Quail Diseases and Parasites

The average quail producer cannot read about a disease or look at a picture and make an accurate diagnosis in the field without training, equipment, and experience. Seldom,without training, can you diagnose more than a few internal parasites with the unaided eye.Properly equipped and experienced poultry service people are of invaluable assistance to you in the field.

Much is still unknown and unsolved in diseases of quail.

Ulcerative Enteritis (Quail Disease)

This is the most common and destructive disease of captive reared quail. Losses in young birds may reach 100 percent if not controlled. It is most commonly seen in ground- or litter-reared quail, but can occur in wire-reared birds. It is caused by a bacterium found in the intestinal tract.
If all birds on a given farm were inoculated with the disease the same day, the peak of mortality would occur in 5-14 days. However, this is not the normal situation. Since
individual birds usually contact the disease organisms over a period of time, some mortality may occur almost continuously.

Symptoms

You can identify ulcerative enteritis yourself by opening a sick or dead bird. Usually, ulcers are observed on the internal (more…)

Facts about Quails

Management of quails

1. At the age of six- weeks , female Quails usually weight ‘’ 175- 200 gms.’’ And the males weight about ‘’125-150 gm.’’
2. Females start laying eggs at 7 –weeks of age and continue upto 22-weeksof age
3. Usually egg laying happens during the evening time of the day .
4. The Quails egg usually weight about ‘’ 9 to 10 gm.,and also goes to 12gm. With properly nutrition- care.
5. The breast of the male is usually narrow , and covered with equally distribute brown and white feathers. But the female quail has a broad breast covered with brown feathers with black- dots.
6. The male and female quails should be separated at the age of 4- weeks .
7. Sixteen hours of light perday should be available to the egg laying Quails . (more…)

Quail incubation information

It is best to have your machine running for at least 1 to 2 days prior to setting your eggs. This will ensure that your temperature and humidity are exactly where they should be prior to putting the eggs in. Above is a chart showing the recommended incubation temperature and humidity for bobwhite quail eggs.

Your eggs are incubator ready, there is no need to wash the eggs.

Always have clean hands when handling the eggs as your skin produces oil and can clog the pores of the shell.
Always set your eggs with the big end up. This enables the embryo to remain oriented in a proper position for hatching.
Eggs must be turned during incubation at least 2 -4 times per day.
Do not turn eggs during the last 3 days before hatching.
The air vents should be almost fully open during the latter stages of hatching. (more…)

Sources for quail fertile eggs for hatching

We have a network of farmers selling fertile eggs for hatching. We provide contacts of these suppliers to our customers as a value addition after buying an incubator. We have severally repeated that you need a KWS licence to start quail farming. Visit their offices at Keren for more details. We always advise these suppliers to sell the freshest hatching eggs that are not older than 5 days. The common breed in Kenya is Coturnix Quai. If you are supplying fertile quail eggs please leave a comment here with your contact details

COMMON NAME	LATIN NAME	INCUBATION PERIOD	CLUTCH SIZE	EGG COLOR	NOTES
Bobwhite	Colinus virginianus	21-23 days	7 to 28	White	Circulated Air incubators: 99 3/4 degrees F; 84 to 86 degrees F wet bulb, reduce during last week of incubation.
California Valley Quail	Callipepla californica	22-23 days	10 to 14 eggs	Buff/cream with brown spots	Incubation as in Bobwhite.
Gambel’s Quail	Callipepla gambelii	21-23 days	6 to 19 eggs	Pale buff to white with moderate pink/brown spots	Lower humidity than two above species, wet bulb of 83 F; hens will lay several clutches in captivity, reports of 50 eggs per hen are not uncommon.
Scaled Quail	Callipepla squamata	22-23 days	8 to 14 eggs	Pale Buff to cream, light spotting.	Humidity: 82 to 84 degrees F wet bulb.
Elegant Quail	Callipepla douglasii	22-23 days	8 to 12 eggs	White	Humidity as in Scaled; chicks may not start eating on their own. Also known as Benson or Douglas Quail.
Montezuma Quail	Cyrtonyx montezuma	24-25 days	6 to 16 eggs	White	Keep wet bulb at 82 degrees F; chicks will need help to learn to eat.
Mountain Quail	Oreortyx pictus	24-25 days	6 to 15	Pale buff to cream, no spotting	Wet Bulb of 82 to 84 degrees F.
Chinese Painted Quail	Coturnix chinensis	16 days	4-7	Brown, mottled with black	Very tiny chicks, can slip through 1/2 inch hardware cloth; better known as the Button Quail.
Coturnix Quail	Coturnix coturnix	16-17 days	8 to 13 eggs in the wild; captive hens known to lay over 100 eggs in a season.	As in above species.	Also known as the Pharaoh Quail and Migratory Quail; commercially raised for meat and eggs.

Quail houses and cages

Before applying for licence at KWS(Kenya Wildlife Serices) for quail farming, you need to have built a housing for quails and provide photos and sketches in the application form.

A quail cage

One of the advantages in the rearing of quails is the relatively small space that is required. This also means that the cost of putting up a cage is less.
A good general guideline is to have two square feet allotted for every adult bird. Construction does not have to be overly robust, as walls made of wire won’t encounter many shear forces from the wind, and need only keep small birds inside. The bottom half of the cage, however, should be made sturdy enough to prevent animals such as skunks, cats, or dogs from breaking in. It is also wise to extend the chicken wire a foot into the ground so that animals cannot tunnel in or out.
Give your birds a place where they can have shelter from the rain and shade from the hot sun. Also, cover the food and the water so that they don’t get drenched in downpours
Keep the cage clean and put the feed in a place where rats can’t get to them. Cockroaches can be a problem if the cage isn’t clean (more…)

Day Old Quail Chicks

We supply quail chicks including day old chicks. To place and order contact us at 0727087285 or email info@ecochickspoultry.com. Please note for you to rear quails you need a licence from Kenya Wildlife Services(KWS)

Baby Quail Chicks are hatched with a large amount of the egg yolk still unabsorbed in their abdomen. This yolk is absorbed over the 2-3 days following hatching and provides nourishment while the chick is learning to eat. Without this natural mechanism baby quail chicks would not be able to survive the journey to their new home. When you receive your chicks they should be given warm water with vitamins and electrolytes as soon as possible.

Brooding Your New Chicks

Quail chicks need to be started at 99 degrees F. for the first week. You should have your brooder heat source on at least 24 hours before your chicks arrive. The most common and inexpensive way to select your brooder heat is with a heat lamp. We recommend using a “red” colored heat bulb, as this helps with behavior issues in quail chicks, such as cannibalism. It helps to keep them calm and is less intense light, but adequate as a heat source. Make sure during your brooding period that the chicks are kept in a draft free area. (more…)

Category: Quails Kenya

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