Efficacy of probiotic supplementation on growth performance and carcass traits in Japanese quails

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of probiotics on fattening performance and carcass parameters in 1– to 35–day-old Japanese quails. Day-old male Japanese quail chicks (288) were randomly divided into 4 treatments with 3 replicates of 24 / pen (mean body weight 8.39 g). The dietary treatments were as follows: Group A, basal diet; group B, basal diet supplemented with 0.5 kg/tonne protexin; group C, basal diet supplemented with 1.0 kg/ tonne protexin; and group D, basal diet supplemented with 1.5 kg/tonne protexin. The study lasted for 5 weeks. Results showed that probiotic did not influence body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and carcass traits of 35–d-old broilers (P> 0.05). Inclusion of 1.5 kg/tonne probiotic in the diet of quails decreased average weekly body weights, compared with those fed with basal diet and another groups (P< 0.05).