Wanting To Have A Quail Of A Time

[registrar]

My menstrual maniac (The (Thai) wife) was rummaging round my hard drive (ooer, missus....sounds painful!!!) and internet connection, when she happened upon a forum for her home country that i had bookmarked a long time ago, and hadn't even visited in a while.
Anyway, on one section (the farming one) she saw someone had posted about keeping quails for their egg production. She then started enthusing (if you've never seen a Thai woman enthuse, its a sight to both behold and to be afraid of, lol!!!) about how easy money could be made for little effort, using this post she saw.
When i looked at it, what struck me was the fact that whoever made the post, while obviously knowledgeable on the subject, tended to "over-egg the pudding" somewhat. He mentioned figures of 1000 birds in an 8' X 10' space, that would generate 1000 eggs per day, and would earn an amount that, to give some idea of, lets just say its about 3 times average salary in Thailand. 30,000 Thai Baht per month, for those familiar with Thailand.
All this, for a mere hours easy work per day.
Of course, the wife latched onto those figures and multiplied them by 4. Get 4000 birds, do 4 hours a day, and watch the money roll in. She was on the phone to her sister in a flash, and (you've guessed it!!!) SHE wants in on it now as well. Thats eight hours a day, and "this time next year, Rodney, well be millionares!" with reference to a well known (in UK at least) TV program. The father in law and mother in law are, no doubt licking their lips at the prospect of an old age in the lap of luxury, provided by their doting (and now, soon to be wealthy) offspring.
My role in life these days seems to be that of managing the expectations of both her, and, even harder to do, those of her family. I am talking of parents, brothers, sisters, close friends etc. All of whom think they know it all, and that i live in a place called Fooik Hall when it comes to knowing ANYTHING at all about anything.
So, just as an opening gambit, i would like to ask..........is it THAT easy to raise quails?
I will go into a more questioning mode soon, and ask more specific questions later
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, lol!!!!!!

Reg
(edited for typos and spellung misteaks)

[GaryD]

Hi Reg,

......is it THAT easy to raise quails?

Quail are certainly among the most easily managed of all micro-livestock......and, while acknowledging the need for some basic knowledge, skills and facilities), they are very easy to breed and rear.

And there's the kicker.

They are so easy to breed and rear......and, if you get it right, you can produce a lot of meat and eggs in relatively short order.......that almost anyone can do it.

That means that, sooner or later, you'll have all sort of dabblers in your marketplace who know a bit about raising quail but almost nothing about business. They may not survive for long but they will destabilise the market......and for everyone who falls by the wayside, there will be another one to take their place.

I can probably claim to have a history and experience around quail that is equal to that of anyone in this country and all of that tells me that the safest way to get involved in quail is to start of growing them for yourself......and then expand cautiously into whatever solid markets reveal themselves.

In my view, quail production should be part of an integrated food production system that features a variety of organisms.

Gary

[registrar]

Thats my main concern in this. All the dabblers and "experts" that know as little as i do on the subject, but, unlike them, i am willing to learn and do things in a right way.
In my intended neck of the woods, this is magnified ten-fold, and one has to expend an awful lot of energy and time, both to set things up in a right and sustainible way, and to pass on knowledge gained by me to the willfully ignorant. I know that sounds a bit tough and nasty, but believe me, its the truth in a lot of the time. BTDT, and got the battle-scars to prove it
For instance, you say its best to start rearing the birds yourself. I would bow to your greater knowledge of the subject. My wife, however will go to person after person, and none of them will know the first thing about quail farming at allBTW, until she hears the opposite of what you recommend, and that will be that, until it gets a bit tough and is abandoned as a business.
I guess she would be more inspired if there were some "instant" return, and cash coming in first, and THEN go onto raising them herself. But, then would the general malaise set in and the thought of "if it aint broke then why fix it?" comes into play.
Who knows, eh?

Your view of quail production is one that i saw a youtube clip of which tied in nicely with all this. They had a quail pen as an intergral part of their setup...that of a "hybrid" fish/bird hydroponic/aquaponic one
Unfortunatly i cant remember either the clip itself, or its whereabouts

Reg

[Pugo]

Hello registar
Quail are easy but to require experience to deal with them. The best thing to do as far as quail is start small and build your flock with your business. While you also learn. Keeping the with food, water and light are the big keys.. But sanitary conditions are a must for the health of the birds. Marketing is a hugh key to the success of the business. As they are found all over Thailand. I remember quail eggs being wrapped in won-ton skins and deep fried sold all over in Bangkok. High protein rates are required for quail. A quail will lay 280 - 290 eggs. To be truthful many farmers are happy with a 65% laying rate. You quail lay for about 1 year then need to be culled. If you are hatching your own layers be aware that have the quail you hatch will be male. So they will need to be culled at 45 days for meat. You will also need an incubator as quail don't sit there eggs.

The quail business is a real balancing act. You need to keep track of everything.