Aim:The present study was conducted to evaluate the performance of gray, brown, and white varieties of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) with respect to body weight, egg production, and egg quality traits in the coastal climatic condition of Odisha.Materials and Methods:A total of 500-day-old straight run Japanese quail chicks of three varieties, viz., gray, brown, and white were randomly selected and reared in deep litter system at Central Poultry Development Organization, Eastern Region, Bhubaneswar. The weekly body weight of the birds was recorded till their egg production stage (up to 6 weeks of age). The average egg production was recorded every biweekly from 6th to 20th week. Exterior and interior quality of eggs from each variety was determined at 6 weeks of age.Results:The initial average weekly body weight of three varieties did not differ (p>0.05) among the varieties. However, from 1st to 6th week significantly higher body weight was observed in gray than white and brown. Brown varieties had reached 50% egg production 1 week earlier than gray and white. Brown had higher peak hen day (HD) production or hen-housed egg production followed by white and gray. External quality such as: Egg weight, egg length, egg width, volume, shape index, shell weight, shell thickness depicted no significant difference among the varieties except circumference length and circumference width, which were significantly higher (p≤0.05) in gray varieties than brown varieties. Internal egg characteristics such as: Albumen length, albumen width, albumen height, albumen index, yolk length, yolk width, yolk height, yolk index, albumen weight, yolk weight, Haugh unit revealed no significance difference among the varieties.Conclusion:It may be summarized from the findings that gray excelled in body weight followed by white and brown. Egg production potential in terms of hen house egg production or HD egg production was higher for brown followed by white and gray in the coastal climatic condition of Odisha.

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A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of indigenous Nusuri chicken germplasm of Odisha maintained in floor rearing system. Seventy birds were selected for this study. Body weight and feed consumption were recorded up to 20 weeks. Feed conversion ratio (FCR), energy efficiency ratio (EER) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were calculated. The body conformation traits (breast angle, body length, keel bone length, shank length, shank width, shank circumference, body girth, beak length, head width and height of the bird) were measured at 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th week of age. Blood was collected for estimation of haematological and serum biochemical parameters at 20th week. The day-old, 8th, 16th and 20th week body weights were 24.15, 250.92, 767.09 and 1033.38 g, respectively. The mean cumulative 8th and 20th weeks FCR was 3.74 and 5.46, respectively. The mean cumulative EER and PER was 9.07 and 1.23 at 8th week and 7.39 and 1.15 at 20th week, respectively. All recorded linear body measurements were higher in male birds than the female birds. Haematological parameters such as haemoglobin (12.27 g%), total erythrocyte count (3.57 mm3), total leucocyte count (9.80 mm3), packed cell volume (44.64%), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (39.49 pg), mean corpuscular volume (124.99 fL) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (27.84 g%) and serum biochemical parameters such as glucose (142.61 mg%), total protein (2.91 g%), albumin (1.86 g%), globulin (1.05 g%), urea (4.79 mg/dL), uric acid (6.00 mg/dL), cholesterol (106.74 mg/dL) and triglycerides (35.25 mg/dL) were recorded. This study provides a baseline data of growth performance, nutrient efficiency and blood metabolites of Nusuri chicken germplasm of Odisha.

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