AVALIAÇÃO DO RENDIMENTO DE CARCAÇA DE CODORNAS PARA CORTE ALIMENTADAS COM DIETAS COM DIFERENTES NÍVEIS PROTÉICOS

An experiment has been carried out aiming to evaluate the carcass yield of male and female meat quails fed with diets containing 20, 22, 24, and 26% of crude protein (CP), respectively, all of them displaying the same caloric and lysine levels. A total of 960 quails were used in a completely randomized design, with a factorial of 2 genders and 4 levels of CP, totalizing 8 treatments with 4 replicates of 30 birds each. Carcass yield was evaluated at the end of 49 days of the beginning of the experiment. The levels of CP used in this trial did not display any significant effect on most of the studied parameters. It has been observed an interaction (p < 0.05) for the yield of edible viscera, with females fed with 22% CP displaying higher averages than those fed with 24% CP. There was no effect on the protein levels upon males. Body and carcass weights and non-edible viscera yield were higher in females, while carcass and post chilling yields were higher in males (P < 0.05).