are anchored on the advantages involved which cannot be ignored.
These are: Quails are small sized birds. They require less feed, space, care and management compared to other poultry birds like chickens.
They become very hardy and adopt themselves with almost all types of climate.
They also suffer from diseases less than other birds; In case of commercial production, required investment in quail farming business is comparatively very low; Quails gain maturity faster than other birds.
Broiler quails become suitable for marketing within their five weeks of age and layers start laying eggs within their six to seven weeks of age; Egg laying capability of quails is also higher.
A quail can lay about 280 eggs per year; Quail meat is very nutritious and tasty. It is lower in fat and cholesterol and enriched in protein and energy.
Some people say that quail meat and eggs are suitable and easily digestible by the children and patients; a chicken egg is five to six times larger than a quail egg.
But the quail egg has more nutritional value than the chicken egg; Quail meat and eggs are very suitable diet for children, patients, pregnant and nursing mothers; Infrastructure and feeding costs are also less in quail farming business.
And quails have a great feed to meat or eggs converting efficiency ratio; Quail farming does not require large place or space like chickens or ducks.
Even quail cages can be kept on your balconies; they also can be raised with your other poultry birds or farm animals.
It can be a great source of employment and income and women and unemployed educated youth can easily setup quail farming business and earn their living.
Whether we will attain and maintain a successful quail farming industry remains to be seen – only time will tell.
One does hope though, that those involved are not betting their money on a sinking ship.
The writer is Eng Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa, a young entrepreneur based in Bulawayo, Founder and CEO of Emerald Agribusiness Consultancy. He can be contacted on +263739096418 and email: [email protected]