EFFECT OF THE SCHEDULE OF SUPPLY OF RATIONS CONTAINING DIFFERENT CALCIUM LEVELS ON PERFORMANCE AND EGGS QUALITY OF JAPANESE QUAILS (Coturnix japonica) IN PRODUCTION END PHASE

Abstract

It was aimed to determine the best schedule of supply and the better calcium level, aiming to optimize the quality and production of quail’s egg. 360 Japanese quails (54 weeks old) were used. The quails were divided in three treatments T1, 3.75% of Ca in the morning (0800 until 1600 hours) e 1.25% of Ca on afternoon (1600 until 0800 hours); T2, 2.5% of Ca in the morning e 2.5 of Ca in the afternoon e T3, 1.25 of Ca in the morning end 3.75% of Ca in the afternoon with six replicates each. The diets were formulated to contain 20% of protein, 2,900 kcal ME/kg and 2.5% of calcium. The average egg weight (g), egg production (%), egg mass (g/quail/day), diet consumption (g), feed conversion for dozen, feed conversion per kilogram of produced eggs, specific gravity, yolk index, Haugh Units, shell thickness and shell percentage, were not affected by schedule or calcium supplementation. It was concluded that the variation of calcium supplementation during the considered period did not alter the performance and the egg quality.

Key-words: Calcium, quails, schedule, production of eggs, quality of eggs.