Abstract:

This study was conducted to determine the effect of the supplementation of probiotic-enzyme mixture to diets containing different levels of metabolic energy on performance, egg quality and serum parameters in laying quails. The research was tested in a 3 x 2 factorial treatment design with six experimental groups of four subgroups (with five quails each), consisting of three metabolic energy levels (2900 (control), 2775 or 2650 kcal/kg) and two probiotic-enzyme mixtures (0 or 1 g/kg). A total of 120 female quails at the age of ten weeks were fed with experimental diets for 10 weeks. As the main factor, decreasing the diet metabolic energy level to 2650 kcal/kg negatively affected the feed conversion ratio and eggshell thickness, positively affected the Haugh unit and increased serum cholesterol concentration (P<0.05). In addition, with the decrease in the metabolic energy level of the diet to 2775 kcal/kg, the specific gravity and serum calcium concentration increased. The addition of probiotic-enzyme mixture to the diet, positively affected egg production, feed conversion ratio, eggshell thickness, serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations, and decreased serum glucose concentration (P<0.05). The interactions between diet metabolic energy and probiotic-enzyme mixture affected only serum calcium concentration (P<0.05). As a result, it can be said that laying quails can be fed with diets containing 2775 kcal/kg metabolic energy without affecting performance and the addition of probiotic-enzyme mixture to the diet affects the performance, eggshell quality and serum parameters positively, but decreasing the diet energy level by 2650 kcal/kg negatively affects the parameters examined.

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