The effect of dietary protein levels and synbiotic on performance parameters, blood characteristics and carcass yields of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of synbiotic on performance parameters, blood characteristics and carcass yields of Japanese quails fed diets containing different levels of protein. In a completely randomized design with 3 x 3 factorial arrangements, 720-day-old healthy Japanese quails were randomly allocated into 9 groups with 4 replicates of 20 chicks. Treatments consisted of combination of 3 levels of crude protein (CP): A) sufficient protein diet (24%, high CP) from 0 to 42 days of age; B) low protein diet (22.08%, low CP) from 0 to 42 days of age; C) sufficient protein diet from 0 to 21 days-low protein diet from 21 to 42 (medium CP) days of age and three levels of synbiotic, without, recommended and 150% of recommended levels, respectively. The results showed that there were no significant differences in feed conversation ratio, feed intake and body weight among treatments due to the interaction of CP and synbiotic levels. However, body weight and daily weight gain and feed conversation ratio improved (P0.05). The effect of CP and synbiotic levels on the carcass yields of quail were not statistically significant (P>0.05).

Keywords

• Protein, Synbiotic, Performance, Blood parameters, Japanese quail