Oxya hyla hyla (Orthoptera: Acrididae) as an Alternative Protein Source for Japanese Quail

Nutrient composition of the grasshoppers Oxya hyla hyla showed that they are a rich nutrient source containing 687.7 g protein/kg of dry body weight. Their antinutrient values fell within nutritionally acceptable values of the poultry bird Coturnix japonica japonica (Japanese quail). The most required essential amino acids and fatty acids were also present in sufficient amount. For feeding trial nine diets were formulated on an equal crude protein (230 g/kg) basis with grasshopper meal, fish meal, and soybean meal. Three sets of diets with grasshopper meal were prepared with 50 g/kg, 100 g/kg, and 150 g/kg grasshopper of total feed. Similarly, other diet sets were prepared with fish meal and also with soybean meal. Results were compared with another group of Japanese quails fed on a reference diet that was considered as control. Two experiments were conducted with a total number of 600, seven-day-old, Japanese quails. In experiment 1 for determination of growth performance, quails were randomly distributed into ten groups of males and ten groups of females containing 30 birds each. In experiment 2 for determination of laying performance, identical ten groups were prepared in ten repetitions (2 females and 1 male in each group) from the six-week-old birds of experiment 1. Birds of diet set GM2 have gained the highest body weight (male 4.04 g/bird/day; female 5.01 g/bird/day) followed by birds of FM3 diet set (male 3.72 g/bird/day; female 4.40 g/bird/day), whereas birds of reference diet have gained 3.05 g/bird/day for male and 3.23 g/bird/day for female. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) of birds fed with GM2 was the lowest (male 3.33; female 2.97) whereas FCR of R group was higher (male 4.37; female 4.65) than grasshopper meal and fish meal based diets. Hen day production percentage was higher (72.2) in GM2 group, followed by FM3 (63.5) group. R group had lower 1st egg weight (9.0 g), weight gain (8.2 g), percentage of hen day production (41.8%), higher feed intake (33.6 g/day/bird), and age at 1st laid egg than the grasshopper meal and fish meal based diets. So growth and laying performance of the birds were significantly better in grasshopper meal and fish meal added diet fed sets than the reference diet fed group; among all the dietary groups 100 g/kg grasshopper meal added diet mostly gave significantly better results followed by 150 g/kg fish meal added diets. It was ascertained that the O. hyla hyla meal had pronounced positive response on the birds. So, the quails could be easily fed 100 g/kg grasshopper meal added diet as it was the most suitable alternative feedstuff compared to the conventional protein source based diets.