Energy requirement for maintenance and gain for two genotypes of quails housed in different breeding rearing systems

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the energy requirements for maintenance and gain of Japanese and European quails under growth housed in two rearing systems: floor pens and cages. To determine maintenance requirements, two experiments were conducted with birds housed in cages in environmental chambers (experiment 1) and in floor pens at room temperature conditions (experiment 2). The experimental design was completely randomized with four levels of feed supply (100, 75, 50 and 25%) and four repetitions. Energy requirements for maintenance were estimated by the comparative slaughter method through a feeding trial. In experiment 1, 64 Japanese and European quails per treatment were housed in cages of climatic chambers at 18, 24, and 28 °C, while in experiment 2, 352 quails per treatment were housed in floor pens at room temperature (26 °C). To estimate gain requirements, five slaughters were performed with quails receiving feed ad libitum and housed under controlled temperature of 18 °C (experiment 3). Prediction equations were obtained to estimate requirements for maintenance and gain of energy for the two genotypes of quails. The room temperature and breeding system affected the estimates of energy requirements for maintenance. The genotypes presented different estimates for maintenance and gain. Prediction models should be developed considering the room temperature and quails' genotypes.