1. Two feeding experiments were conducted to determine the meta‐bolisable energy (ME) requirement of laying Japanese quail. Birds were fed to provide 5.5 g protein and 167, 209, 251 or 293 kJ ME/d. 2. As ME intake increased from 167 to 293 kJ egg production increased. 3. Quadratic relationships between ME intake and egg production, ME intake and egg weight, and ME intake and egg mass (g egg/ bird d) were derived and used to determine the energy required for an acceptable production rate. 4. To maintain a production of 8.3 g egg/bird d (90 eggs/100 bird d with a mean weight of 9.3 g) required 260 kJ ME/bird d. |