Abstract

HURTADO - NERY, Víctor L.; TORRES - NOVOA, Diana M.  and  OCAMPO - DURAN, Álvaro. The effect of protein level on egg-laying Japanese quails. Orinoquia [online]. 2013, vol.17, n.1, pp.30-37. ISSN 0121-3709.

This work was carried out at the Universidad de the Llanos' quail section for determining the optimum crude protein (CP) level for Japanese quail during their egg-laying phase. Four hundred and eighty 34-day-old quail were used, distributed in a completely random experimental design, using a 4x4 factorial arrangement, four protein levels (17.5, 19.0, 20.5 and 22.0%) and four metabolisable energy (ME) levels (2,750, 2,850, 2,950 and 3,050 k lime ME/kg), with three repeats and 10 birds per repetition, giving a total of 48 experimental units. SAEG software was used for processing the results. The results did not suggest any interaction between protein and energy levels. Protein level had a quadratic effect on egg production and feed conversion (kg ration/dozen eggs and kg ration/kg egg) and a linear effect on egg weight. The treatment resulting in the greatest egg-laying (91%) was obtained with 20.5% CP and 2,750 k lime ME/kg. The regression equation thus led to estimating a 19.16%CP requirement for maximum egg production in Japanese quails.

Keywords : quail; egg production; nutritional requirement.

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