Quail production boost in Malaysia and abroad
Quail rearing is rising in Malaysia as breeders boost output to meet high demand for the game bird.
According to the East Coast Economic Region secretariat, the demand for quail has soared 20-25% each year since 1995.
International demand
Demand for quails on the international level is also rising. In Abu Dhabi, a quail farm producing 15,000 quails per week will soon have to increase production by more than three times to satisfy customer demand in the Emirates alone.
The farm aims at increasing production to 50,000 per week and expects to reach 200,000 quails per month by end of this year.
New bird
The Mayalysia East Coast Economic Region (ECER) says it has begun a project aimed at producing a new poultry bird, a cross between a cockerel and a hen quail.
Meanwhile, Zainal Mohd Noor from the Kuala Lumpur Veterinary Services Department is creating a strain that produces eggs of good quality and meat with the flavour of both parents, it said.
The new bird is intermediate in size between chicken and quail which is convenient because it is about right for an individual helping, it added.
