Effect of Genotype and Genotype – Environment Interaction on Productive Performance of Japanese Quail Varieties

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted at the poultry farm of Department of Animal Production-College of Agriculture-University of Diyala / Iraq, the first experiment performed in Autumn season using 324 birds and the second experiment performed in Spring season using 397 birds reared for ten weeks, the study aimed to detect the productive performance of three varieties of Japanese quail(White, Black and Brown plumage color) in the natural conditions of Iraq during Spring and Autumn seasons and the effect of genotype × environment interaction (G × E) on meat and egg production. The statistical analysis done according to factorial experiment in Completely Randomized Design (3 × 2) with three replicates. The results showed, significant superiority of the Black variety in the body weight measurements during the first 5 weeks of age, while there were no significant differences found in body weight between Black and Brown varieties during 6 and 7 weeks of age. There were significant differences due to G×E in body weight measurements of all weeks of rearing. The results showed significant superiority of the Black variety compared with White variety in feed consumption and weight gain traits, and also there were a significant superiority of measurements during Spring season rearing compared with Autumn season rearing in respect of weight gain and feed conversion traits, also there were significant G×E effect in feed conversion. There was a significant superiority of measurements during Autumn season rears in the age of sexual maturity of females, hen day egg production (%), and the number of eggs per hen.

The comparison of two different plumage-color lines of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) disclosed a significant effect in increasing abdominal fat contents with increasing age

“…Moreover, the sex by variety interaction effects on live weight, weight after slaughtering, weight after defeathering, and carcass weight were fluctuated, as it was significant at the 4 th week of age, and became insignificant at the 5 th and 6 th weeks of age. These fluctuations are in agreement with that previously reported in quails (Hassan and Abd–Alsattar 2016 ) and chickens (El-Henfnawy et al 2022 ).…”

The Relationship Between Plumage Color, Genetic Group and Their Interaction on Quail’s Performance

“…As for the interaction between quail breed and feather color, the white and brown Ukrainian quail performed better than the white and brown local birds in most weights during the six weeks of the experiment. These results agreed with [8][9][10][11][12][13], that the plumage color significantly affects body weight at the age of one day, one week, two, three, four, five, and six weeks. According to [12] , the difference in genotype may account for the difference in weight.…”

“…In most periods of the experiment, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the amount of feed consumed weekly by local brown birds compared to local white birds, Ukrainian white and brown birds, while no significant difference was observed in the amount of feed consumed by Ukrainian white and brown birds in general except for the fourth week, when Ukrainian brown quail's feed consumption increased. These results agreed with [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

“…Throughout the many weeks of the experiment, there were definite differences between the local white and brown quails and those from Ukraine. These findings supported [10,12,13], but disagree with [8,14].…”

“…One of the most important indicators that have a direct effect on the profitability of poultry projects is body weight which it has an impact on the performance of hatching chicks and the productive performance of birds [8]. The results differed in the significance of the differences due to the effect of plumage color on body weight [8][9][10][11], Weight Gain [8][9][10][11][12][13][14], Feed Consumption [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], Feed conversion Ratio [8,12,13]; Hatching % [7,[15][16][17][18][19] and Fertility [7,8,[15][16][17][18][19][20]. So, the purpose of the current study was to ascertain how Ukrainian and local quail performed during the growing and production phases in relation to genetic groups, plumage color, and their interactions.…”