Effect of male-female cohabitation duration on egg production characteristics and incubation performance in Japanese quails

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of male-female cohabitation periods in breeding quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on egg production characteristics and incubation parameters. The study was conducted at the Quail Unit of the Poultry Unit, Research and Application Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Çukurova University. The experimental material, chicks, were obtained from breeding animals raised at the Quail Unit. Five hundred chicks obtained from breeding animals at the end of the incubation period were raised for five weeks to form the animal material for the experiment. At the end of the fifth week, 108 females and 36 males with similar live weights were selected as experimental material and placed in laying cages. The selected breeding individuals were divided into three groups with 36 males and 12 females in each group, and each group was planned with four replicates. The control group (Group 1) consisted of males and females living together continuously, the males in Group 2 lived with the females for 24 hours once a week, and the males in Group 3 lived with the females two days a week. All experimental groups were fed commercial layer feed containing 17% crude protein and 2750 kcal/kg ME throughout the laying period. After the growing period, animals were provided with 16 hours of natural + artificial lighting during the laying period. The study began at 5 weeks of age and ended at 19 weeks, thus lasting a total of 14 weeks. Weekly feed consumption was determined to be 27.61, 33.33, and 31.94 g, respectively, in groups of males and females living together continuously, living together one day per week, and living together two days per week, and was found to be statistically significant (P<0.05). In terms of feed utilization rate, the values were calculated as 3.04, 3.45, and 3.31, respectively, and were not found to be significant (P>0.05). At the end of the 14-week experiment, no significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of egg weight and egg production (P>0.05). Hatching eggs were collected from the experimental groups for one week at 13-14 weeks of age and placed in an incubator. At the end of incubation, the incubation parameters were calculated. At the end of incubation, the fertility rate and hatchability were found to be statistically significant between the groups. Hatchability was 74.15% in the control group, 71.33% and 69.2% in the groups that were together once a week and twice a week, respectively; The fertility rate was determined to be 86.69%, 84.84%, and 82.15%, respectively, and the hatchability from fertilized eggswas determined to be 87.84%, 88.90%, and 85.0%, respectively. When the results obtained at the end of the experiment were evaluated, it was determined that the length of time males remained with females was particularly important in terms of hatching results and feed consumption. No significant differences were found in other performance values. Although animal welfare parameters were not included in this study, it is recommended that future studies investigate the effect of male-female cohabitation time on animal welfare.