The Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) as a laboratory animal.

The use of the Japanese quail as a laboratory animal was first reported in 1959. Since then this species has been increasingly used as an avian model for biomedical research. A quail colony was recently established in the Dental Research Institute to provide adult birds for teratogenicity and toxicity studies. These birds are not widely used for biological research in South Africa at present. The housing, husbandry, breeding and nutrition of this species is described, together with the biomethodology which is applicable to this species.