interview Joseph Kairu of Quails 4 life is one of the prominent farmers of quail birds in Nairobi Kenya.

He does not only specialize in farming of quail birds but engages in hatching of their eggs and selling the chicks to farmers around the country. In this interview, Joseph sheds light on issues in the rearing of the birds. Excerpts: People regard the farming of quail birds as a new development in Kenya; can you shed light on that? Quail birds are not new birds to Kenya, especially in the countryside. Quail was once a fairly common bird in the world and in Africa as well, with time due to destruction of habitat, human encroachment and other environmental factors, this magnificent bird is now only found in selected regions and not in as many numbers. Due to their small numbers compared with demand people have learnt more about the hatching of quail birds' eggs, its life and food. People did not notice the importance of that bird until recently, and that is why some people are seeing it as a new development. Quail bird is known by various local names from one tribe to the other e.g the Kikuyu call it Ngware, kamakia arme, kaburutki, the Luo call it aluru, the Luhya call it tsisindu, and the Kamba refer to the bird as Ngwae, Mbuu, Ikwae, Kiendile among others. If, for example, I want to start farming quail birds, where do I start from? Quail birds, unlike chickens, are very easy to maintain. A room of 12 by 12 sizes can accommodate between 700 and 800 quail birds and that is not possible with chickens. Quail birds' feed is also not a problem. One thousand quail birds can only consume one 25 kilogramme bag in a day. Also, the birds don't have disease problem like chickens, and this is why it is not good to merge quail birds with chickens. But please note for commercial farming of quails you will need to seek clearance and obtain license from Kenya wildlife service KWS, by a process that may take 4 weeks with a fee of Ksh 1500 at the KWS offices country wide. If one wants to farm quail birds, apart from the room to keep them, what other thing does one require? In farming quail birds, room may not even be necessary. One can make a cage. A cage of two feet width and four feet length can contain between 50 and 100 quail birds. One can even make the cage in step-like style, where one cage can have steps that can contain sets of quail birds. The feed of quail birds is basically divided into two; starter mash and layer mash. A farmer of quail birds uses the starter mash after the hatching of quail chicks up to the time they start laying eggs. Then the farmer can change to layer mash feed. A farmer turns to layer mash feed when he begins to get five per cent of egg output. Feed of quail birds is not the same with that of chickens. Protein content of quail birds feed can reach up to 18 crude protein (CP) because they require protein-rich feed, unlike chickens. This feed for quail bird, is it necessary that a farmer must buy manufactured feed or can he use a formula to produce the feed himself?

It is better if a farmer makes the feed himself after getting the correct formula. We are lucky in this part of the country that we have all ingredients that are required in making quail birds' feed. The ingredients that are needed in making quail birds' feed are maize, especially yellow maize, kuli-kuli (Hausa cake made from groundnut), dried fish, burnt cow bones. We also need an ingredient called lysine, meteorlyne, primys and salt. All these ingredients are mixed and ground and the result would be excellent when used as feed for quail birds. At what stage do quail birds start laying eggs? Quail birds have something unique and for me they are special gift for mankind. The birds start laying eggs when they become 40 days old. This is to say quail birds start laying eggs when they are five to six weeks. Quail birds can take up to one and half years laying eggs without break. They can only fail when they are not getting good food or if their room is left dirty. This is why it is good to be constantly cleaning quail birds' room; keeping it in good condition. It is important to have good ventilation where quail birds are kept. It is also important to be giving them clean water. With all these, a farmer would have good result from his quail birds. You said quail birds can take up to one and half years laying eggs, do these birds lay the eggs on daily basis? We count the eggs on percentage. If a farmer has 100 quail birds for example, he can get 90 eggs on daily basis. This is to say 90 per cent egg output. Sometimes, it can reach up to 95 per cent. Therefore, the birds have high egg laying ability, far above chickens. The birds usually lay their eggs after 4pm and up to 8pm. In addition, the birds need light. A farmer can give them light up to 10pm for efficiency and high eggs output. How do you usually handle the quail birds' eggs? We sell them both as food and medicine. The eggs can be cooked and consumed and it can as well be fried. Doctors say quail birds' eggs are very rich in improving our health. The eggs can as well be consumed fresh. This is said to be medicinal. One secret for getting efficiency in the eggs of quail birds is to attach one male quail bird to five females. This improves the eggs' quality. But because of preservation for those that use the eggs as medicine, we prefer to give them the eggs that the female birds laid without coming into contact with male. These types of eggs last longer. However, for those that need the eggs for hatching, the ones that were laid with input of male sperm are better. Is the price of the eggs favorable to your quail birds' farming? Yes, it is, especially that the demand is high now. The price of the feed can also make the eggs' price to go up or down. The demand of the eggs also brings changes in the prices. Specifically, what can you say are the problems of farming quail birds? Well, the birds do not have many problems. Once a quail birds' farmer maintains a clean and tidy environment for them, with good feed and water, he would not have much problem. Quail birds

drink much water. Therefore, a farmer has to make water available always. The birds also need close attention. A farmer should make sure that he does not leave any hole that a snake or cat would have contact with his birds. If those things are adhered to, a farmer would have fewer problems with his quail birds.