Effect of sodium chloride supplementation provided through drinking water and/or feed on performance of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)
Abstract
The experiment reported herein aimed to investigate whether sodium chloride (NaCl) provided through feed and/or drinking water, compared to NaCl provided in feed, affected the live weight (LW), live weight gain (LWG), feed (FI) and water intake (WI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass weight (CW) and dressing percentage (DIP) of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica). In a randomised block experimental design, a total of 252 one-week-old Japanese quails were allocated randomly into 4 treatment groups. Each treatment group consisted of three replicates and 21 quails within each replication. The quail chickens were reared in ground cages (75 cm by 75 cm) over a 35-day experimental period. They were offered ad libitum a basal ration the composition of which was 23.97% crude protein and 3083 kcal ME/kg. Treatments were i) 2.5 g NaCl/kg supplemented in feed (control group; C), ii) 2.5 g NaCl/l supplemented in drinking water (tap water; W), iii) 1.25 g NaCl/l supplemented in feed and 1.25 g NaCl/l supplemented in drinking water (F/W) and iv) 1.25 g NaCl/l supplemented in drinking water (1/2 W). At the end of the experimental period, differences among the groups in terms of FLW (183 +/- 5, 192 +/-6, 179 +/- 3 and 187 +/- 2 g), LWG (156 +/- 5, 165 +/- 6, 152 +/- 3 and 160 +/- 2 g), FI (833 +/- 17, 829 +/-17, 824 9 and 846 17 g), WI (1425 +/- 9, 1525 +/- 48, 1423 +/- 69 and 1480 +/- 91), FCR (5.34 +/- 0.01, 5.02 +/- 0.01, 5.44 +/- 0.18 and 5.27 +/- 0.14) CW (130 +/- 1, 128 +/- 5, 126 +/- 1 and 131 +/- 3 g) and DIP (71.11 +/- 2.33, 66.90 +/- 3.22, 70.58 +/- 1.53 and 69.73 +/- 2.15%) were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The mortality rate of quails in group W (7.97%) was higher than that of quails in groups C (3.17%), F/W (1.59%) and 1/2 W (3.17%). These results indicate that the performance of quails was not adversely affected by NaCl supplementation of the drinking water but it increased the mortality rate.
