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Abstract
The present study included two experiments were carried out at the Poultry Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt, from November, 2006 to February, 2007.
First Experiment
The 1st experiment was carried out to study the effect of different housing systems (floor pens vs battery cages) on some productive and reproductive peformance traits of Japanese quail.
Results obtained are summarized as following:
1- Highly significant differences (P ≤ 0.001) were found between housing system on most studied traits.
2- Females kept in battery cages had significantly heavier body weights than those in floor pens at 8 and 10 weeks of age.
3- Quails kept in floor pens had significantly higher values of laying rate, egg number, egg weight and egg mass than those kept in battery cages.
4- Maximum percentage of fertility and hatchability were obtained in eggs laid from quail housed in floor pens compared with the other eggs laid from battery cages.
5- Total dead embryos were lower in eggs laid from quail housed in floor pens compared with the other eggs laid from battery cages.
6- Eggs laid in floor pens had higher yolk index values than those eggs laid in battery cages at 18 weeks of age.
7- Shell thickness was insignificantly higher in eggs laid in floor pens than those eggs laid in battery cages during the entire study period.
8- Internal quality unit values were insignificantly higher in caged birds than in floor group during the entire period.
9- High plumage scores (indicate high plumage deterioration) were obtained in males housed in cages than others housed in floors at all ages with significant differences (P<0.05) except at 18 weeks of age.
10- Males housed in cages had significantly (P<0.05) higher cloacal gland area than males housed in floor pens at 8 and 10 wks and during the entire period from 8 to 18 weeks of age.
Second Experiment
The 2nd experiment was carried out to study the effect of different photoperiods (12, 14, 16 and 18 hrs/d) and different sex ratio (1:2, 1:4, 1:6 and 1:8) or their interactions on some productive and reproductive performance traits of Japanese quail.
Results obtained are summarized as following:
1- Highly significant differences (P ≤ 0.001) were found among treatments and their interactions in most studied traits.
2- Females kept in 12hr L/d had significantly (P<0.05) lighter body weight compared with other groups at 8 and 10 weeks of age.
3- Females kept in sex ratio of 1:8 at 12hr L/d had significantly (P<0.05) heavier body weight compared with other groups at 14 and 18 weeks of age.
4- Males body weight tended to increase with increasing in photoperiod, the heaviest value was recorded in males kept under 18hr L/d (258.22g), while the lightest value was recorded in males kept under 12hr L/d (230.84g).
5- Birds kept under 16hr L/d had the highest laying rate at sex ratio 1:4 (72.57%), but the lowest value was obtained from birds kept under 12hr L/d at sex ratio 1:6 (33.43%).
6- The heaviest egg weight was obtained from birds kept under 14hr L/d at sex ratio 1:4 (14.14g), but the lightest value was obtained from birds kept under 12hr L/d at sex ratio 1:6 (11.29g).
7- The lower values of egg number and egg mass/hen were obtained from birds kept under 12hr L/d in comparison with the other three photoperiods. Also, birds subjected to sex ratio 1:6 had lower values in comparison with the other sex ratio groups.
8- The maximum values of fertility percent were obtained in eggs laid from quail kept in 14hr L/d at sex ratio 1:2 flowed by 16hr L/d at sex ratio 1:4 (98.67 and 98.11% respectively), but the minimum value was obtained in eggs laid from quail kept in 18hr L/d at sex ratio 1:8 (76.67%).
9- Hatchability percent increased with increasing photoperiod, it was highest in eggs laid from birds kept in 18 L/d followed by 16hr L/d and lowest in 14hr L/d followed by 12hr L/d.
10- Eggs laid from hens kept in 16hr L/d had the highest egg shape index (78.34), while the lowest value was obtained in eggs laid from birds kept in 14hr L/d (77.19).
11- The highest yolk index was found in eggs laid from hens kept in 18hr L/d (49.11), but the lowest value was obtained from hens kept in 12 hr L/d (47.57).
12- The highest internal quality units were obtained from hens kept in 12hr L/d (95.38), but the lowest value was obtained from birds kept in 16hr L/d (92.68).
13- The highest score of plumage condition was obtained from birds kept under 16hr L/d at sex ration 1:2, but the lowest value was obtained from birds kept under 18hr L/d at sex ratio 1:6 during 10, 18 and entire experimental period.
14- Cloacal gland area tended to increased with increasing in photoperiod, but it decrease with increasing in sex ration.