hybrids are practically indistinguishable from the native common quail in these areas, though there are worries that such hybridizations could be detrimental to the native quail populations. Egg and meat production As the Japanese quail is easily managed, fast growing, small in size, and can produce eggs at a high rate, it has been farmed in large quantities across the globe. Countries such as Japan, India, China, Italy, Russia, and the United States all have established commercial Japanese quail farming industries. The Japanese quail provides developing countries with a stable source of meat and developed countries with a suitable alternative to chicken. However, the quail finds its true economic and commercial value in its egg production, as domesticated lines of the Japanese quail can lay up to 300 eggs a year at a very efficient feed to egg conversion ratio. A feed to egg conversion ratio of 2.62 was accomplished by the 1990s. Research Interest in the Japanese quail as a research animal greatly increased after 1957 due to groups at the University of California and Auburn University who proposed its value in biomedical research. It is now widely used for research purposes in state, federal, university, and private laboratories. Fields in which Coturnix japonica is widely utilized include: genetics, nutrition, physiology, pathology, embryology, cancer, behavior, and the toxicity of pesticides. Japanese quail eggs have orbited the Earth in several Soviet and Russian spacecraft, including the Bion 5 satellite and the Salyut 6 and Mir space stations. In March 1990, eggs on Mir were successfully incubated and hatched. See also List of birds of Japan Lists of Korean birds Quails in cookery References External links BirdLife Species Factsheet Slovak Commission for Research and Peaceful Uses of Space, with details on Ivan Bella's Japanese quail experiments on Mir, including photo of zero-gravity chick Japanese quail Birds of Bhutan Birds of Japan Birds of Manchuria Domesticated birds Japanese quail