Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding fermented fish silage (FFS) on serum biochemical parameters of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Materials and Methods: A total of 192, 7-day-old broiler Japanese quail chicks of either sex, were randomly distributed into four dietary treatments with four replicates in each group having 12 chicks in each replicate pen. The dietary treatments were T1 - Control diet, T2 - Diet containing 5% FFS, T3 - Diet containing 10% FFS, and T4 - Diet containing 15% FFS. Group body weight and feed consumption were recorded at weekly intervals. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was derived by dividing the feed consumed with the weekly body weight gain. At the end of the experiment, 8 birds from each treatment were selected randomly and sacrificed by cervical dislocation to study the carcass traits expressed as % pre-slaughter live weight. At 5 weeks of age, about 2 ml of blood was taken from the jugular vein of each selected bird, and serum samples were separated after centrifugation. Total protein, albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio, calcium, phosphorus, triglyceride, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were estimated in the serum.

Results: The cumulative body weight gains from 1 to 5 weeks of age did not vary significantly between control and 5% FFS group. However, a linear decrease in body weight gain was observed by increasing the levels of FFS beyond 5% in the diet. The cumulative feed consumption was significantly higher in case of birds under control group during 1-5 weeks of age as compared to birds fed FFS based diet (5%, 10%, and 15%). No statistical difference in cumulative feed conversion ratio could be noticed during 1-5 weeks of age. The eviscerated yield decreased and giblet weight increased due to the dietary supplementation of FFS at 15% level. The breast meat yield decreased due to dietary supplementation of FFS at 10% and 15% level in the diet of broiler Japanese quails. The effect of FFS was found to be nonsignificant (p>0.05) with respect to serum total protein, globulin and A/G ratio under different treatments whereas significant difference observed in serum albumin concentration. Dietary supplementation of FFS at 10% and 15% level significantly increased the AST concentration in serum. There was no significant difference among the treatments regarding the parameters such as ALT, calcium, phosphorous, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-C, VLDL-C, and LDL-C.

Conclusion: The serum-biochemical parameters are influenced by the dietary supplementation of FFS in broiler Japanese quails.

Keywords: fermented fish silage, Japanese quail, proximate composition, serum biochemical parameters.

1. Gildberg, A. (1993) Enzymatic processing of marine raw materials. Process Biochem., 28: 1-15. [Crossref]

2. Kjos, N.P., Herstad, O., Overland, M. and Skrede, A. (2000) Effects of dietary fish silage and fish fat on growth performance and meat quality of broiler chicks. Can. J. Anim. Sci., 80(4): 625-632. [Crossref]

3. Barroga, A.J., Pradhan, R. and Tobioka, H. (2001) Evaluation of fish silage-sweet potato mixed diet with Italian ryegrass silage as basal ration on nitrogen utilization and energy balance in growing lambs. J. Anim. Sci., 72(3): 189-197. [Crossref]

4. Ramirez, J.C.R., Ibarra, J.I., Romero, F.A., Ulloa, P.R., Ulloa, J.A., Matsumoto, K.S., Cordoba, B.V. and Manzano, M.A.M. (2013) Preparation of biological fish silage and its effect on the performance and meat quality characteristics of quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Braz. Arch. Biol. Technol., 56(6): 1002-1010. [Crossref]

5. Zynudheen, A.A., Anandan, R. and Nair, K.G.R. (2008) Effect of dietary supplementation of fermented fish silage on egg production in Japanese quail (Coturnix coromandelica). Afr. J. Agric. Res., 3(5): 379-383.

6. Kaur, S., Mandal, A.B., Singh, K.B. and Kadam, M.M. (2005) Response of Japanese quails to dietary protein quality during different phases of egg production. Indian J. Anim. Nutr., 22(3): 206-209.

7. Amrutkar, S.A., Leo, J. and Jalaludeen, A. (2013) Influence of mating ratio on fertility and hatchability in Japanese quail. Indian J. Poultry Sci., 48(2): 145-148.

8. Egbeyale, L.T., Fatoki, H.O. and Adeyemi, O.A. (2013) Effect of egg weight and oviposition time on hatchability and post hatch performance of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Nigerian J. Anim. Prod., 40: 102-110.

9. Singh, H.O., Singh, H.N., Singh, V.P. and Kumar, A. (2015) Microbiological stability of aerobically packaged quail meat (bone-in) pickle at room temperature (30±20C). J. Livest. Sci., 6: 16-22.

10. Akporhuarho, P.O. (2011) Effect of crude oil polluted water on the hematology of cockerel reared under intensive system. Int. J. Poult. Sci., 10(4): 287-289. [Crossref]

11. Gattani, A., Pathak, A., Kumar, A., Mishra, V. and Bhatia, J.S. (2016) Influence of season and sex on hemato-biochemical traits in adult turkeys under arid tropical environment. Vet. World, 9(5): 530-534. [Crossref] [PubMed] [PMC]

12. AOAC. (1995) Official Methods of Analysis. 16thed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC.

13. Duncan, D.B. (1955) Multiple range and multiple F-tests. Biometrics, 11: 1-42. [Crossref]

14. Snedecor, G.W. and Cochran, W.G. (1989) Statistical Methods. 8th ed. Oxford and IBH Publishing Company, New Delhi.

15. Boitai, S.S. (2015) Effect of feeding fish silage on the performance of broiler chickens, M.V.Sc. Thesis Submitted to Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar.

16. Al-Marzooqi, W., Al-Farsi, M.A., Kadim, I.T., Mahgoub, O. and Goddard, J.S. (2010) The effect of feeding different levels of sardine fish silage on broiler performance, meat quality and sensory characteristics under closed and open-sided housing systems. Asian Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 23(12): 1614-1625. [Crossref]

17. Darsana, M.G. and Sreekumar, K.P. (2012) Effect of processed fish wastes supplementation on blood biochemical and meat composition of broiler chicken. Iran. J. Vet Res., 13(3): 186-194.

18. Cakir, S., Midilli, M., Erol, H., Simsek, N., Cinar, M., Altintas, A., Alp, H. and Altintas, L. (2008) Use of combined probiotic-prebiotic, organic acid and avilamycin in diets of Japanese quails. Revue Med. Vet., 159(11): 565-569.

19. Alparslan, G. and Ozdogan, M. (2006) The effects of diet containing fish oil on some blood parameters and the performance values of broilers and some cost parameters. Int. J. Poult. Sci., 5(5): 415-419. [Crossref]