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چکیده
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This study investigated the effects of various force moulting methods on egg physical and mechanical characteristics, plasma metabolites and performance of Japanese quails from 26 to 36 weeks of age. The treatments were: T1 (control), T2 (feed restriction), T3 (alfalfa powder), T4 (wheat screening powder, a by-product obtained after harvesting and processing of wheat). Egg production ceased completely with feed restriction and alfalfa treatments by days 4 and 3. Also, birds under feed restric-tion and alfalfa treatments returned to first egg at day 4 of post-moulting period. No significant differ-ences were found in feed intake, egg mass, egg production, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and morta-lity of quails in response to experimental treatments after moulting (P>0.05). Feed restriction led to significantly higher egg weight in comparison to control and wheat screening treatments (P<0.01). No significant effect on egg quality was found by forced-moulting methods (P>0.05). The calcium con-centration was higher (P<0.001) in control birds than in others at the end of moulting. It can be con-cluded that using alfalfa and to a lesser extent feed restriction may be suitable force-moulting me-thods in quails.
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