Effect of dietary incorporation of Moringa leaf meal at varying levels on growth performance, digestibility and nutrient utilization in Japanese quails Varalakkshmi G., Kishore K. Raja*, Kumar D. Srinivas, Seshaiah Ch. Venkata, Narendranath D. Department of Animal Nutrition, NTR College of Veterinary Science, Gannavaram-521 102 Sri, Venkateswara Veterinary University, Andhra Pradesh, India *Corresponding author Email: dr_rajakishore@yahoo.co.in
Online Published on 15 January, 2024. Abstract The present experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding Moringa leaf meal (MLM) at varying levels on growth performance, digestibility, nutrient utilization and cost economics in Japanese quails. One hundred and fifty, day-old quail chicks were distributed randomly to five dietary treatments (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) each with three replicates of 10 chicks. MLM was incorporated at 0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 % levels, respectively, in the different experimental groups for a period of 35 days to meet the nutrient requirements (NRC, 1994). Results revealed a significant increase (P<0.01) in body weight gain, overall feed intake, performance index, protein efficiency ratio and improved (P<0.01) FCR with the incorporation of MLM at a 3.0% level in the diet compared to other treatment groups. There was a significant increase in the digestibility of DM, OM, CP, CF, EE, NDF, cellulose (P<0.05) and NFE (P<0.01) with incorporation of MLM at a 3.0 % level in the diet compared to other treatment groups. Further, the incorporation of MLM at a 3.0 % level in the diet resulted in increased (P<0.05) utilization of N and Ca, with non-significant differences in P utilization among the experimental groups. The feed cost/kg gain decreased by  7.27 in T3 as compared to control (T1). It was concluded that MLM can be incorporated into the quail diets at a 3.0% level for improved digestibility, nutrient utilization, and economical production without any adverse effects. Top Keywords Digestibility, Economics, Growth, Nutrient utilization, Quails. Top |