RESPONSE OF FINISHER JAPANESE QUAILS (CORTUNIX CORTUNIX JAPONIC A) TO ENZYME-SUPPLEMENTED SUGARCANE SCRAPPING MEAL-BASED DIETS AND COST IMPLICATION

The stud , investigative response of finisher Japanese quails (Cotmuiix commix japonica) to enzymesupple m< .:■(/ sugarra/. : scrapping meal-based diets and the cost implication using 400 three weeks-old Japanese quails in a J week experiment. The birds were randomly allocated to 6 experimental diets T/o, T/olOO, Tw200, Tit TjtlOO and Tif200 which were compounded to be isonitrogenous (23% crude protein) and isocaloric (2900 Kcal/Kg ME). Treatments Tio, TjolOO, and Ti0200 contained 10% crude fibre (normal fibre level) while treatments Tit TJ5100 and Tj5200 contained 15% crude fibre level (high fibre level). The exogenous enzyme was included at 0, 100 and 200ppm thus, treatments T/o and T/5 contained Oppm, TjO100 and Ttfl00 contained lOOppm and T/0200 and T/5200 contained 200ppm of the enzyme supplementation such that treatments Tw and T,5 served as the control for treatments TtolOO% and Tto200 and TJ5I00 and T/5200 for low and high fibre diets, respectively. The birds were randomly allocated to the six dietary treatments at rate of SO birds per diet in a 3 week experiment. Each treatment was replicated 4 times in a 3x2 factorial arrangement having 20 birds per replicate. The growth response parameters taken included body weight, feed consumption, weight gain, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio (PER) while the prevailing market prices of feeding stuffs were used to compute the cost benefit analysis. There was no significant variation in the growth parameters due to enzyme supplementation on growth rate and cost benefit except for water intake (126.20 vs. 142.10 and 106.26 ml/day), dietary fibre reduced final live weight, daily weight gain, protein efficiency ratio, FCR, water intake and cost benefit parameters but improved daily feed intake (21.93 and 27.94g/bird/day).The interactive effects of dietary fibre and enzyme supplementation did not influence growth rate and cost benefit parameters. From the conditions of this study, sugarcane scrapping can replace conventional energy sources to a level that is economically beneficial and nutritionally safe in quail production if arabinoxylanase is supplemented at 100 ppm.