Betaine is a methyl group donor and organic osmolyte, optimizing quail’s performance, particularly in a tropical environment. This study determined the fitness of the logistic model to predict the quail egg production with dietary betaine supplementation. Two hundred and four quails were divided into two dietary treatments, and six replicates with 17 quails each. The treatment diets were control (CTR) and 0.12% betaine supplementation (BET). Egg production data were collected for eleven weeks, and a T-test was performed. Next, the data is plotted to get the actual egg production curve. The fit of the logistic model is calculated according to the coefficient of determination (R2). Quail that received betaine supplementation produced more eggs than control (P<0.05). The actual egg production curve shows the effect of betaine supplementation seen after the fourth week. The logistic model predicts CTR to reach peak production faster than BET but to have lower peak production than BET (56.63% vs. 63.56%). Prediction of egg production both CTR and BET showed high accuracy with a relatively high R2 (0.88; CTR and 0.87; BET). Thus, the logistic model accurately predicted quails egg production reared in a tropical environment with betaine supplementation.
Energy and protein ratio in the diet plays an important role in laying quails production. High nutrient density could expose the quails into heat stress due to inefficient metabolic process and nutrient absorption. On the other hand, lower density possesses the risk of nutrient insufficiency. Both cases are potential in affecting the egg production. This study aimed to investigate the egg production patterns of quails fed different nutrient density with constant ratio of metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP). Egg production data was obtained from two hundred laying quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) which were randomly assigned into two distinct experimental diets. Dietary treatments were given for eight weeks and replicated five times each with 20 quails. Two diets were formulated to contain High ME-CP (2,800 kcal/kg ME and 18.7% CP) and Low ME-CP (2, 600 kcal/kg ME and 17.3% CP). The data were analysed using t-test and egg production patterns were plotted. Quails fed with different nutrient density yielded similar egg production values and patterns. We fit non-linear mathematical model into the datasets; similar trends and fitness were also observed (R2 = 0.96). It is concluded that quail fed with different nutrient density exhibited minor difference in egg production pattern.
In tropical area, animals are prone to stress due to high environmental temperature hence affecting the production. Vitamin C has been offered as an agent to help animal to cope with heat stress. This paper aimed to estimate the consistency of quail’s egg production supplemented with vitamin C through repeatability estimates. A total of 136 quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were randomly allotted into 2 dietary treatments with 4 replicates each containing 17 quails. The dietary treatments were basal diet (T0) and basal diet + 250 mg/kg vitamin C (T1). Dietary treatments were given for 8 weeks in laying phase. In total we obtained 56 days of egg production data. Data were analysed using t-test to infer the differences between the treatments and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to obtain the repeatability value. The results showed that the supplementation of vitamin C increased egg production up to 14.3% (P<0.01). Repeatability value of T0 was higher (0.33) than T1 (-0.13). Quails given T0 has a high egg production consistency but produce lower egg production than T1. It is concluded that supplementation of vitamin C increased egg production but were not yet able to produce the optimal consistency.
This study investigated the effect of dietary betaine supplementation and floor space on quail egg production parameters. With six replicates, four hundred fifty-six quails (21-day-old) were randomly assigned to a 2×2 factorial arrangement. The first factor was floor space of 225 cm2 (F1) and 164 cm2 (F2) by allocating 16 and 22 birds per cage (size: 3600 cm2). The second factor was dietary betaine supplementation at 0% (CON) and 0.15% (BET). Egg production was collected in 2 periods (2×28 days) starting from 43 days old. The age of the first production, 10%, 50%, and peak production, was also recorded. There is an interaction between dietary betaine supplementation and floor space on the age of productive parameters, where quails receiving betaine supplementation reached faster 50% production and peak production (p<0.05). Furthermore, the F1 group had a higher average egg production than F2 (p<0.05). BET group had a higher average egg production than CON (p<0.05). Thus, floor space 225 cm2 can be applied in the tropics provided the quails received dietary betaine supplementation.
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