A Comparison of the Ability of the Japanese Quail and Light Breed Chicken to Metabolize and Utilize Energy

IT HAS been suggested by Wilson et al. (1961) that the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) is a suitable research animal for conducting pilot experiments for chickens and turkeys because of its close resemblance to these species. Although the Japanese quail has been used extensively in avian research, there have been few direct comparisons of this species with the more commonly used domestic breeds of chickens and turkeys. In view of the increased interest in the use of the Japanese quail in avian research, the experiments reported in this paper were designed to compare the relative abilities of this species and light breed chickens to metabolize and utilize energy from diets of different energy concentrations. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS Two experiments were conducted and, with the exception of the diets, the experimental procedures for both trials were as nearly alike as possible. Chicks of both species were hatched from eggs obtained from . . .