Effect of emulsifier addition to diets containing different levels of energy on growth performance, internal organ weights and bone properties in quails

This study was conducted to determine the effects of emulsifier supplementation on the performance, internal organ weights, and bone characteristics of growing quail diets with different energy levels. Thirty-hundred-day-old Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) chicks were used in the experiment. The treatment diets were formulated according to the nutrient requirements of quail chicks (NRC, 1994). Six different treatment diets were prepared, consisting of three different metabolizable energy levels (2900 kcal/kg, 2850 kcal/kg, and 2800 kcal/kg) and two emulsifier levels (0 and 500 g/ton). The experiment was conducted in battery-type cages with six treatment groups of 10 chicks each with five replicates, with 30 subgroups in randomized plots using a factorial design (3x2). The experiment lasted 35 days, and feed and water were provided ad libitum to the chicks throughout the experiment. The effect of emulsifier addition to diets containing different energy levels on body weight, body weight gain, and feed intake in growing quails was not statistically significant (P>0.05). While the feed conversion ratio was not affected by diet energy levels (P>0.05), it showed a significant decrease with emulsifier addition (P<0.05). The effect of emulsifier addition to diets containing different energy levels on carcass yield and relative internal organ weights, abdominal fat percentage, tibia weight, tibia length, tibia diameter, and tibia breaking strength in growing quails was statistically insignificant (P>0.05). The results of the study, it was concluded that a 2800 ME kcal/kg diet could be fed to growing quails without the need for emulsifier addition, but that adding 500 mg/kg of emulsifier to the diet would positively impact feed efficiency.