Effect of Dietary Incorporation of Drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.) Leaf Meal on Production Performance, Nutrient Utilization and Feed Cost Economics of Laying Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Abstract

The experiment aim to discern the effect of dietary incorporation of drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.) leaf mealon the production performance, nutrient utilization and feed cost economics of laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).  The study was conducted at Instructional Poultry Farm and Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India. A total of 230 Japanese quails (182 hens and 48 males) at 6th weeks of age in laying phase were randomly allocated into eight treatment groups having three replicates in a complete randomized design.  Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20. ANOVA, followed by Duncan’s Multiple Range test was used for multiple comparisons.  Laying Japanese quail of   treatment T1 (control group) were fed a basal diet (starter and finisher), as per ICAR 2013,  whereas in  T2 groupbasal diet was incorporated with Vitamin C @200 mg/kg, in T3 group basal diet was incorporated with Vitamin E @10 IU/kg, and in groups  T4, T5, T6, T7, and T8, the basal diet was incorporated with 1.0%, 3.0%, 5.0%, 7.0% and 9.0% Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM),  respectively.   The results showed that overall egg production (7th to 20th weeks) feed intake (g/b/d) was noticed significantly (P≤0.05) higher in T1 (30.55g) and lower in T8 (25.03g) group. A non -significant (P≥0.05) difference in between HDEP percent and HHEP percent was observed amongst different groups during whole experimental period. The average egg weight (g) and egg mass (kg) was observed significantly (P≤0.05) higher in T6 (5%MOLM) and lower in T8 (9%MOLM) group respectively. During whole study period, non- significant (P≥0.05) difference was noticed for FCR/ kg egg mass and FCR/ dozen eggs amongst different treatment groups. For nutrient utilization,significantly (P≤0.05) higher organic matter utilization (%) was noticed in T5 (67.75±1.62) group but significantly (P≤0.05) improved crude protein utilization (%) was observed in T6 (73.38±2.25) group. The ether extracts utilization (%) was found (P≤0.05) higher in T3 (70.86±5.01) group followed by T6 and T4 group while lower in T8 (58.14±0.31) group. The non-significant (P≥0.05) effect was seen by varying level of MOLM on total carbohydrate utilization (%) in different treatment groups of laying Japanese quail. Total egg production/bird was significantly (P<0.05) maximum in T6 (80.95±3.55) and lower in T8 (63.20±3.56) group as compared with control (72.61±2.61) group. A significantly (P<0.05) lowest feed cost/egg was observed in T6 (0.74±0.04) group as compared to others. It can be concluded that 5.0 % drumstick (Moringa oleifera) leaf meal can be incorporated in diet of laying Japanese quail for improvement of their production performance, nutrient utilization and reduced cost of feed per egg.