Prospects for using Japanese quail in biological life support systems
Shepelev, E.Ya; Agadzhanyan, N.A.; Mishchenko, V.F.; Fofanov, V.I.
Kosmicheskaia Biologiia i Aviakosmicheskaia Meditsina 13(1): 69-70
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0321-5040 PMID: 34060 Document Number: 140381
A comparison was made of meat and egg-producing hens, ducks and Japanese quail and meat-producing rabbits to determine the species and type most suitable for use in long-distance space flight life-support systems based on biological turnover. For comparison of the degree of productivity of various species of animals, the percentage relationship of the energy produced by animals edible to humans to the energy of consumed feed, conditionally labeled the index of transformation (IT), was calculated. Highest IT indices in both meat and egg production were achieved by the Japanese quail Coturnix coturnix japonica, a species relatively simple and economical in terms of outlay and space to maintain.