When I wrote The Million-Dollar Poultry Farming Secret Kenyans Haven’t Discovered Yet, I had no idea that the article would be such an eye opener for people keen on poultry farming in Kenya. The response I got was unbelievable! Within a few hours of posting the article, the page views hit an all-time high of 2000 plus, and my email inbox was bursting with all sorts of comments, questions and enquiries. The article was obviously done for poultry farmers in Kenya but I was surprised to receive emails from people as far as Australia, some of whom did not hesitate to call when I replied to their mails and gave them my phone number. It was overwhelming!
Main question: how to start the quail farming business
Now most of those who responded were people already doing poultry farming in Kenya but had developed a keen interest in the quail business, after discovering the many advantages of quail farming over the kind of poultry farming that most Kenyans have been practicing. Most of them wanted to know how they could start quail farming on their farms (interestingly, very few were concerned about the market for quails and quail eggs; it is so obvious that this market is far from being satisfied.) So, here, I have put together an overview of what you generally require to start quail farming in Kenya. A more comprehensive material will be available later and, of course, I will be releasing chunks of it as they get ready, on this blog. So don’t forget to bookmark it and return for more information.
Now this is very important: unlike with ordinary poultry farming in Kenya, you must have a license from Kenya Wildlife Services before you start quail farming. This is because these birds are predominantly wild birds. Initially, application for this license was only done from the KWS headquarters in Nairobi but thanks to the overwhelming applications that KWS got, you can now apply from your regional branch. It should take approximately 2 weeks after application for you to get the license.
Requirements for licensing
KWS requires that you first put up the farm structures and quail cages you intend to use. You will attach photos of the cages while submitting your request form. There are specific standards that you must adhere to while constructing the cages as follows: quails should be kept in cages with a plywood floor. It should be constructed in such a manner that it would be easy to clean the floor. A cage measuring 4*2.5*1.5ft can house a maximum of 50 birds. KWS will come to your farm to inspect this and if you have fulfilled all their requirements, you are given a request form and the license takes about 2 weeks to be processed.
Breeding and feeding
While quails are excellent layers, capable of giving up to 300 eggs per bird in a year, they are poor breeders owing to their small size. Therefore, for a successful quail farming venture, you will need an incubator for breeding the birds. And if you do not want to lose all your chicks, you would better invest in a brooder. Lighting is also very important for the growth of the birds so ensure that they get at least 13 hours of sufficient light every day.
When it comes to feeding, this is where quail farming has the major advantage over other forms of poultry farming ventures in Kenya in respect to cost. Quails will feed on ordinary chicken feed but each bird will consume an average of only 20 grams in a day.
Well, there you have it. As I said, this is only an overview of what you would require in order to start quail farming. Remember to bookmark this blog so that you do not miss the detailed pieces of information on this business that I will be releasing regularly.
It’s so nice to see that you are interested in poultry farming in Kenya. I can only wish you success and if you have any question or suggestion, please feel free to leave us a comment below. SUCCESS.
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