Quail Farming in Villages of Mogoditshane-Thamaga and Tlokweng Districts, Botswana

Abstract

A The interest in quail farming has been increasing over the years due to the quail’s many productive and financial benefits over other poultry species. Quail farming is still in its infancy in Botswana. This study investigated the current status, challenges, and prospects of Japanese quail farming in Mogoditshane, Gabane, and Tlokweng districts, Botswana. A total of 64 quail farmers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire from June 2022 to April 2023. Data were collected on the respondents’ demographic characteristics (age, educational status, and sex), quail management aspects (feeding, housing, and health), ownership of quail, challenges in quail farming, and the use of quail products in the study area. Results showed that 67% of male respondents were involved in quail rearing. The youth (≤35 years) dominated the rearing of quails, followed by respondents aged 41-50 years (22%), 36-40 years (16%), and above 50 years (9%). In addition, 48% of the respondents reared ≤100 quails, followed by 39% and 13% who reared 101-500 and 500 quails, respectively. Furthermore, 81% of respondents reared quails in cages, 17% in conventional structures, and 2% in residential houses. Bobwhite, Jumbo, and Japanese quail were the three quail varieties reared in the study area. It was found that 55% of the respondents had less than one year of experience in quail farming. Moreover, 86% of the respondents used crushed maize or sorghum to feed quails, while 14% used commercial chicken diets. Finally, 92% of the respondents mentioned that quail eggs were used to treat various human diseases. Effective challenges in quail farming included external parasites (36%), diseases (30%), predation (13%), lack of commercial quail diets (12%), escaping (6%), and theft (3%). Quail farming should be considered for inclusion in government support programs as it has the potential to contribute to income generation and food and nutrition security.