Abstract
The present study was performed to investigate the effect of partially replacing of cons by broken rice (BR) and sugar beet pulp (SEP) in the diet on growth performance and carcass traits of growing Japanese quails. A total number of 324 unsexed one week old Japanese quail chicks fed on diets replacing 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15% of corn by BR and SBP mixture (1:1) to study their effect on Japanese quail performance. Results indicated that live body weight increased significantly by 4.05 and 7.63% when birds fed 9% BR and SBP at 3 and 5 weeks of age, respectively, compared to the control. Compared to the control; treatment with 9% BR and SEP improved body weight gain by 5.54, 12.31 and 9.08% during 1-3, 3-5 and 1-5 weeks of age. The best feed intake was recorded in quails fed BR and SBP at 6% substituted for cons diet, while the best feed conversion ratio was observed in quails fed BR and SBP at 15%. The relative weights of internal organs were significantly affected by the dietary treatments, but the effect on either dressing or carcass yield was not significant. The economic feasibility was higher when birds fed the highest level of BR plus SEP (15%) in the diet being 1.64 compared with the control and other treatments. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that, taking the economic efficiency into consideration, the dietary level of 15% BR plus SEP replaced maize diet could be the best percentage till 5 weeks of age.