Performance and proposal of reproductive management in European quails
Abstract
The objective of this study was to verify posture, fertility, and embryonic viability
depending on the time and frequency use of the male for reproduction, as well as evaluate sperm
storage time in the female after copulation in European quails. For this, 180 males were used
(18 males mated with 10 females each). The experimental design was completely randomized
in a 2x10 factorial scheme, with two genetic lineages and ten days of use for couples, with 14
replications. Males remained in copulation for ten consecutive days, mating each day with a
different female. Information on egg laying, embryonic viability, and egg fertility was collected
daily for fourteen days after copulation. The time males remained in copulation did not alter the
egg fertility. In females, the presence and possible stress caused by males did not change the
laying rates and eggs’ embryonic viability. The fertility rate was higher than 70% only three to
five days after copulation, not achieving the same performance on other days. Based on these
observations, a more efficient reproductive management proposal for large populations may be
implemented using three females for each male on alternate days, with egg collection starting
on the third day after the first copulation, with the necessity of another copulation every three
days per female, considering the mating period of 10 consecutive days. For smaller breeding
stocks, the ratio of two females for one male may be used as an alternative, considering a rest
day for the male.
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