Quail farming in kenya: is this another mega scam in kenya???

Quail farming in Kenya is a new farmers’ ‘swag’ that has seen many abandon the sustainable chicken farming in favor of the tiny birds. Reason; they mature fast, they eat less and one quail egg goes for 70 shillings 60 shillings more than a hen’s egg. But this is just ‘monkey business’

Many farmers are jumping in to Quail farming due to a craze and hype that has been created by marketers and ruthless quail brooders who are making a killing from gullible farmers who want to “make quick cash” from selling the Quail eggs. This has even given quail farming a new title; “Quilamid Scheme”

Quail farming: The new farming craze in Kenya

At a certain forum in Wazua, an expert explains in detail why he thinks that the quail farming ‘bubble’ will soon burst.

• Those who are established Quail farmers are the ones who are selling to new farmers, aggressively marketing it and publishing stories online. If they are making as much exporting or selling as consumables, no one would bother coming online to encourage you to compete with them in the market.
• Its a high end product. Relative to the size, its a hard sell locally.
• People are breeding in large numbers, some forfeiting jobs and taking loans from banks.
  which will equate to oversupply

There are also concerns that there is no local demand for the tiny birds or their tiny eggs. Anyone will tell you that they cant buy a 70 bob egg. To feed a small family of 3 during breakfast, you will need about 12 eggs (one person eats about 4 quail eggs due to their small size). This means, on quail eggs alone, the family will spend 840 Shillings.
There is also a lie being peddled that the quail eggs are being exported to China. But no one can actually stand up and say that they have exported a single egg to China. Also, when most Kenyans hear that “zinakuliwa na wazungu”, that statement alone is enough immunity. The Quail bird brooders and marketers are telling the new Quail farmers that the product has very high demand in “hoteli za wazungu”
Due to the Quail farming hype, most farmers have abandoned chicken farming. This means that soon enough, the farmers who were left in the chicken farming business will be making more money than quail farmers due to scarcity of chicken meat and eggs.