| Abstrakt: |
Using natural additives in quail rations has become an important consideration in agricultural industries, including poultry production. Many countries have banned the use of antibiotics in poultry nutrition as a feed additive. Hence, finding an alternative to antibiotics is imperative. An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of black pepper meal (phytogenic additive) and oxytetracycline (antibiotic additive) on the production performance, egg qualities and biochemical indices of laying quails fed diets containing these additives. A total of 300 Japanese quails, aged 37 weeks were used for the experiment, black pepper meal was incorporated at 0, 250, 500 and 750 g, respectively and oxytetracycline as recommended by the manufacturers. The birds were randomly assigned to the diets in a completely randomized design. Each diet had 60 birds and was replicated three times with each replicate having 20 birds. Results showed Final weight, Egg mass, Albumin, Globulin and Glucose were significantly (p≤ 0.05) increased but Cholesterol, Creatinine, Urea, and Uric acid were significantly (p≤0.05) decreased in birds fed 750 g black pepper meal. It is concluded that the addition of black pepper meal containing a bioactive compound called piperine which is an alkaloid could significantly improve the production parameters and the general health of laying quails as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
