Organ weight: As Influenced by color, sex and weight group in Japanese quail

Abstract

This study was carried out on Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) to determine the effect of sex, colour and weight group on various organ weights. The birds were housed in deep litter pen at the poultry unit of University of Maiduguri Teaching and Research Farm. Birds were fed with broiler starter marsh from 5-8 weeks then, layer mash from 8-52 weeks. The birds were divided into various groups (sex, colour and weight groups). The experiment lasted for 52 weeks. Birds were slaughtered and eviscerated. The organs were weighed using sensitive scale and the results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using Analysis of Variance (SPSS 16.0 statistical package) and the means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test. Effect of color on organ weight were statistically not significant (p>0.05) except for fat weight, while the effect of sex on organ weight indicated that male and female differed significantly (p<0.05) for all organ weights except liver weight. Similarly, weight group had significant effect (p<0.05) on all the carcass traits except liver and testicular weight. The information obtaained in this study could serve as an immense advantage to farmers in the selection of desirable traits in Japanese quail. This will also enhance the farmers to maximise their profits.