Effect of Self-photoperiod on Live Weight, Carcass and Growth Traits in Quails (Coturnix Coturnix Japonica)

Omer Coban,Nilufer Sabuncuoglu,Ekrem Lacin,Zekeriya Ozudogru

doi:10.5713/ajas.2009.80346

Abstract

The weekly liveweight gain, growing and stress parameters of quails bred using two different types of lighting for 6 weeks following hatching were examined in this study. The first type of lighting was 23 L: 1 D, continuous lighting (CL), widely used in the commercial system and the second was a self-photoperiod (SP) system consisting of a continuously lit chamber and a dark chamber the quails could move to as they wished. On the first 15 days, no difference was found in liveweight gain between the two breeding systems. On the 6 th week when the trial was completed, the liveweight of the male quails upon which CL lighting was used was 159.03 g while the weight of males in the SP group was 174.43 g; these values in female quails of the CL group were 179.15 g and in the SP group were 200.68 g. The CL group had lower testis volume (TVOM, cm 3 ) and testis weight (TW, g) than the SP group, however there was no difference between the groups in testis weight/body weight rate (BWTW %). In female quails, the ovary weight (OW, g) and the ovary weight/body weight rate (BWOW, %) values were higher in the SP group. The CL light regime was concluded to cause stress in male quails (CL, Heterophil/Lymphocyte ratio (H/L): 0.27; SP, H/L: 0.17). In conclusion; the SP system allowing the quails to regulate their light periods increased liveweight gain and enabled sexual maturity to be gained at an earlier period than in quail on the CL system and improved their welfare.

Highlights

Environmental factors such as feeding, management, ambient temperature, density and lighting regime are known to affect production, health and welfare of poultry (Donkoh, 1989; Moller et al, 1995; Sarica, 1998; Chen et al, 2002).The difference between day and night increases from the equator towards the poles, with nights getting longer in winter and shorter in summer seasons
A cage of 180 cm×90 cm×50 cm was used for the quails of the continuous lighting (CL) group, a lighting space of 90 cm×90 cm×50 cm was provided for the self-photoperiod (SP) group, and a dark chamber of 90 cm×90 cm×50 cm was supplied for the quails to enter at their will; the dark and light chambers were separated by a canvas and the other parts of the dark chamber were covered with a black cloth to avoid light
The weights of the female quails were similar in both lighting systems until day 36; on the last week of the experiment the weights of the females in SP group were higher than the CL group (p

Summary

Introduction

Environmental factors such as feeding, management, ambient temperature, density and lighting regime are known to affect production, health and welfare of poultry (Donkoh, 1989; Moller et al, 1995; Sarica, 1998; Chen et al, 2002).The difference between day and night increases from the equator towards the poles, with nights getting longer in winter and shorter in summer seasons. Animals have become adapted to the seasons of their environment by responding to the changes in the lengths of daylight and night in preparation for the climatic changes that are to come. These responses, which are associated with the seasons of the year, involve physiological processes known as photoperiodism (Koukkari and Robert, 2006). The color, intensity and period of the light used in poultry production cause physiological interactions in birds, affecting their breeding, growth and attainment of sexual. MacDaniel (1972), on the other hand, stated that intermittent lighting allowed for higher liveweight increase than continuous lighting. Moore and Siopes (2000) stated that the increase of melatonin release strengthens the immune systems of quails. Gordon (1994) reported that a 16 h-lighting decreased stress in broilers, allowing for more live weight increase

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