Effect of Adding Octacosanol, Oils of Wheat Germ, and Rice to The Diet on Sexual Maturity, Fertility, Hatching and Reproductive System Weight of Quail

Abstract

This research was conducted to study the effect of adding different percentages of octacosanol (OC), wheat germ oil (WGO), and rice oil (RO) to the ration as an indicator of fertility and hatching of quail birds. Two hundred and eighty-eight quails were used in this study, aged 45 days, and distributed into 24 cages, each cage contained 12 birds (9 females/3 males) for three months. Quail birds were fed production ration. Treatments were added according to the following six treatments: (T1) as a control treatment without any addition, (T2) adding 15 mg octacosanol/kg feedstuff, (T3) adding 20 mg octacosanol/kg feedstuff, (T4) adding 25 mg octacosanol/kg feedstuff, (T5) adding 5 ml of wheat germ oil/kg feedstuff, (T6) adding 5 ml of rice oil/kg feedstuff. After the flock production exceeded 50% and the production of the herd stabilized, 300 eggs were randomly taken from all treatments (50 eggs/treatment) and inserted into an incubator for hatching. Age at sexual maturity, production of 25 and 50%, fertility rate, hatching ratio, The relative weight of the ovaries, egg ducts, and yolk weight were measured in this study. Results found a significant increase (P≤0.05) in the fertility rate for all treatments, but not T3, compared to the control group. Also, the hatchability rate of two ratios of hatching (total eggs and hatching from fertilized eggs) showed a significant increase in T4 compared to other treatments groups. In addition, results showed a significant increase in the relative weight of the second and third yolks for T4 compared to the control group. However, no significant differences showed between all of the experimental treatments in age at sexual maturity and production of 25 and 50% for quail eggs, ovarian weight, oviduct weights, and the relative weight of the first yolk.