E-ISSN 2223-0343


Determination of the effects of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume and Thymus vulgaris on performance and egg quality of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Vali1 N, Shahin H1* and Vatankhah M1

*Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord Branch, Iran

 
Abstract

This study was conducted on Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of two medicinal plants (Cinnamomum zeylanicum blume and Thymus vulgaris) on the performance and egg quality parameters. One hundred C. japonica quail, 42 days old, were randomly allocated to five treatments with five replicates of four birds each (three females and one male). The experiment lasted for 63 days until the quails reached to 105 days of age. Birds were assigned to the basal diet (control) which was supplemented with 1.0% thymus powder (T2), 2.0% thymus powder (T3), 1.0% cinnamon powder (T4) and 2.0% cinnamon powder (T5), respectively. In this experiment, performance parameters (live weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR) egg production, and egg quality parameters (egg weight, eggshell weight, yolk weight, albumin weight, eggshell thickness and some of egg mineral content) were determined. The results showed that, egg production didn’t differ among the treatments (P>0.05), while live weight and feed intake were affected significantly by experimental treatments (P<0.05). Moreover feed conversion ratio values were affected positively by thymus powder supplementation to the diets. Also, these results indicated that experimental treatments significantly improved egg quality parameters in Japanese quail (P<0.05) except for yolk weight. Thymus and cinnamon supplementation to the diet increased the egg mineral content (Fe, Zn, Cu) compared to the control (P<0.05). In conclusion, dietary inclusion of thymus and cinnamon powder may have beneficial effects on performance of Japanese quail and their egg quality parameters.

Keywords: Thymus; Cinnamon; Egg quality; Egg mineral content; Japanese quail
 
To cite this article: Vali N, H Shahin and M Vatankhah, 2013. Determination of the effects of Cinnamomum zeylanicum blume and Thymus vulgaris on performance and egg quality of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). Res. Opin. Anim. Vet. Sci., 3(9), 280-284.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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