Toxicity of aflatoxin B1 on laying Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Abstract

This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of a herbal mycotoxin binder to overcome the adverse effects of 1.5 mg/kg of aflatoxin fed to laying quails. Results showed that addition of aflatoxin altered the performance indices of quails in terms of feed intake, FCR, egg production, and egg weight. Intestinal morphology of quails was also manipulated by inclusion of aflatoxin into the diet. The immunity of quails fed aflatoxin declined significantly. However, it could increase the population of harmful bacteria collected from the ileum of quails. The results of this study established that using herbal mycotoxin binder could bypass these adverse effects significantly and can be used in laying quails as a suitable binder when mycotoxin is present in their feed.

Keywords

• Aflatoxin B1
• egg production
• immune response
• laying Japanese quail