Search for natural cures leads to lucrative quail farming venture

A quail.

By Philip Mwakio

Mombasa, Kenya: A relative’s search for a natural cure for his medical condition led Sam Ikwaye, a Mombasa-based tourism consultant, to quail farming.

While visiting his rural home, Ikwaye overheard a relative ask for quail meat, saying it had helped manage his diabetes. When engaged further, the relative insisted that the bird’s meat and eggs can treat a host of other diseases.

“Later, I met a friend at the Fight For Cure Organisation in Mombasa, and he also talked about managing cancer and treating other conditions using quail eggs and meat” he recalls.

“I had eaten the birds in the village when I was younger, but I did not know that they could be tamed.’’

He decided to learn more about them.

“As an entrepreneur, and with my hospitality background, it did not take long to spot the opportunity to venture into quail farming,’’ Ikwaye says.

Fortunately for him, the Kenya Wildlife Service has been encouraging quail farming, so he quickly got the necessary licences and information on the birds, and acquired his first 19 quails.

“Initially, I did not have a place to put the birds, but I needed to study their eating habits, among other things, to know whether I could increase my stock.

“My wife and I were expecting a baby at the time, and like any father, I had planned for the arrival. I’d bought a cot, thinking the baby would settle into it on arrival. But when the baby arrived, I realised the cot was too big, so I moved it to the balcony and called a fundi to adjust it.

Good business

“When the fundi came, I saw that the cot would make a good home for my quails, so instead of adjusting its size, I asked him to convert it into a cage that now holds up to 300 quails. That corner of my house (the balcony) generates good business for me,’’ he tells Business Beat.

Ikwaye currently has 600 birds, and plans to increase his stock to 1,000 by December.

Each fertilised egg fetches Sh20. He collects approximately 20 dozen unfertilised eggs a day, which he sells at Sh240 a tray.

He recently had a hotel place an order for 1,000 quails per month at Sh350 each, but he turned it down as he could not manage the supply.

The birds’ waste also makes good fertiliser.

“I am able to get green vegetables from a storey farm on my balcony. I get dhania, spinach, kale, among others, farmed using the waste collected right from my balcony,’’ he adds.

Ikwaye has also rented space in Mikindani, where he has employed a farmhand to tend to his other set of quails. He has also helped a youth group take up quail farming.

The demand for quail meat and eggs has risen in Mombasa, with many restaurants serving quail as a delicacy and supermarkets are stocking them.