Document Type : Research Articles
Authors
Animal Science Research Department, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Cereal grains are the primary source of energy in poultry diets. Energy from cereal grains is primarily derived from highly digestible carbohydrates, with a small contribution from the fat they contain. Therefore, depending on dietary energy requirements, cereal grains constitute a substantial proportion of poultry rations and play a major role in overall feed costs. On the other hand, among cereal grains, corn is more widely used in poultry nutrition than other cereal grains due to its high energy content and digestibility. Due to human consumption and the limitations of corn cultivation in Iran, such as water supply, climatic conditions, and soil type, it seems necessary to replace corn with other feedstuffs in order to provide energy in poultry diets. One of these grains is triticale, which can be used as an alternative cereal in poultry diets. Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye. The combination of wheat‑like nutritional attributes and the robustness of rye make triticale adaptable to poor soils and highly tolerant to drought and cold stress. Furthermore, triticale is a suitable source of energy (3200 Kcal of metabolizable energy) and has a higher protein percentage than corn (14% compared to 9%). This makes it a suitable alternative for a major portion of corn and soybean meal in poultry diet composition. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of replacing corn grain with triticale in the diet on the performance, egg quality traits, and some biochemical parameters of blood serum in breeder Japanese quail.
Materials and Methods: A total of 288 mature breeder Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were obtained at 6 weeks of age and transferred to the research farm. The breeder quails with the same average weight (240 birds) were placed in 12 groups (3 males and 9 females) in each experimental unit (cages measuring 35×70 cm). The experimental period was 7 weeks, with the first 2 weeks dedicated to habituation and the remaining 5 weeks focused on collecting experimental data. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design with 5 treatments, 4 replicates and 12 birds in each experimental unit (3 males and 9 females). The treatments were as follows: 1) control group based on corn and soybean meal (without triticale grains), 2) replacing 25% of corn grains with triticale, 3) replacing 50% of corn grains with triticale, 4) replacing 75% of corn grains with triticale, and 5) replacing 100% of corn grains with triticale. Performance parameters, egg quality traits, hatchability, and fertility of eggs were evaluated throughout the experimental period. At the end of the experimental period (13 weeks) blood samples were taken from two birds from each experimental unit and serum lipid concentrations were measured.
Results and Discussion: The results indicated that replacing corn with triticale up to 50% had no significant effects on egg production, feed conversion ratio, egg mass, or the production cost per kilogram of eggs. However, higher levels of replacement significantly reduced egg production and egg mass while increasing the cost of egg production (P < 0.01). Previous studies have reported a clear relationship between albumen content and overall egg weight. Triticale has also been reported to contain a relatively high protein level (ranging from10.5 to 14.6%). Therefore, the increase in egg weight with the progressive inclusion of triticale might be attributed to the high protein levels of triticale compared to other cereal grains. In the present study, the control group and the group with 100% replacement of corn grain by triticale showed the highest and lowest yolk color index, respectively (P < 0.01).Given the role of pigments in corn grain and the decrease in their levels in diets containing high levels of triticale, the decrease in yolk color index is expected. Replacing corn grain with triticale up to 75% did not have a significant effect on total hatchability. In the current study, replacing corn grain with different levels of triticale did not have a significant effect on serum lipid parameters of breeder quails at 13 weeks of age.
Conclusion: In the present study, replacing corn grain with triticale up to 50% did not significantly affect egg production, feed intake, egg mass, the production cost per kilogram of quail eggs, fertility, hatchability, or most egg quality parameters. Therefore, replacing triticale grain up to 50% in balanced diets of breeder quails, even without the inclusion of exogenous enzymes, is feasible and recommended.
Keywords
Subjects
