The effect of dietary dilution on the intestinal anatomy of the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

There was an increase in the length of the small intestine, caeca and colon when Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)were fed on a diet diluted with fibre. No differences were found in the length of the villi and the thicknesses of the submucosal layers throught the large and most of the small intestine between birds fed on the normal diet compared with those fed on the diluted diet. The birds fed on the normal diet appeared to have more mucous goblet cells and lymph nodes in the caeca than those fed on the diluted diet.