Table 4.
Effect of different levels of vitamin E in diet on egg characteristics and feed performance in Japanese quails.
| Parameters | T 1 | T 2 | T 3 | T 4 | T 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egg production (%) | 73.11 ± 2.64c | 81.26 ± 2.95ab | 86.70 ± 1.72a | 77.32 ± 2.94bc | 74.90 ± 0.91bc |
| Shape index | 80.89 ± 1.15 | 76.98 ± 1.32 | 78.93 ± 1.70 | 77.43 ± 1.35 | 78.01 ± 0.80 |
| Haugh units | 88.40 ± 1.94 | 87.22 ± 2.45 | 88.38 ± 1.08 | 90.34 ± 1.33 | 88.23 ± 1.15 |
| Shell (%) | 15.70 ± 0.93 | 16.11 ± 0.62 | 14.38 ± 0.76 | 14.18 ± 0.30 | 15.36 ± 0.49 |
| Yolk (%) | 34.84 ± 0.75 | 33.94 ± 0.30 | 34.16 ± 0.94 | 35.35 ± 0.67 | 35.18 ± 0.80 |
| Albumen (%) | 49.47 ± 1.14 | 49.95 ± 0.86 | 51.47 ± 1.05 | 50.47 ± 0.67 | 49.85 ± 0.70 |
| Egg weight ) g ( | 13.61 ± 0.52 | 13.68 ± 0.32 | 13.61 ± 0.37 | 13.57 ± 0.38 | 13.89 ± 0.37 |
| Egg shell thickness (mm) | 0.24 ± 0.04 | 0.21 ± 0.01 | 0.20 ± 0.01 | 0.20 ± 0.01 | 0.24 ± 0.04 |
| Shell breaking strength (kg cm -2 ) | 0.24 ± 0.04 | 0.21 ± 0.01 | 0.20 ± 0.01 | 0.20 ± 0.01 | 0.22 ± 0.01 |
| Albumen weight (g) | 6.30 ± 0.35 | 6.46 ± 0.14 | 7.00 ± 0.27 | 6.63 ± 0.23 | 6.77 ± 0.33 |
| Yolk weight (g) | 4.43 ± 0.22 | 4.14 ± 0.14 | 4.19 ± 0.17 | 4.10 ± 0.11 | 4.28 ± 0.22 |
| Albumen pH | 8.02 ± 0.27 | 8.31 ± 0.10 | 8.20 ± 0.26 | 7.86 ± 0.22 | 8.03 ± 0.16 |
| Yolk pH | 7.16 ± 0.19 | 7.18 ± 0.19 | 7.16 ± 0.18 | 7.65 ± 0.21 | 7.14 ± 0.19 |
| Albumen diameter (cm) | 5.06 ± 0.15 | 4.88 ± 0.04 | 5.32 ± 0.25 | 4.96 ± 0.10 | 4.97 ± 0.13 |
| Yolk diameter (cm) | 2.80 ± 0.10 | 2.70 ± 0.04 | 2.74 ± 0.07 | 2.80 ± 0.04 | 2.78 ± 0.05 |
| Albumen height (mm) | 4.60 ± 0.36 | 4.43 ± 0.39 | 4.56 ± 0.20 | 4.92 ± 0.21 | 4.57 ± 0.21 |
| Yolk height (mm) | 11.54 ± 0.37 | 11.77 ± 0.35 | 12.20 ± 0.35 | 12.11 ± 0.30 | 12.57 ± 0.29 |
| Egg mass (g per day) | 8.87 ± 0.30b | 10.44 ± 0.41a | 10.55 ± 0.35a | 9.56 ± 0.45ab | 8.97 ± 0.18b |
| Feed intake (g per day) | 24.11 ± 0.78 | 24.83 ± 0.41 | 25.16 ± 0.78 | 24.02 ± 1.43 | 21.16 ± 0.78 |
| Feed conversion ratio | 2.72 ± 0.05 | 2.40 ± 0.11 | 2.40 ± 0.09 | 2.52 ± 0.15 | 2.36 ± 0.10 |
Means ± SE within a row without a common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.05). T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 represent the birds in the treatments supplemented with vitamin E at levels of zero (control), 30, 60, 120 and 240 mg kg-1, respectively.