Replacement of Shell Grit with Stone Grit and Its Effect on Serum, Carcass and Tibia Bone Characteristics in Egg Type Japanese Quails

A trial was conducted for a period of 46 weeks (6-52 weeks) to evaluate the effect of replacing the shell grit with stone grit in the feed of egg type Japanese quails on serum, carcass and bone characteristics. A total of 360 numbers of five week old female Japanese quails were randomly distributed to 5 dietary treatments with 6 replicates of 12 birds each in a completely randomized design. The calcium in the ration was supplied by replacing shell grit at two different levels (50 and 100 %) with stone grit of two particle sizes (2 mm and 4 mm) and the non replacement (100 % shell grit) group was taken as control.At the end of the 52 weeks, 60 birds were slaughtered to study the carcass and bone parameters. Both right and left tibia bones were collected, defatted and dried. Left tibia bones were measured for length and weight and analyzed for total ash, calcium and phosphorous contents. Right tibia bones were tested for bone breaking strength. Serum samples were analyzed for calcium, phosphorous and alkaline phosphatase. The carcass characteristics such as dressing percentage, eviscerated carcass weight, weights of giblet, liver, heart, gizzard as well as intestinal weight and length, levels of serum calcium, phosphorous and alkaline phosphatase did not vary significantly. The particle size or level of replacement of stone grit did not alter the tibia bone parameters such as tibia weight, length, diameter, Seedor index, Robusticity index and bone breaking strength. From this study, it can be concluded that the stone grit is efficient to supply adequate calcium for growth of bone and muscles as that of shell grit and hence the shell grit can be completely replaced with stone grit of size 4 mm in the feed of egg type Japanese quails without compromising the bone quality and carcass yield.