Effect of housing system and sex ratio of quails on egg production, fertility and hatchability

Abstract

A B S T R A C T The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of housing system and sex ratio of quails on egg production, fertility and hatchability. A total number of 305 quails of five weeks old were divided into two groups, The first group (96 birds) was housed on battery cages and divided according to sex ratio into 2 equal subgroups of ratio (1: 2) male to females and 1: 3, the second one (209 birds) was housed on floor pens and divided according to sex ratio into 2 equal subgroups of ratio (1: 2) male to females and 1: 3. Eggs were collected daily for one month to estimate egg production percentage of each group. 200 eggs from each group were artificially incubated for detection the effect of housing on fertility, hatchability and embryonic mortality. The obtained results showed that the total egg production percentage was significantly higher (P<0.001) in case of battery cages (63.54±1.68%) than those in floor system (46.67±1.68%), it was higher but not significant at sex ratio 1:3 (57.01±1.68%) than those at 1:2 (53.21±1.68%). The fertility percentage was significantly higher (P<0.001) in case of floor pens (80.67±0.75%) than those in battery cages (73.67±0.75%) and significantly higher (P<0.01) at sex ratio 1:2 (79.17±0.75%) than those at 1:3 (75.17±0.75%). The hatchability percentage of total eggs set was higher but not significant in floor pens (52.00±1.89%) than those in battery cages (49.50±1.89%), it was higher but not significant at sex ratio 1:3 (52.00±1.89%) than those at 1:2 (49.50±1.89%). The hatchability percentage of fertile eggs set was significantly higher (P<0.001) in battery cages (70.40±0.90%) than those in floor pens (64.45±0.90%) and significantly higher (P<0.001) at sex ratio 1:3 (70.12±0.90%) than those at 1:2 (64.75±0.90%).