LivestockOf the many wild quail species, the Japanese quail is the one mainly farmed, in colour varieties such as Pharaoh, English White and Manchurian Golden; Bangladesh has farmed it since 1992.
LivestockGovernment guidance in Bangladesh says eight to ten quail fit in the space of one chicken; adults eat 20 to 25 grams of feed a day and start laying at six to seven weeks.
Shamim Al Mamun of Sakhipur in Tangail began with 500 quail chicks and now has about 25,000 birds and his own hatchery.
Abdur Rahman left a private-sector job to start a quail farm beside the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway and now earns Tk 30,000 a month.
Quail farming has become popular in Bangladesh because the birds can be raised cheaply in little space on little feed.
Faridpur's Chunnu Mia turned Tk 16,000 into a quail, turkey and guinea fowl business worth Tk 23 lakh, inspiring other young people in the district.
After his NGO project job ended, Mahabubul Alam Naim built a commercial quail farm in Kalapara that he says now earns him Tk 50,000 a month.
LivestockRezaul Islam Montu became self-reliant with a quail farm in Naliardangi village, Magura Sadar. His eggs went beyond local markets to Dhaka, and the two-and-a-half-acre farm gave work to 14 to 15 young men from the village.
Quail rearing is helping young people in Cumilla become self-reliant, with the number of farmers growing and demand for quail meat and eggs rising.
Quail meat, popular in many countries, is a rich, easily digested source of protein, vitamins and minerals.
LivestockWith his campus shut by the coronavirus pandemic, Md Sakikul Islam Nadim, a fourth-year veterinary student at Gono Bishwabidyalay, set up a quail farm at home in Shibpur, Narsingdi, in August 2020; in January 2021 he said it earned him about Tk 20,000 a month after costs.
