Yogurt as Probiotic: Comparative Effect on Growth Performance of Broiler Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica)

Abstract

Yogurt is a natural source of gut-friendly bacteria. It has a considerable body of evidence that supports the significant positive effects of yogurt as probiotics on quail production performance and health. Yogurt containing bacteria can improve quail economic indexes and resistance to pathogens. With this objective, 240 growing Japanese quails were randomly distributed into three groups A1 (control), A2 (Yogurt), and A3 (Protexin) (4 replicates/treatment of 20 birds) to investigate the effect of yogurt as a probiotic source. Birds were allowed to be fed ad libitum with a commercial quail ration. Yogurt and Protexin were mixed at the rate of 5 ml/L (5ml into 1 lt. water) and 1g/L (1gm into 1 lt. water) in A2 and A3, respectively. Six (6) weeks of investigation showed a significantly higher result in yogurt than in the other two groups. Body weight had a significant difference between the control and protexin groups. Body weight gain (g) was significantly heavier in A2 at the finisher phase. No significant effect was observed in feed intake, but FCR (Feed Conversion Ratio) was significantly lower in A2, but no significant effect was noticed between A1 and A3. The mortality percentage was higher in the control group (2.66%) and lowest in yogurt (1.03%). Carcass characteristics were significantly heavier in A2 than A1 and A3. Non-carcass characteristics illustrated significant differences among the three groups, but a non-significant difference was observed in head weight. The gross return per bird was higher in A2 (12.05 BDT), whereas it was 6.55 BDT and 7.08 BDT for A1 and A3. With those observations, it can be concluded that yogurt successfully enhanced overall broiler performance and gross return of Japanese quail.