Effect of Supplementation of L-Threonine on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Japanese Quails

Day old Japanese quail chicks (n = 150) were randomly allocated to 5 groups with three replicates of 10 birds in each. Total five isocaloric diets (2900 kcal ME/kg feed) were prepared containing 24, 23, 22, 21 and 20% CP for the groups T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅ respectively. L-threonine was supplemented in diet of each group at the rate of 0.0, 0.05 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2% in the diet of groups T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅ respectively. Body weight at 28 d was higher (P<0.01) in group T₃ as compared to other groups. The feed intake was similar in all the groups. The FCR was better in group T₃ where L-threonine was supplemented @ 0.1% in the diet. Supplementation of threonine resulted in increase (P<0.05) in the weight of thigh, however, other carcass traits did not differ among the groups. Hence Japanese quail could be raised on lower CP diet (22%) with 0.1% L-threonine supplementation to achieve better body weight gains and FCR without affecting carcass characteristics