Performance and egg production of European quails fed with increasing levels of apparent metabolizable energy

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the performance and egg production of European quails fed diets with different levels of apparent metabolizable energy. One hundred and twenty European quails (Coturnix coturnix coturnix) with 129 days of age and average body weight of 289.04 g were used. The experiment lasted 56 days, divided into 2 cycles of 28 days (first cycle: 129 to 156 days; second cycle: 157 to 185 days). A completely randomized experimental design was adopted, with five treatments (apparent metabolizable energy (AME) levels - 2, 700, 2, 800, 2, 900, 3, 000, and 3, 100 kcal kg-1 of AME) formulated with a ratio of apparent metabolizable energy and crude protein (AME:CP) of 122.73, 127.27, 131.82, 136.36, and 140.91, respectively, with four replications for treatments. Increasing AME reduced feed intake, egg production and albumen proportion during the first cycle (p < 0.05), in contrast to feed conversion per dozen eggs, and yolk proportion increased (p < 0.05). For the second cycle, egg production was reduced with increasing AME levels (p < 0.05). The better AME level for European quails was 2, 700 kcal kg-1 of AME for a diet with 22% CP (AME:CP 122.73), obtaining the better performance (feed intake, egg production and feed conversion per dozen eggs) of quails from 129 to 185 days and egg production from 157 to 185 days. The inclusion of 3, 000 kcal kg-1 of AME in the diets provided eggs with a higher proportion of yolk and a lower proportion of albumen.