Effect of green herbage suplementation to partrddges (A. chukar) rations on egg quality caharacteristics, hatching and posthatch performances

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of grass meal supplementation (fresh alfalfa) on breeding partridge (A. chukar) rations on egg quality characteristics, hatching results and post-hatch performance. In this study, 2-year-old breeding partridges were housed in 9 single store group cages with 30 female and 14 male animals. The breeding partridges were divided into 3 treatment groups with 3 replicates in each treatment group. One group was given a diet containing 19% Crude Protein and 2950 kcal / kg ME (control), the other groups were given 2% and 4% fresh alfalfa supplementation in addition to the basal ration, respectively. At the end of the study, the addition of 2% and 4% fresh alfalfa to the breeding partridge rations significantly increased the yolk color value of the hatching eggs compared to the control group (p <0.05). At the same time, the addition of 4% fresh alfalfa to breeding partridge rations significantly increased the hatchability compared to the control group (p <0.05). This study showed that the addition of 2% and 4% fresh alfalfa can be used in breeding partridge diets.