Evaluation of the growth and egg-laying performance of quail (Coturnix Japonica) resulting from crosses of different strains of quail reared in Ivory Coast

Quail weight and laying rate are very important parameters for quail breeders. This study aims to evaluate the growth and egg-laying performance of quails from different crosses in order to consider an improvement of performance through feeding. Thus, intra and inter crosses were made between the light strain and the heavy strain. To assess the growth and laying performance, it is used for each crossing result, 450 one day old quails and 120 females aged 42 days. These quails were reared under the same experimental conditions. The weight, the consumption and conversion index, the laying, the egg weight and mortality were recorded. The results show that the heavy strain has the highest weight (250.3g) followed by the mixed quail (216.9 - 218.8g). The light strain has the lowest weight (172.5g). Regarding the consumption indices, the heavy strain recorded the lowest index (3.24) followed by the mixed strain (3.52 - 3.59). As for the laying rate, the light strain obtained the highest rate (75.7%) followed by the mixed quail (68.7 to 70.6%). The heavy strain has the lowest laying rate (64.2%). In terms of conversion index, females of light strain recorded the best conversion index (3.8), followed by mixed quail (4.51 to 4.72). Regarding egg weight and mortality rate, no significant difference was observed between strains (p> 0.05). Considering its growth and laying performance the mixed strain is a promising strain which could be improved with feeding.