Effect of dietary crude protein level on growth parameters and carcass characteristics of quail (Coturnix sp) at finisher stage in Western Highlands of Cameroon

摘要

InordertodeterminetheproteinrequirementsofgrowingquailsatfinisherstageinWesternHighlandsofCameroon,astudyhasbeenconductedattheApplicationandResearchFarmoftheUniversityofDschang.Forthispurpose,192threeweeksoldquails(96malesand96females)weredividedinto12comparablebatchesof16birds(08malesand08females).Eachofthe3finisherdietswererandomlyassignedto04batchesinacompletelyrandomizeddesigndevicewith3treatments(F1,F2andF3correspondingto18,20and22%ofdietarycrudeproteinlevelrespectively)repeated4timeseach.Datawerecollectedduringthe4weeksofthestudyongrowthparametersandattheendoncarcasscharacteristics.nbsp;Themainresultswereasfollows:regardlessofgender,thedietaryproteinleveldidnotsignificantlyaffectthetotalfeedconsumptionandbodyweightat7weeksofageinquail.Sameobservationwasnotedforbodyweightinmales.However,treatmentF2inducedinfemale,thesignificantlyhigherbodyweight.BodyweightsofF2treatmentinmales(215.25±3.25)andregardlessofsex(225.34±11.25)wererelativelylargerthanthoseofF1andF3treatments.Exceptinmalesweretheweeklyweightgainwerecomparableregardlessoftreatments,thoseofF2infemales(31.07±0.21)andregardlessofgender(31.07±0.18)weresignificantlyhigher.Regardlessofgender,weeklyweightgainofF2treatmentwasalsohigherthanthatofF3treatment.ThelowestfeedconversionratiowasnotedwithtreatmentF2infemales(5.93±0.07)andregardlessofsex(6.21±0.08).Inmales,differentdietaryproteinlevelsinducedcomparable(P#707;0.05)valuesoffeedconversionratio.SignificantlyhighercarcassyieldswererecordedwithtreatmentsF1andF2comparedtoF3treatment.Inmalesat0.01significancelevel,thereisapositivecorrelationbetweenliveweightandheart(0.98)alsobetweenlivebodyweightandliver(0.99).At5%significancelevel,correlationispositivebetweenlivebodyweightofF2males,gizzardweigh(0.90)andtestisweight(0.87).IntreatmentF2femalesat7weeksofage,thereisapositiveandsignificantcorrelationbetweenlivebodyweightandheartweight(0.99),liverweight(0.97)andgonadsweight(0.96).Itwasconcludedthatinthegeo-climaticcontextofWesternHighlandsofCameroon,dietscontaining20%ofcrudeproteincouldbeusedtofeedquailsatfinisherstages.