Phosphorus utilization (PU) has received considerable attention in poultry nutrition. However, reliable estimates of genetic parameters for PU and related traits have largely not been reported until now; however, these are needed to assess whether selection for an improved PU would result in selection response. A large Japanese quail F2 cross was generated and 888 F2 individuals were phenotyped for PU, bodyweight gain (BWG), and feed per gain (F:G). Because it can reasonably be assumed that the interrelationships between these traits are complex, structural equation models were used. The structural coefficient λij describes the rate of change of trait i with respect to trait j for a model with a recursive effect of trait j on trait i. Three recursive structural coefficients (λF:G,PU , λBWG,PU , λBWG,F:G ) were selected a priori based on biological knowledge. The model was fitted using ASReml software. Standard errors of estimated variance components and genetic parameters were approximated using the delta method. The heritability of PU, F:G, and BWG were 0.136, 0.118, and 0.092. The structural coefficient ${\hat \lambda _{F:G,PU}} = - 0.177$ indicates that an increase in PU leads to reduced and thus improved F:G. The estimate ${\hat \lambda _{\it{BWG},F:G}} = - 0.963$ indicates that improved F:G leads to an increase in BWG. The overall effect of PU on BWG was ${\hat \lambda _{\it{BWG},PU}} + {\hat \lambda _{F:G,PU}} \times {\hat \lambda _{\it{BWG},F:G}} = 0.374,$ i.e. an increase in PU of 1% leads to an increase of BWG of 0.374 g in the data collection period, which spanned five days. The phenotypic and genetic correlations were negative between PU and F:G as well as between BWG and F:G and were positive between PU and BWG. These correlations are driven by direct genetic effects (pleiotropic genes or genes being in linkage disequilibrium) as well as by indirect genetic effects (genes affecting trait j affected indirectly trait i). The application of structural equation models contributed to our understanding of the complex biological relationship between PU, F:G, and BWG in quails. PU shows a heritability that is sufficient to achieve a selection response when breeding for this very-hard-to-measure trait.