EFFECT OF USING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MORINGA OLEIFERA MEAL IN THE DIETS OF JAPANESE QUAILS ON THEIR PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE

Abstract

he aim of this study was to inspect the effect of feeding Japanese quail chicks on diets containing different levels of Moringa Oleifera meal (MOM) on productive performance, carcass quality and blood constituents. Six hundred unsexed one-week-old birds of Japanese quail were equally divided into five experimental groups of 120 birds each. They were fed at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% with MOM. The experiment lasted for six weeks during which the effect of MOM on the body weight, feed consumption, feed conversion, blood constituents and carcass traits were observed as indicator of performance. The results showed that, birds fed on 5 % MOM gained significantly higher body weight and body weight gain than birds fed the control diet, but the lowest feed consumption (P≤0.01) and best feed conversion ratio were obtained by using 20% MOM compared to control group. Using 20% MOM increased the weight of heart and liver significantly (P≤0.05) than other groups, but there were no significantly (P>0.05) differences in gizzard, carcass and edible parts weights of the growing Japanese quails in the four treatments. Plasma total protein and albumin were significantly higher in two groups (15 and 20 %) MOM as compared to other treated groups or control group. The best level of MOM was 20% which recorded a decrease in plasma cholesterol and LDL compared to control group, but plasma AST and ALT decreased with all levels of MOM. This study indicate that the 20% MOM diet can improve quail performance without negative effects on growth and carcass traits.