Effect of supplementation of organic acids on performance and carcass trait of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

The present research work was performed to study how the organic acids supplementation affects the performance and carcass traits in Japanese quail. About 300 quails were uniformly divided into five treatment groups and each group having four replicates with 15 birds in each. Treatment groups include T₀- Control group, T₁- T₀ +0.25% acetic acid, T₂- T₀ +0.25% butyric acid, T₃- T₀ +0.25% propionic acid and T₄ - T₀ +0.25% (acetic, butyric and propionic acids). Feed consumption, body weight, body weight gain, and FCR were calculated weekly. At the end of the experimental feeding, two birds were select from each replicate with respect to body weight near the mean and starved for 12 h and ad-lib drinking water was made available. After 12 to 16 h birds were scarified and the mean defeathered, eviscerated, giblet weight, dressing yield, edible meat and abdominal fat % were calculated. Feed consumption, body weight and body weight gain showed non-significant changes whereas FCR showed significant improvement. In terms of carcass trait, dressing percentage found non-significant and giblet percentage found significant. From the study, it can be stated that the supplementation of blends of organic acids had a beneficial impact on feed efficiency and carcass characteristics in J. quails.