Effects of betaine as feed additive on behavioral patterns and growth performance of Japanese quail

Document Type : Original Article

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Department of Veterinary Hygiene and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary betaine supplementation on behavioral patterns and growth performance of Japanese quail. A total number of 200 healthy unsexed quail chicks with average body weight 51.80±0.66 g aged 2 weeks, were randomly assigned to 2 groups (100 birds each) and each group was subdivided into 5 replicates (20 birds each) according to the diet. The first group was fed on a basal diet without any supplementation (control group), while the second group was fed on basal ration supplemented with betaine hydrochloride at level of 1g/kg diet (betaine group). Behavioral patterns and growth performance (body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio) were evaluated for 3 weeks. The obtained results revealed that betaine supplementation had no significant effect on behavioral patterns except for crouching behavior which showed higher frequency (P=0.023)in betaine group, also betaine supplementation had no significant effect on body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (P>0.05) of Japanese quail. It was concluded that dietary betaine supplementation insignificantly improved final body weight, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio of Japanese quail.

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Benha Veterinary Medical Journal
Volume 42, Issue 2
September 2022
Pages 214-218

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