Effects of thymol and isoeugenol feed supplementation on quail adult performance, egg characteristics and hatching success

Abstract

1. A study was conducted to evaluate whether feed supplementation with thymol or isoeugenol can alter Japanese quail growth rate and final body weight, the female onset of puberty, hen-day egg production and the physical and chemical characteristics of the egg, as well as its potential to alter hatchability. 2. From 4 to 16 weeks of age, birds from each cage (1 male: 3 females) were assigned to 1 of 3 treatments that differed in the supplement added to the feed: control, thymol or isoeugenol (400 mg/kg). The average ages (d) at first egg lay (FIRST), at 25% egg production (A25% EP), at 50% egg production (A50% EP) and weekly and cumulative hen-day egg production (HDEP) were calculated. In addition, physical and chemical characteristics of the eggs, their fertility and hatchability were also evaluated for each group. 3. Feed supplementation did not significantly affect growth rate, final body weight, egg production parameters, fertility and physical characteristics of egg or most of the fatty acid components of the yolk. 4. The group treated with isoeugenol showed an increase in the percentage of palmitoleic fatty acid compared to the control, with thymol group showing intermediates values. 5. Both thymol and isoeugenol supplemented groups showed increased hatchabilities, by 18.8% and 11.8%, respectively, compared to their control counterparts. 6. The improvement in the hatching success of the eggs from the thymol and isoeugenol supplemented groups without a negative impact on their performance may have important economic implications for future breeding programmes, particularly if these effects generalise from quail to other more commercially important poultry species, such as chickens or turkeys.

Thymol feed supplementation in quail alters the percentages of nutritionally relevant egg yolk fatty acids: effects throughout incubation

“…The T profile of 0 day CON egg yolk was found to be consistent with those previously reported in the literature for C. coturnix (Linnaeus, 1758) . With reference to the T profile of 0 day egg yolk from THY treatment, differences between the THY doses utilized in the current and previous studies suggest that the higher the level of THY supplied, the greater the increase in UFA and corresponding decrease in SFA. The TG and PL profiles were found to be similar to those reported for hen eggs .…”

“…Following 2 weeks of feed supplementation, to guarantee that transference of THY to the egg reached the concentration plateau pointed out by Krause and Ternes, eggs from both treatments were collected on 10 consecutive days and stored at 16 °C for a maximum of 9 days until incubation (temperature 37.8 °C, humidity 55.2%, eggs turned every hour) to obtain samples at three stages of embryonic development: 0, 4 and 16 days of incubation, where initial, early and final embryo development respectively were expected. We selected these periods of incubation to include both the changes that take place during early development, which are not always considered in developmental studies, and the later stages, characterized by the sheer intensity of lipid transfer from the yolk to the embryo .…”

“…In these studies, malondialdehyde concentrations in THY‐ or thyme‐treated samples were lower than in untreated ones. Moreover, in female quail, dietary supplementation with THY also led to improved hatching success . Further, in tissues such as plasma, brain and muscle of mammalian and avian species, THY has increased PUFA precursors, i.e.…”

Fly emergence from manure of Japanese quail fed thymol- or isoeugenol-supplemented diets

“…A 0.5% ethanolic solution of those supplements was mixed weekly with fresh commercial feed. Supplementations with similar doses have produced desired effects on Japanese quail production and welfare-related parameters (Luna et al, 2012;Lábaque et al, 2013).…”

“…The studies were carried out in droppings of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) that were kept under standard conditions as described elsewhere (Nazar and Marin, 2011;Luna et al, 2012). Basically, groups of 1 male and 3 females were randomly housed in 1 of 18 cages measuring 20 × 45 × 25 cm (length × width × height) cages.…”