Effect of Ficus exasperata leaf meal on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of three-weeks-old Coturnix coturnix japonica (Japanese quails)
five-week experiment was conducted to determine the effect of Ficus exasperata leaf meal (FELM) on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of three-weeks-old Japanese quails. Ninety-six (96) Japanese layer quails were randomly allocated to four (4) dietary treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4 with 0%, 2%, 4% and 6% of FELM partially replacing similar amounts of soy-bean meal respectively, and with 3 replicates per treatment. T1 served as the control diet (No FELM). Eight (8) quails were allotted to each replicate under completely randomised design. Growth performance were measured during the feeding trial and afterwards, carcass characteris-tics were evaluated. Data collected were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) as de-scribed by Minitab (version 18.1). The means were compared using Tukey’s pairwise comparison with a confidence level of 95%. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in the mean daily and total feed intakes, initial weights and final live weight among the various treatments. However, there were significant (p<0.05) differences in the daily and total weight gains across the various treatments, with T1 recording the highest weight gain, followed by T2, T3 and T4. There was a significant (p<0.05) difference in the mean feed conversion ratio among the treatments, with T4 being a poor converter of feed to gain. The feed cost per kilogram diet and the feed cost per kilo-gram weight gain decreased as the inclusion levels of FELM increased. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in the live, bled and eviscerated weights across the various treatment, with T2 recording the highest weights, followed by T1, T3 and then T4. Shank, drum stick, thigh and breast muscle weights also recorded significant (p<0.05) differences among the various treatment, with a similar trend as mentioned above, T2 recording the highest weights followed by T1, T3 and T4. The remaining carcass parameters recorded no significant differences across the various treat-ments. The results indicate that FELM may be fed to quail birds up to 4% of the diet without any adverse effects on their growth performance and carcass characteristics
