Growth and Laying Response of Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) Fed with Dietary Fermented Earthworm Meal Silage
Abstract
A feeding trial was carried out to evaluate the effects of replacing the fishmeal with a dietary fermented earthworm meal silage (FEMS). A 240 ready-to-lay (RTL) quail of 22 days old were used to determine average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), average daily feed intake (ADFI), % hen-egg day production (HEDP), average egg weight (AWE), Total Weekly Egg Produced (TWEP), and income overfeed cost (IOFC) of quail fed with dietary fermented earthworm meal silage (FEMS). The dietary FEMS was used to replace fishmeal in a feed formula at the rate of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%. Twenty experimental RTL quails were distributed to a colony panel which served as a replicate in a 4-treatmentx 3-replicate randomized complete block experimental design.
The result showed no significant (p>0.05) effect in replacing the fishmeal with a fermented earthworm meal silage (FEMS) in a feed formula. Hence, the feed formula with a 5% FEMS resulted in a heavier average daily gain among the different treatments. The % HEDP resulted in a higher egg production in 15% FEMS substitution, while, IOFC was highest at 10% FEMS substitution. These findings indicate that formulating quail feeds in an attempt to replace fishmeal with a dietary FEMS has no detrimental effect on growth and laying performance and has the potential to be included as an animal protein dietary ingredient in the quail diet.
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Introduction
The Bureau of Animal Statistics (BAS) in 2015 and in its 2012 special report related that quail comes third in the production of poultry products following ducks and broilers as the secondary and primary source, respectively. Despite being only third, quail raising in the country is promising (BPI-NSPRDC, 2010). This can be started with a much lower capital investment as compared to chicken and ducks.
Quail, locally known as pugo, is a small and tailless bird found in many parts of Asia. It belongs to the Phasianides family under the order of Galliformes. As commercial birds, quails require minimal space, time, and investment. Moreover, they are quick growers, and fast multipliers (Bolla & Randall, 2012). Also, they are richer in protein, phosphorous, and vitamin A. Quails, unlike other fowl, are not delicate birds. These birds do not easily contract fowl diseases common to poultry (Mulemora, 2013). In addition, there is a growing demand for meat and eggs from quail at present.
The potential of making it grow more for the growing demand for the quail’sproduct is associated with proper nutrition. Fishmeal has been widely used as conventional feedstuff since the early times due to its high nutritional content. However, this feedstuff has its nutritional constraints in usage. According to Miculec et. al (2004), it contains high histamine which can cause defects in poultry’sgizzard. Moreover, it has a relatively high price because it is both consumed by man and animals. Therefore, there is a need to explore alternative feed ingredients that would satisfy or at least surpass the nutrients present in a fish meal, especially inconsideration of the protein content of an ingredient.
According to Palungkun (1999), earthworms contain 64-76% of protein, much higher than the local fishmeal which consists of 49.50 to 59.19%. It was found that fresh earthworm has 61.96% protein and are composed of essential and non-essential amino acids which are considered excellent feed ingredients for poultry (Resnawatti, 2004).
There is very little information on the use of earthworm meals in poultry diets. A study showed that 10% earthworm meal could replace a large portion of the fishmeal in the diet with no adverse effect on body weight gain or feed efficiency. Feed intake was reduced at the 15% inclusion level (Prayogi, 2011). However, in the 2004 research of Resnawatti, it was found that earthworm meal can be used up to 15%. Hence, this research aimed to test and verify the potential of earthworms processed to fermented silage at varying levels of inclusion to the diet of quail in an attempt to replace the fishmeal in the feed formula.
Conclusion
The results of the study showed that substitution of FEMS in the formulation of feeds for RTL quail had no prominent effects on the growth and laying parameters and income overfeed cost. However, 5% substitution showed a higher average daily gain, 15% substitution had higher percentage of hen-egg day production, and income overfeed cost resulted in a greater income in 10% FEMS substitution.
It is concluded that 5%, 10%, and 15% FEMS substitution for fishmeal in a quail’sfeed formula in the study does not have a negative impact on the production performance of quail and can be used as an alternative feed ingredient. However, in the future investigation, increasing the rate of substitution starting from 15% to establish a more definite minimum and maximum value for FEMS as a poultry feed ingredient may also be considered. A different species of earthworm and other insects might also be considered as other sources of animal protein feed ingredient. Furthermore, a comparative evaluation on the fresh earthworm species versus fermented as feed ingredient may also be considered.
