COMPARISON OF PRODUCTION EFFECTS OF FEEDI NG MEALS FROM FLY LARVAE AND PUPAE TO ADULT JAPANESE-QUAIL

Two trials were conducted on adult Japanese quail to examine the feedi ng of different portions of meals made from fly larvae and pupae as al iquot replacements of fish meal in isoprotein and isoenergetic feed mi xtures. A quarter and a half of the fish meal amount were replaced by meals from fly larvae and pupae in the first trial while a third and t wo thirds were replaced in the second trial (Tab. I). Both trials last ed 15 weeks (trial 1 from 7th to 21st week, trial 2 from 37th to 51st week of age). One group comprised 32 quails in the first trial, and 28 quails in the second trial. Japanese quail were housed in individual laying cages. Loose mixtures were offered ad libitum. The replacement of a quarter and a half of the fish meal amount by meals from fly larv ae and pupae did not have any greater effects on egg production in tri al 1 (P > 0.05), Tab:. V. The half replacement by a fly pupae meal red uced the average egg weight by 4.9% (P < 0.01), which was reflected in a decrease in the total production of egg contents by 5.6% (P < 0.05) . Egg analysis (Tab. VI) revealed a significant decrease in their weig ht when the portion of fly components was half (P < 0.05), particularl y due to the lower albumen weight (P < 0.05). The feeding of fly larva meal also reduced egg-shell weight (group III) and increased the inte nsity of yolk color in all experimental groups (P < 0.01). The absolut e feed consumption did not change substantially. The worse feed conver sion by 2.6 to 6.6% in all experimental groups could be expressed only numerically (P > 0.05). The differences in Japanese quail live weight and mortality were not significant either. The differences in all ind icators of performance (Tab. VII) were insignificant (P > 0.05) in tri al 2. The trend of worse feed conversion in experimental groups by 3.1 to 9.3% was also observed (P > 0.05). Egg duality showed a difference in reduced weight and in reduced yolk proportion (P < 0.05). It can b e stated from the above results that meals made from fly larvae and pu pae can be fed as replacements of fish meal in isoprotein and isoenerg etic feed mixtures for adult Japanese quail, making up two thirds of t he fish meal amount.