A total of 180 Japanese quail chicks at one day-old were used in an
experiment, which lasted 6 weeks. The experiment aimed to study the utilization of
date stone meal (DSM) as agro-industrial by-products by feeding growing Japanese
quail. Quail chicks were divided into 4 equal experimental groups of 45 chicks each. Every group was sub-divided into three replicates (15 chicks/ rep.). The first group
was fed the basel diet as a control (0% DSM), while, the other three groups were fed
diet containing 5,10 or 20% DSM. The experimental diets were isocaloric and
isonitrogenous . Results obtained could be summarized as follows: Live body weight, body weight gain and feed intake were significantly
(P<0.05) decreased with the increasing of DSM % in the diets. Moreover, feed
conversion ratio (g feed/g gain) became significantly worst (P< 0.05) by increasing
DSM up to 20% in the diets. Digestion coefficients of CP, CF and NFE % were significantly decreased by
increasing DSM in the diets. However, digestion coefficient of EE was not
significantly influenced by the different levels of DSM. Different levels of DSM in diets
caused significantly (P< 0.05) decreases in dressing percentage with the increase of
DSM up to 20% The 10 % DSM level showed the best net return as well as
the highest value of economic efficiency among all experimental groups. Serum TP,
AL, GL, AlG ratio, Cr and Ur recorded a non-significant difference between quail
groups. Serum AL T, AST enzymes recorded an increase (p < 0.05) with increasing
O!:>M levels, and however cholesterol level decreased. From the nutritional and economical efficiency stand points of view, the date
stone meal could be recommended to be used successfully and safely in formulating
diets for growing quail, if included up to 10% without adversely affecting their growth
performance or physiological parameters.