Hello! Today in our video we will tell you how quail
is grown. It will be interesting, since quail meat and eggs are in demand. After all, this
is tasty and healthy food, suitable even for young children and allergy sufferers. Unlike
other poultry industries, quail farming does not require significant initial costs and
large areas for keeping. Quails are birds of the pheasant family. Wild
individuals have a very variegated coloring and small size, due to which they are well
camouflaged in the grass. The developed industrial breeds are larger and more adapted for life
in captivity. They are grown, depending on the characteristics, for different purposes
- obtaining eggs, meat, and there are also universal and decorative quail breeds.
Egg breeds are famous not so much for their meat qualities as for the productivity of
laying. According to this indicator, the most popular quail breeds today are several species.
First of all, this is a Japanese breed, which also has another name - Dumb quail. Birds
are small in size, short bodies and small wings, unsuitable for flying. The tail is
almost invisible. In general, their appearance is as close as possible to that of wild individuals,
only the bodies are more elongated. By nature, these are very mobile, but at the same time
shy birds.
The Japanese quail breed is the basis for many popular species of birds bred through
breeding. You can keep them in aviaries, cages or outdoor. But it is undesirable to move
larger breeds next to each other or, over time, to settle in separate rooms, since both
females and males are very attached to each other.
The first year for "Japanese" quails is the most egg-bearing, in the second year the number
of laid eggs can be halved. This breed is rapidly gaining weight and by 40 days already
weighs the same as an adult bird, is unpretentious in keeping and is resistant to diseases.
There is also an English black one. The progenitor of these birds was the Japanese feathered
breed. On their basis, a population of birds with dark brown or almost black plumage was
bred. And also English white. The appearance of
which is characterized predominantly by white plumage, but spots of gold, black or brown
hue may be present.
Breeding quail has its own nuances. The main thing is that in the process of their domestication,
the females have almost completely lost their "maternal" instinct - the instinct to incubate
their eggs. Thus, almost the only real way to breed chicks in the poultry yard is the
incubator.
And this means that the incubation device must completely replace the brooding hen,
creating all the necessary conditions for the egg for the normal development of the
embryo and the timely release of the chick. Only those eggs that were laid before 7 days
ago are suitable for breeding. Some experts say that the maximum allowable shelf life
is 10 days. The temperature in the room where the future quails are located is maintained
at the level of 10–150C, the humidity reaches 75%. Turn them over regularly during storage.
It is recommended to store eggs in an upright position so that the blunt edge is turned
up.
The eggs are placed on a tray and placed in an incubator, leaving intact for the first
two days. But already from 3 to 15 days they are regularly turned over, doing this every
two hours (in this case, the developing embryo will not stick to the shell).
At the final stage (2 days before the expected pecking), the temperature inside the chamber
is brought to 37.5-38 ° C, and the air humidity - up to 90%. In this case, the eggs themselves
are recommended to be periodically sprinkled with water (for example, from a spray bottle).
After the chicks are completely out of the shell, they are kept in the incubator for
another day, thus giving them the opportunity to dry out and adapt to the environment.
The chicks should be kept in the incubator until they are dry and fluffy and then placed
in a pre-heated broiler. The quail chick can be left in the incubator for up to 24 hours
after hatching. During the first week, it is necessary to use super thin feed crumbs,
as the quail chicks will not be able to cope with it due to the large size of the feed.
The food should be scattered on the floor so they can find it easily. Keep the water
away from a heat source to keep it cool. Healthy quail chicks are selected for shipment
to the main farm or for export. Quails are relatively small in size, so a minimum number
of square meters is required for their maintenance. To keep 1000 individuals, no more than 20-25
sq. meters. A regular 100W lamp can serve as a source of heat for young chicks in production
in the first week, and then you need to change it to 60W. When the quail chicks are 4 weeks
old, they are ready to leave the nursery and move to their new home - a quail farm.
After 28 days, the bird is transferred to adult food. Water for chicks should always
be boiled, without garbage and not cold, it is changed twice a day. Usually, you need
to feed quails three times a day, preferably by the hour. When breeding quails in farms,
ready-made feed is used. Bone meal and chopped boiled fish, eggshells, chalk are added twice
a week. If the birds are fed twice a day, then the feed should contain grain waste,
corn, chopped greens with the addition of fodder fat. Quails are often fed with chicken
feed, where greens, boiled vegetables, grain sprouts, and seeds are given as a vitamin
supplement. Farmers usually make compound feed on their own.
Quail begins to rush at the age of 30-40 days. They practically do not get sick. Unlike a
chicken, the body temperature of this bird is 2 degrees higher, and the body copes with
all pathogenic bacteria on its own. With proper care, quails, like chickens, are ready to
lay all year round. In the wild, the birds produce 40-50 eggs per year, and on the farm
up to three hundred, like ordinary laying hens. It's just an instinct, they know they
have to lay eggs. In nature, they lay eggs only in summer, but on the farm, the conditions
allow them to lay eggs constantly. Quail eggs are a unique product. In comparison
with this discreet egg, the usual chickens lose a lot, and this is despite the difference
in size. A quail egg is 5 times smaller and weighs only 11 grams. One gram of a quail
egg, in comparison with a chicken egg, contains: one and a half times more amino acids, one
point seven times more vitamin A, four and a half times more iron, and five times more
calcium and phosphorus. For these properties, a quail egg is called an elixir. youth and
health. In addition to the high content of nutrients,
the quail egg has another unusual property. Unlike chicken, it will not go bad. This is
due to the structure of the quail egg. His shell is almost twice as thin as chicken.
But the shell shell is much thicker and stronger. It prevents harmful bacteria from entering
the egg. Therefore, if the egg is in unfavorable conditions for a long time, then it does not
rot, but simply dries up. On many farms, egg collection is mechanized.
The cages are arranged in such a way that when the female lays an egg, it rolls onto
a common belt located under the feeder, where the floor of the cage is located with a slight
slope). Eggs are transported along the conveyor for sorting. Since eggs are perishable goods,
they require special storage and transportation conditions. Because of this, the farm needs
to establish regular sales of quail eggs. Abroad, fully automatic lines have been established,
which are controlled by special cameras. This equipment allows the detection of dirty and
leaking eggs by image processing with a computer vision system.
Each egg is checked by cameras and each camera records images of the egg as it spins on the
conveyor rollers. Images are collected and analyzed by examining the entire surface of
each egg. After analysis, the system assigns a leak rate and a contamination level to each
egg. The customer of the product is given the right to determine the type of egg by
which the equipment will determine to approve or reject the given egg. This ensures that
the farmer has a level of sensitivity to dirt or leaks for the machine that is right for
him. In the renderer, the dirt in the egg is shown
in blue and the leak is shown in red. Leaking eggs are removed shortly after detection to
avoid contaminating and staining the classifier. Dirty eggs are automatically removed and sent
to a specific outlet of the grader. Freshly laid quail eggs are carefully collected
in convenient containers (plastic or cardboard) of 10, 12, 14 pieces. Eggs in a plastic container
should "breathe" freely. There must be partitions between each egg. Eggs are laid with the blunt
end up. Quail slaughter begins when the youngsters
reach 40 days of age, starting with the larger ones. In two months they reach their physiological
maturity and will not grow any more. Healthy and well-fed quails are slaughtered.
In older individuals, the meat becomes tougher, so it is unprofitable to keep them for a long
time. Selection is made when young animals reach 40 days of age. Strong, healthy-looking
birds with well-developed muscles of the chest and thighs are chosen from the entire livestock.
The keel should protrude well and the plumage should be dense and shiny.
Carcasses for sale must remain intact, so they only need
to be gutted through one hole - in the area of the cloaca. To do this, the carcass is
incised in the area of the cloaca, then a finger is carefully inserted into the incision,
closer to the right side. They grab the insides and gently pull them towards them. It is very
important not to squash the gallbladder, which is near the liver.
After cutting, the quail carcasses are thoroughly washed in warm water (no higher than 30 ° C).
The quail meat is now ready to use. If it
is not possible to immediately cook or sell carcasses, they should be cooled to a temperature
of 3 ... 4 ° C, wrapped in plastic wrap, parchment or cellophane bags and left in a
clean ventilated room with an air temperature of 0 to 3 ° C and a humidity of about 80%.
In such conditions, quail meat can be stored for no more than 48 hours. For long-term storage,
chilled carcasses must be placed in the freezer. In most stores, they prefer to buy quail carcasses
in bulk with leather, they have a more attractive appearance and are better
sold by consumers. But many cafes and restaurants serving quail dishes are more willing to purchase
skinless carcasses so as not to overpay for excess weight.