Breeding

Animal Husbandry > Quail

Care of Breeding Quails

Good fertility can be obtained with a male-female ratio of 1:2. After introduction of male to a female flock, fertile eggs can be collected from 4th day onwards. Optimum fertility is obtained when the age of breeding flock is 8 months or less. Hatchability of fertile eggs rapidly declines when eggs are collected from older females. However, this effect is not observed with males.

Feed ration for Japanese Quails

Ingredients	Starter (0-3 weeks)	Grower (4-6 weeks)	Layer (above 6 weeks)
Yellow maize Groundnut cake Soyabean meal Rice polish Unsalted dried fish Mineral mixture Salt Shell grit	43.25 20.00 22.00 3.00 10.00 1.50 0.25 -	44.25 20.00 14.00 10.00 10.00 1.50 0.25 -	46.25 20.00 10.00 8.00 10.00 1.50 0.25 4.00
Total	100.00	100.00	100.00

(Source: Kerala Agricultural University)

For every 100 kg of feed, commercially available vitamin mixture may be added at the rate recommended by the manufacturer

Care of hatching eggs

Shell of quail eggs are comparatively thinner and therefore should be handled carefully. Eggs should be held in an atmosphere free of dust and having a temperature of 14 to 16 0 C with a relative humidity of 70 to 80%. Eggs held even under these conditions should be used for hatching within 7 days of holding. The incubation period of quail egg is 18 days. Quail eggs can be incubated artificially using forced draft incubator at a temperature of 36.9 – 37.2 0 C with a relative humidity of 60 to 70%. Eggs should be turned 4 to 6 times daily upto 14 days of incubation.