IMPACT OF DIETARY THYME (Thymus vulgaris L.) AND Achillea fragrantissima ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF GROWING QUAIL BIRDS

Document Type : Researches

Authors

Dept. Anim. and Poult. Prod., Fac. Environ. Agric. Sci., Arish Univ., Egypt.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) and Achillea fragrantissima plants on growth performance of quail birds. A total number of 450 unsexed quail birds, 7 days old were randomly divided into sex equal experimental groups with three replicates of 25 birds each for 42 days. The first group was fed on the basal diet as a control. The 2nd and 3rd groups were fed on 5 and 10 g thyme powder/kg diet respectively. The 4th and 5th groups were fed on 5 and 10 g achillea powder/kg diet, respectively. The 6th group was fed on 5 g of each thyme and achillea powder/kg diet. The results indicated that adding of 5 g achillea/kg diet increased the live body weight and body weight gain but not significant (P> 0.05) differ in control group. While birds fed on diet with 5 g achillea significantly (P<0.05) decreased feed intake and improved feed conversion compared to the control group. However, no significant (P> 0.05) change on carcass characteristics due to thyme and achillea adding to quail diets compared to the control group. Additionally, no significant (P> 0.05) effects were observed in total protein, albumin, globulin and albumin/globulin ratio and triglycerides due to the treatments. Birds fed on diet with 5 g achillea/kg diet significantly (P<0.05) decreased the serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL), Aspartate transaminase (AST) and Alanine transaminase (ALT) and increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) compared with the control group.

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