Effect of powdered leaves of Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) and Moringa (Moringa oleifera) as herbal feed additives and various bedding materials on Japanese quail growth

Sharma, A., Kumar, V. and Jhirwal, A.K. 2024. Effect of powdered leaves of Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) and Moringa (Moringa oleifera) as herbal feed additives and various bedding materials on Japanese quail growth. Indian Journal of Poultry Science, 59(2): 183–191

The purpose of the study was to compare how Japanese quail growth performance was affected by dietary supplements such as Moringa (Moringa oleifera) and Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) leaf powder as herbal feed additives. A uniform distribution of three hundred and sixty commercially-day-old Japanese quail chicks was made to raise them on three distinct bedding materials, designated B1, B2, and B3, which were sand, sawdust, and wheat straw, respectively. The chicks raised on each bedding material group were then split evenly into three dietary treatment groups and one control group. As a result, a total of 12 treatment groups were created, each of which included two duplicates, each containing 15 birds. Each of the 12 treatment groups was created using the appropriate bedding material and food supplements. Body weight, body weight gain, feed consumption, and feed conversion ratio were all significantly impacted by the dietary treatment groups, which included either Tulsi alone or Tulsi and Moringa together. Only feed consumption was found to be significantly impacted by bedding materials. No interaction impact was seen on any of the performance parameters during the trial. Thus, the current study found that Tulsi supplementation alone improves Japanese quail performance overall in terms of growth, followed by the group supplemented with a combination of Tulsi and Moringa. When compared to sand, Japanese quail raised on wheat straw and sawdust performed better in this trial. Therefore, it can be said that adding Tulsi to the diet improves the overall growth performance of Japanese quail.