Feather meal supplemented with protease in diets for meat-type quails

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of feather meal (FM) in diets supplemented with protease for meat-type quails, on performance from eight to 21 days and from eight to 35 days of age and on carcass yield cuts and economic profitability from eight to 35 days of age. A total of 360 male, meat-type quails, were allotted to a completely randomized design, in a factorial 3 x 3 arrangement (three diets and three FM levels of inclusion), with four replicates of 10 quails per experimental unit. The diets evaluated were positive control (PC) + 0% FM, PC + 5% FM, PC + 10% FM, negative control (NC) + 0% FM, NC + 5% FM, NC + 10% FM, NC + 0% FM + protease, NC + 5% FM + protease and NC + 10% FM + protease. The NC diet was formulated with a reduction in crude protein and amino acids, compared to the PC diet. There was an effect (p < 0.05) of the inclusion of FM in diets on feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio, from eight to 21 and from eight to 35 days of age. There was a significant effect (p < 0.05) of FM inclusion on the live weight of 35-day-old quails. The inclusion of FM impairs meat-type quails’ performance at all ages evaluated. NC diets, with and without protease, worsen the performance of birds compared to PC diets. Better economic profitability is observed for up to 5% inclusion of feather meal in positive control diets.