Bater Bird
Birds farming is being popular day by day due to its profit and easy to farm system. Among Birds farming, most of us has surely heard about poultry farming which is in growing trend.
Similar to poultry farming, nowadays people are highly attracted towards bater bird farming because of its low investment cost.
Bater also known as Quail in english is a small bird which is grown especially for meat and egg production.
The reasons people are attracted in bater bird farming are:-
- It is small in size. So, it needs less space amd less feeding materials.
- This bird grows faster. Its get ready within 35 days and start laying eggs from 45 days.
- Quail bird is disease free. It is very less infected by diseases. So, it reduces investment cost and increases profit.
- Quail bird feeds less than poultry. It needs 25-30 gm feed while poultry needs (150-200) gm feed in a day.
- The meat and eggs of quail are tastier and are more prefered by people.
Breeds Selection
Selection of good breeds for commercial bater bird farming is major task because it will ultimately determines our profit.
They are classified on the basis of the colour of their wings. Some of the breeds used for commercial purpose are:-
✓Coturnix Quail (Japanese quail)
✓Bobwhite Quail
✓Button Quail
✓Gambel Quail
✓Momtezuma Quail
✓Blue-scale Quail
✓California Quail
Among these, Conturnix bater is best. It is used for both eggs and meat. They are large sized.
Breeding
We can produce more bater by their breeding. For breeding, we should maintain the male to female ratio as 1:3.
Female lays eggs and hatching of eggs starts. Hatching can be done artificially or naturally.
For artificial hatching, we should keep the bater eggs at 99.5 °F temperature with 87% moisture for the first 14 days. During this time, the eggs should be rotated in different sides. Then, Eggs are shifted from incubation machine to hatching machine. Egg should be kept at 98.5 °F temperature with moisture of 90% for next 3 days. From 18 days, hatching of chicks begins. In this way we can increase the population of quail and increase our profit.
Temperature Requirement Over Weeks
Age(Weeks) Temperature(°C)
1. 35°C
2. 30°C
3. 25°C
4. 22°C
5. 21°C
6. 21°C
7. 21°C
8. 21°C
9. 21°C
Care And Management Of Chicks
This is crucial stage in life cycle of bater. The weight of baby bater is about 7 gm. In 1st week, the mortality rate of chicks is high. So, special care should be done.
We shouldn’t give water to chicks directly. What we have to do is, first fill the shallow pot with gavels and sand and pour water in that pot.
Chicks sucks water from granules and they don’t sink into water. This helps to reduce mortality rate. The legs of baby bater are very weak. So, special care should be provided to them.
After 1 week, they starts growing faster and mortality rate also decreases greatly.
Brooding
Bater needs brooding during 1st and 2nd week of their birth. Without brooding in quail, the mortality rate becomes high and we can’t generate good income.
They need good care in initial phase of thier life. They should be kept in artificial heat system for about 2 weeks.
Young chicks needs the temperature of about 35°c during brooding time and then temperature can be slowly reduced as they grow bigger.
Raising system (Housing)
Like poultry housing System, bater bird farming can also be done in both deep litter system and Battery cage system.
Among these two system of raising, battery cage system is considered good.
Care And Management Of Adult Quail
After 2 weeks, Bater doesn’t require too much temperature management. After 4 weeks, the beak of quail should be trimmed. It helps to protect from cannibalism.
There should be the space of 2.5 to 3 sq.ft area for about 8-12 baters.
Feeding
Bater needs less feed in comparision to poultry. The physical growth of the bird completes within (10-12) weeks.
During first 3 weeks, the growth of the bird is rapid. So, feeding should contain 27% protein and 28 kcal energy.
During (3-6) weeks, the feed should contain 24% protein and 29kcal energy.
Diseases In Quail
Unlike poultry, bater birds are very less affected by diseases. But, there are some diseases as explained below:-
1. Ulcerative enteritis
In this disease, there is ulcer in the intestine of bater which us caused by microorganism . The symptoms of this disease are:-
✓It stays alone away from group of other bater birds.
✓The head and wings are dropping down.
Preventive Measures
✓The litter in which we do quail farming should be clean.
✓It gets transmitted through drooping of quail. So, special care should be provided there.
2. Coccidiosis
Coccidiosis is another disease in bater. It happens due to dirty litter and unscientific spacing. The symptoms of this disease are:-
✓All the quails come in group in one place.
✓Their wings drops downward.
✓There is blood in their drooping.
Treatment
To cure coccidiosis we can use amprolium powder. Half tea spoon amprolium powder should be mixed in a gallon of water and used.
3. Histomoniasis
Histomoniasis is another major disease in affecting the bird. It is caused by protozoa. It affects the liver of bater. The symptoms of this disease are:-
✓Quail becomes yellowish.
✓Their drooping becomes sulphur colour
✓Their wings falls downward.
Treatment
Deworming should be done to cure histomoniasis.
Investment and Income
The investment cost of bater farming is less than the poultry farming. It needs less space. We can raise up to 8 baters in same area need for 1 poultry.
The price of baby bater costs about $0.30 which is cheap. This bird consume less feed. It needs only 25-30gm of feed per day.
So, investment cost is low. We can raise upto 3000 bater at the cost of Rs.20,000(excluding feeding cost).
If we talk about income, Bater bird gets ready for meat within 35 days. The weight becomes (159-200) gm. The market price of this bird meat is high. So, we can generate good income from meat.
Another source of income from bater farming is by selling eggs. Female quail starts laying eggs after 45 days. They lay about 300 eggs in first year and the number of eggs laying goes on decreasing on successive years.
The average weight of the eggs is about 7-15gm and they have good market value.
Fact:- Unlike poultry who lays eggs in morning, quail lays eggs at evening.
Marketing
The market of bater is increasing day by day. People are getting information about bater bird. The meat and eggs of the bird are very tasty and are easily sell in market.
We can conclude that Bater farming has immense potential. So, we recommend you to start quail farming.