Closed-loop quail farm operates in Tambovye

In the village of Periksa near Tambov, a small poultry farm appeared several years ago, which now provides residents of the Tambov region with fresh quail MEAT and eggs. We talked about the development of the enterprise and the quail business with its HEAD.

From a project to a farm

it all started with the idea of ​​Olesya Ryashentseva, now the head of Tambovsky Quail, to create a small poultry farm. As a child, she had the opportunity to take care of poultry and grow them, so one day she decided to go beyond the usual household plot.

“Mom has been engaged in poultry farming on the site all her life, and I know firsthand what it means to raise a bird and later use it to prepare various delicious dishes,” says Olesya. — And so the idea came up to create a small poultry farm with the expectation of increasing it by several thousand heads.
A business project was developed, which in 2019 Olesya sent to the regional department of agriculture for the regional competition "Agrostartup". With a subsidy of 3 million rubles received, the aspiring entrepreneur built a farm, bought cages and the first poultry stock.

The "guests" of the farm were quail. Why exactly quails, and not the usual chickens? The head of the farm replies that it's all about healthy eggs and meat, and, as a result, the demand for them from the population.

“A quail egg contains an enzyme that blocks cholesterol,” explains Olesya Ryashentseva. “Therefore, a quail egg is more beneficial for HEALTH than chicken, duck, and any other. Also, quail eggs are hypoallergenic, and they are recommended for kids prone to allergies. And, of course, this is dietary meat, which is good for the health of both children and adults.
In the Right Conditions                                    

A couple of years ago, on Olesya's farm, quails of various breeds were bred as an experiment: they were both golden spotted Manchurian quail and darker Estonian quail. As a result, preference was given to the white "Texan" as the most successful option in terms of size and egg production.

The farmers raise their own birds.

“We haven’t been buying birds for a long time,” says Olesya. “We have several incubators, and if necessary, we use our own quail eggs to reproduce the livestock. 15 days after laying eggs in incubators, new birds hatch from them.

The working staff in Tambovsky Quail is small - four people. In addition to Olesya herself and her mother who helps her, there is a poultry housekeeper on the farm who monitors the condition of the birds, and a handyman who performs difficult physical work, such as carrying and packaging finished products.

Birds that can lose their egg production from any insignificant factor, such as a sharp sound, are kept by the farm staff in greenhouse conditions. The menu includes water and compound feed saturated with vitamins and microelements twice a day. Complete peace is also important.

“We keep the farm at a constant temperature and not very bright light,” says Olesya Ryashentseva. - Quails are birds with weak stress tolerance, so we try not to disturb them, not to excite them, not to excite them so that they do not worry and continue to lay eggs.

On average, one quail lays 5 eggs per week. Considering the number of laying birds on the farm, Tambovsky Quail produces about 1250 eggs per week. 75% of products are sold through the food markets of the Tambov region and local small shops. The rest is consumed by the owners of the farm.

Looking to the future

When asked about the demand for quail products, the farm manager answers directly: quail is still far from overtaking chicken or turkey in popularity. There are two reasons for this.

“Firstly, a kilogram of quail retails for about 900 rubles, so they cannot compete in price with the same chicken or turkey,” explains Olesya Ryashentseva. - It is far from a product of constant demand. But people who lead a healthy lifestyle, people who prefer proper nutrition, of course, are our regular customers. But such people are less than a quarter of the total number of people in the region.

Due to the rather narrow demand for products, there is no talk of expanding the enterprise yet. "Tambovsky quail", according to its owner, copes with the volumes and capacities that it already has. With the technical component on the farm, everything is also in order: the litter is removed using special mechanisms, the drinkers are automated. So far, Olesya does not see the point in automating feeding: there are not very many cages on the farm, and it is much easier for farm workers to monitor the diet on their own.

“We see our production as quite modern and possible to use for many years to come,” she notes.

Olesya has no doubts that the farm has a long future. "Tambov Quail" appeared in difficult times for business. The pandemic years have created additional difficulties for a small enterprise producing a product that is not in daily demand from the consumer, but the owner of the farm is optimistic.

“We try, we work, we never complain and we believe that everything will be fine, that the enterprise will continue to give delicious birds and eggs to our countrymen,” sums up Olesya Ryashentseva.