were significant for intestine and gizzard weight (Table 4).
Carcass weight in diets containing SM was similar to that
found for control diet, but it decreased more in SM150 than
in SM50. In agreement with our results, Rama Rao et al.
(2008) showed that the use of sesame meal in broiler diet
leads to an increase in the size of digestive system and thus
it decreases the carcass weight. The pancreas weight in diets containing SM was similar to control diet (P>0.05), but
there was a tendency to increase in pancreas weight in quail
fed on SM diets than control diet. It seems that the small
increase in pancreas weight for quails fed diets containing
SM could be related to an increase in endogenous enzyme
activities and secretion volume required to digest SM. As
well as, intestine weight in diets containing SM was higher
than that observed in the control diet. High intestine weight
in quails fed on SM diets can be attributed to high dietary
fiber level in diets containing SM than the control diet (Table 2). Intestine result partly supported by increasing of
pancreas weight of quails fed on SM diets. Studies showed
that high levels of fiber increased the size of the digestive
system of birds and the length of intestine and the cecum
increased with dietary fiber level (Jørgensen et al.1996;
Yasar, 2003; Rama Rao et al.2008). Finally, the larger gizzards observed in quails fed on SM diets as compared with
gizzards of quails fed the control diet were in accordance
with results reported earlier with high fiber feedstuffs in
broiler chicks (Forbes and Covasa, 1995; Abdul Rahman et
al.2009). This result is a consequence of the increased
grinding activity of the gizzard.
CONCLUSION
Inclusion of SM at levels up to 150 g/kg in diets of Japanese quail from 10 to 42 days of age numerically improved
ADG and FE compared to the control and resulted in similar traits, relative to carcass, thigh, breast and pancreas
weight. Thus, SM can be used asan alternative feedstuff in
Japanese quail diets, at inclusion levels up to 150 g/kg
without negative effects on performance and carcass traits.