If you’re looking for affordable ways to generate extra income, then you need to consider raising quail as it is a low-cost, high-profit business. What’s more, you can do it in your backyard. Not only does this have the potential to become your lucrative main source of income, but this business idea can also grow into a large scale quail farming business.

Quail history

Quail is a bird about the size of a plump pigeon. In the wild, it lives in forests and wooded areas. It’s a brown feathered game bird with short tails. It’s mainly found in Europe, Asia and Africa but its popularity is gaining global momentum. The bird’s origin goes as far back as the 11th century and it’s mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Towards the end of the 11th century, the Japanese farmed and bred the bird and today it’s known as Japanese Quail.

Five good reasons quail farming is a lucrative business opportunity

1. Quails are very easy to raise

Not only are they easy to raise, but the business is self-sustaining
The most attractive part of raising quail is that it’s a self-sustainable business opportunity in Zambia. Quails reach adulthood in six weeks and start laying eggs almost immediately after this. That means you can start selling a portion of the eggs and get a quick return on your initial investment.

Quails lay around 350 eggs a year. Females don’t need males to lay eggs so if you get 24 females, you’ll soon be in good profit territory. You should consider keeping males and females for hatching eggs. If you raise the quail in the right environment, you can soon start doubling or tripling your production figures.

2. Quail meat is delicious and healthy

Once you’ve started selling eggs, you can also look at selling quail meat. The meat is delicious and healthy. Quail meat and eggs are quickly gaining popularity because the products provide important minerals and vitamins. This plays into your favour because you can sell the meat and the eggs at a premium.

3. Low maintenance means lower operating costs

Raising quail from your home doesn’t require high maintenance. The birds don’t need much space to move around in and your home farm can start making profits quickly. Your main concern would be to keep the little birds well fed and watered. The hardest part of raising quail would be the days when you collect the eggs and clean their space, even this requires very little effort. However, you need to do this regularly to ensure high production numbers.

You might also like: Rearing chickens for eggs

4. Quails are not heavy feeders

Feeding the birds won’t add massive costs to your business planning. These birds will thrive on a special mixture of maize, wheat calcium carbonate and sunflower seeds. They even eat chicken feed, other grains, leaves and insects. Some quail farmers feed the quail weeds from their garden. Small birds consume about 20-30 mg daily while adult birds consume 30-50mg daily.

5. Quails are disease-resistant birds

Unlike other farm animals, quail don’t get sick easily and hardly require special care. But since you’re dealing with animals, make sure that you have a reliable veterinary specialist in your contact list. You might never have to call on these services though. The most important precaution with raising quail is to ensure the temperature stays between 32 and 34°C to avoid stunted growth.

Demand for quail is growing fast because of its health benefits in Zambia. I’ve briefly mentioned the healthy nature of quail meat and eggs. The fact that the meat and eggs are low in fat and high in protein makes them very popular. Quail meat can help with the treatment of diseases like diabetes, tuberculosis, liver disease, hypertension and a host of other ailments means that many consumers are looking to buy this healthy alternative. The profit potential is truly substantial.