Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, cilt.28, sa.3, ss.2115-2120, 2019 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Feeding especially those of protein sources is the main input in the total cost-price of poultry production. This fact is also valid for meat type quail populations which are subjected to the genetic breeding program. It is a subject of research that T. molitor can be a good alternative protein source. This research elucidated the effects of 10 % T. molitor addition as protein resource to quail diet on weight gains, feed intake and feed consumptions on weekly basis by comparing with control (soybean meal as main protein resource in diet). In addition, genetic parameters were estimated for weight gain and feed conversion rate characteristics. Total of 294 Japanese quails obtained from 50 full-sib families were used in this study. The overall mean weight gain was 27.7, 44.7, 60.7, 54.9 and 39.3 g at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks of age, respectively. The overall average feed intake in the end of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks were 50.5, 109.7, 112.0, 138.7 and 198.7 g per week, respectively, whereas the feed conversion rates for respective growth periods were 1.90, 2.52, 1.90, 2.59 and 6.04. T. molitor added 10% to the ration, resulted in a lower weight gain in the first three weeks of experiment comparing to the control group. However, this event does not apply to the later stages of growth period. The T. molitor addition into the ration led to a decrease in feed consumption after 3 weeks of age without any loss of growth performance. In this case, the feed conversion rates of birds at 4 and 5 weeks of age were lower for the T. molitor group. The heritability estimates for weight gain at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks were 0.78, 0.55, 0.74, 0.53 and 0.21 respectively whereas those of the feed conversion rates were 0.64, 0.50, 0.69, 0.43 and 0.06. Instead of soybean meal in meat type quail diets, as an alternative dietary protein source, use of 10 % T. molitor was found to have negligible effects on genetic parameter estimates for weight gain and feed conversion rate traits.