NUTRIENT UTILIZATION OF JAPANESE QUAILS FED GRADED LEVELS OF BLACK SESAME SEED (Sesamum indicum L.) MEAL

Abstract

One hundred and forty-four two weeks old Japanese quails were used for six weeks to investigated the effect of graded levels of black sesame (sesamum indicum I) seed on growth performance of Japanese quails. The quail birds were randomly grouped into four treatments of 36 quail birds per treatments. Each treatment comprised of three replicates of 12 birds in a completely randomized design. Four experimental diets were formulated with diet 1 (control) containing 0% of Black Sesamum Seed Meal (BRSSM), while diets 2, 3 and 4 contained 5, 10, and 15 inclusion levels respectively. The Sesame Seed used for the experiments were screened and winnowed to remove sand, chaff and other foreign particles before processing into feed. The result of the experiment showed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in all the parameters measured between dietary treatments. The feed intake, weight gain of quail birds diet containing 10% BSSM was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the control and other diets. The feed intake of the birds decreased at 10% with increase in weight gain and when compared with control. 5% and 15% respectively with low feed conversion ratio. It was concluded that BRSSM can be included in quail diet without adverse effect on the growth. Keywords: Quail birds, black sesame seed meal, growth performance.