This work was carried out in the Coturniculture Sector of the Federal University of
Tocantins - Campus de Araguaína with the objective of determining the energy and protein
requirements for Japanese quails through the factorial method of estimating nutritional
predictions separating the components of maintenance, gain and production for the initial
and growth phases. The thesis was distributed in three chapters: Theoretical framework
(1). Energy requirements through mathematical models for maintenance and weight gain
of Japanese quails from 01 to 35 days old (2). Crude protein requirements through
mathematical models for maintenance and weight gain of Japanese quails from 01 to 35
days old (3). The initial phase was from 01 to 15 and the growth from 15 to 35 days of age
with maintenance estimates being determined in cage-type rearing systems in a natural
environment, with an average temperature of 24.05ºC, using the methodology comparative
slaughter, by means of feeding test for both phases. A completely randomized design was
used with four treatments (ad libitum, 75, 50 and 25% of ad libitum consumption), six
replicates and ten birds per cage. The maintenance requirements were estimated by the
intercept of the line with the X axis, considering the retentions as a function of energy
and/or protein consumption, respectively. As for the estimates of weight gain
requirements, a group of 75 birds in the initial phase and 40 for the growth phase were
created on the shavings covered floor alongside the maintenance birds, fed at will and
housed at an ambient temperature of 24, 05ºC and 15 birds slaughtered at 3, 6, 9, 12 and
15 days of age and 10 birds at 20, 25, 30 and 35 days respectively for the initial and
growing phases. The prediction equations to estimate the requirements for maintenance
and weight gain in energy and protein of Japanese quails in the period from 01 to 15 and
15 to 35 days of age were respectively: AME (1–15d) = (54.96 × W0.67
) + (8.30 × WG) and
AME (15-35d) = (92.11 × W0.67) + (8.91 × WG) and CP (1-15d) = (2.095 × W0.67) + (0.851
× WG) and CP (15-35d) = (6.30 × W0.67) + (0.894 × WG), where AME is the apparent
metabolizable energy requirement, CP is the crude protein requirement , WG is the weight
gain (g/bird/d) and W is the body weight (kg).
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