Effect of compound feed acidification on the body weight gain of quails on mini-farms

¹ Federal Scientific Agroengineering Centre VIM, 3, Fil’trovskoye sh., 196625, pos. Tyarlevo, SaintPetersburg, Russia
² Petrozavodsk State University, 33, pr. Lenina, 185910, Petrozavodsk, Russia

^* Corresponding author: valentin-bazykin@mail.ru

Abstract

The article presents the study results on the fattening effectiveness of Texas Broiler quails using the formulated feed with “B.I.O. Acid Ultra” acidifier. Space and layout design of the mini-farm allowed to house 1000 head of the main flock and up to 300 young birds. The inside climate system of the mini-farm maintained the temperature in the range of 18 °C -20 °C and 75% humidity. In the study, 250 head of daily chicks were randomly selected and divided into 5 groups of 50 head each – one control group and four experimental ones. The study lasted for 8 weeks, i.e. the meat quail fattening period. The addition of the acidifier to the diet in the amount of 0.23% was found to result in 9.0% increase in the bodyweight of the 8-week old quails. The average daily weight increments also increased during the entire fattening period. The use of the acidifier reduced the feed conversion ratio by 4.1% – 6.79 versus 7.1 in the control group. However, the effect of different acidifiers on the effectiveness of quail fattening and the organoleptic and other quality indicators of the quail meat requires further comparative inquiry.