MVSc.

The experiment was conducted in Japanese quails from 0 to 26 weeks of age including starter, grower and layer phases to study the production performance of Japanese quail when reared on different protein levels. Six hundred (600), day-old Japanese quail chicks belonging to single hatch were allotted randomly to three treatment groups with four replicates of fifty quails each. At the end of sixth week, sixteen female quails were selected from each replicate and housed in layer cages to assess the production performance of one hundred and ninety two (192) layer quails in three treatment groups of four replicates for the period of twenty weeks. Three types of iso-caloric diets (2800 kcal/kg) with different protein levels viz; 23, 25 and 27 per cent were used for three treatment groups T1, T2 and T3, respectively during starter phase (0-3 weeks of age). The protein levels used during grower phase (4 to 6 weeks) were 23 per cent in groups T1 and T2 and 24 per cent in group T3. During layer phase (7-26 weeks of age), all treatment groups were fed with same type of diet containing 22 per cent crude protein and 2650 kcal/kg ME.
The body weight during experimental period at 3, 6 and 26 weeks of age did not differ significantly between dietary treatments. The results revealed that during starter (0 to 3 weeks) and grower phase (4 to 6 weeks) cumulative feed intake and FCR based on body weight gain did not differ significantly between dietary treatments. During Layer phase (7 to 26 weeks), the age at first egg, 10 and 50 per cent production was similar in all the treatment groups. Mean values of quail housed and quail day egg number and per cent production, egg mass, mean egg weight, mean cumulative daily feed consumption, period wise and cumulative FCR per dozen eggs and per kg eggs during layer phase did not differ significantly in all the treatment groups.
The overall livability per cent during starter, grower and layer phases were not adversely affected due to different dietary protein levels during growing period. The margin of returns per quail housed over feed cost was significantly (P≤0.05) lower in group T3 (Rs -0.63) than T2 (Rs 0.36) and T1 (Rs 0.32) during growing period (0 to 6 weeks)
The evaluation of the results revealed that quail chicks fed with diet containing 23 per cent crude protein in comparison with high protein (25 and 27 per cent crude protein) diets during growing period did not affect body weight gain and egg production traits. Therefore it can be recommended that diet with 23 per cent crude protein can be efficiently and economically used during the growing period of the layer Japanese quail.