Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Moringa oleifera Leaves and/or Seeds Powder on Production, Egg Characteristics, Hatchability and Blood Chemistry of Laying Japanese Quails

Elwy A. Ashour, Mohamed S. El-Kholy, Mahmoud Alagawany, Mohamed E. Abd El-Hack, Laila A. Mohamed, Ayman E. Taha, Ahmed I. El Sheikh, Vito Laudadio and Vincenzo Tufarelli
Additional contact information
Elwy A. Ashour: Poultry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Mohamed S. El-Kholy: Poultry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Mahmoud Alagawany: Poultry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Mohamed E. Abd El-Hack: Poultry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Laila A. Mohamed: Poultry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Ayman E. Taha: Department of Animal Husbandry and Animal Wealth Development, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Edfina 22578, Egypt
Ahmed I. El Sheikh: Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, P. O. Box 400 Al-Hasa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Vito Laudadio: Department of DETO, Section of Veterinary Science and Animal Production, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Valenzano, 70010 Bari, Italy
Vincenzo Tufarelli: Department of DETO, Section of Veterinary Science and Animal Production, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Valenzano, 70010 Bari, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-9

Abstract: The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) leaves and/or seed powder on laying Japanese quail performance in terms of egg production, egg quality, blood serum characteristics, and reproduction. In total, 168 Japanese quails (120 hens and 48 males) at eight weeks of age in laying period were randomly distributed to four treatment groups, with six replicates per group and seven birds (five hens and two males) per replicate. The first group (G1) served as a control group, while G2, G3 and G4 groups were supplemented with M. oleifera leaves (ML) and M. oleifera seeds (MS) and their combination ((1 g/kg ML; 1 g/kg MS; and 1 ML g/kg + 1 MS g/kg (MSL), respectively). From the results, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, fertility and hatchability from fertile eggs, egg and yolk index, and Haugh unit were not affected by dietary treatments. However, egg production, egg mass, eggshell thickness, and hatchability were significantly increased and blood aspartate transaminase (AST) and urea decreased in the MS treatment. Both triglycerides and total cholesterol were reduced ( p < 0.05) in all treatments with ML, MS, and MSL, with no significant differences in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, total protein, globulin, and A/G ratio among dietary treatment. Our results clearly indicated that the inclusion of M. oleifera seeds in Japanese quail diet significantly increased egg production and improved hatchability, along with some egg quality parameters, and also lowered some blood biochemical components.

Keywords: Moringa oleifera; Japanese quail; fertility; egg production; livestock (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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