EFFECT OF BEAK TRIMMING ON GROWTH AND PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE OF JAPANESE QUAILS
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Date
2012
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COLLEGE OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES-MANNUTHY,THRISSUR
Abstract
An experiment was conducted in Japanese quails from 0 to 26 weeks of age
to study the effect of beak trimming on growth and production performance of
Japanese quails. One thousand five hundred (1500), day-old Japanese quail chicks
belonging to a single hatch were allotted randomly to three treatment groups with
five replicates of hundred quails each. Chicks in T1 were kept as the control group
without beak trimming. Chicks in T2 were beak trimmed one-third the length at 7th
day of age. Chicks in T3 were beak trimmed one-third the length at 14th day of age.
At six weeks of age 30 females from each replicate, forming a total of 150 per
treatment were selected and their egg production studied.
Individual body weight of all birds in each replicate were recorded at dayold and at weekly intervals up to six weeks of age and the mean values were
calculated to study the pattern of body weight gain in different treatment groups.
The female quails were then weighed at the 26th week of age.
All the treatments were fed with starter diet of 24 per cent CP and 2750
kcal/kg ME up to six weeks of age. During layer phase (7-26 weeks of age), all
treatment groups were fed with same type of diet containing 22 per cent crude
protein and 2650 kcal/kg ME.
The body weight of quails up to 3 weeks of age did not differ significantly
between treatments. The body weight of T3 group was consistently higher than T2
group during the later stage of growth (4-6 weeks of age). The results revealed that
the beak trimming at 14th day did not adversely affect the growth at any stage.
During growing stage (0 to 6 weeks) cumulative feed intake was significantly
lower in the beak trimmed groups than the control group, while the FCR values
were comparable. During the laying phase (7 to 26 weeks), the age at first egg, 10
and 50 per cent production were similar in all the treatment groups. Mean values
of cumulative quail housed and quail day egg number and per cent production, egg
mass, and mean egg weight during laying phase did not differ significantly in all
the treatment groups. The mean cumulative daily feed consumption was
significantly higher in the control group than the beak trimmed groups. Period wise
and cumulative FCR per dozen eggs and per kg eggs were similar in all the groups.
The returns per quail housed over feed and chick cost was higher in the
beak trimmed groups with a gain of Rs 0.28 in T2 and Rs 0.22 in T3 over T1 during
growing period (0 to 6 weeks). During the laying period (7-26 weeks), the returns
per quail housed over feed and chick cost was higher in T3 with a gain of (Rs. 4.16)
while the gain (Rs. -0.91) in T2 was lower when compared to the control group.
The overall livability per cent during growing and laying phases were not adversely
affected, while mortality due to pecking was observed only in the control group
contributing 50 per cent of the total laying phase mortality.
The evaluation of the results revealed that beak trimming at 14th day did not
affect body weight gain and egg production traits of Japanese quail chicks.
Moreover there were higher returns per quail housed and also absence of mortality
due to pecking in the beak trimmed groups. Therefore it can be recommended that
beak trimming at the 14th day of age can be effective in increasing the profit of
rearing Japanese quail layers.
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