Effect of Triticale Level and Exogenous Enzyme in the Grower Diet on Performance, Gastrointestinal Tract Relative Weight, Jejunal Morphology and Blood Lipids of Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica)

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of corn substitution with triticale in grower diets (zero, 50 and 100%) with/without exogenous enzyme supplementation on growth performance, digestive organs relative weight, jejunal morphology and blood lipids of quail chicks. Two hundred and forty one-day-old unsexed Japanese quail chicks were randomly assigned to a completely randomized design experiment with six treatments, four replicates/treatment and 10 chicks/replicate. Substituted triticale for corn in quail grower diets didn’t have significant effect on finaly weight and daily body weight gain. In the quail chicks that fed triticale based diet, feed intake and feed conversion ratio significantly reduced compared those fed corn based diet. Inclusion triticale in the quail grower diets at different levels significantly decreased the crop relative weight, blood serum concentration of triglyceride and very low density lipoprotein and significantly increased large intestine relative weight. The villus height, crypt depth, villus surface area and villus height to crypt deep rate in the quail chicks that fed triticale-soy meal diet were significantly more than those fed corn-soy meal diet. Supplemented exogenous enzyme to the experimental diets didn’t have significant effect on whole studied traits, except significantly reduced duodenum relative weight. In conclusion, triticale is a good alternative for corn in quail grower diet, it can completely substitute for corn and have a decreasing effect for blood triglyceride and very low density lipoprotein.