Effects of using nigella seed meal in Japanese quail diets

Abstract EN

This work was conducted at the Poultry Research Station, El-Azab, Fayoum, Egypt, to study the effects of feeding graded levels of nigella seed meal (NSM) on the performance of both growers and layers of Japanese quail.

Total number of 350 one week old unsexed Japanese quail chicks were randomly divided into 5 experimental groups with 2 replicates of 35 birds each of similar body weight.

Five diets containing 0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10% NSM level were used for growing chicks (24% CP and 2900 kcal ME/kg) or laying hens (20% CP and 2900 kcal ME/kg).

Results revealed that body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion (FC), slaughter characteristics and sensory evaluation traits of all experimental groups were insignificantly different during the growing period.

It was concluded that NSM (as a non-conventional source) can satisfactorily replace yellow corn and soybean meal up to 10% in the diet of growing quail chicks to reduce the feed cost.

NSM could be added up to 10% of quail layers diet without any significant different on egg production (EP), egg weight (EW), egg mass (EM) and feed conversion (FC).

It was also concluded that adding NSM up to 7.5% in the diet of quail layers had beneficial effects with respect to EP, EM, FC, fertility% and feed cost/ kg eggs.