PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE OF JAPANESE QUAILS ON DIETS SUPPLEMENTED WITH DRIED FRUIT GRANULES OF MORINDA CITRIFOLIA

Abstract

Morinda citrifolia (Noni), also known as Indian mulberry, grows widely in Andaman & Nicobar group of Islands, and is used as a traditional food by the tribal populace. There is lack of empirical literature on the use of dried fruit granules as a food complement in birds. The present study depicts the effect of supplementation of Sun-dried ripened fruit granules of Morinda citrifolia on the production performance of Japanese quails and its economic significance. Fifty quails (day-old) procured for this study, were divided into two groups, with 25 birds in each group. Group A birds were given Sun-dried ripe fruit granules of Morinda citrifolia (20%, w/w) as replacement of the concentrate mixture in the ration, while group B birds were given concentrate mixture in the ration, and was used as the control. The study was conducted for 18 weeks. The dried fruit granules of ripened morinda, contained protein (5.8%), fat (2.3%), crude fibre (7.7%), ash (13.5%), moisture (8%), Zn (26 ppm), Mn (14.5 ppm), Fe (33.21 ppm), Cu (18.65 ppm), Ca (49.12 ppm), Mg (173.77 ppm), Na ( 336.12 ppm), and K (1158.2 ppm). It was found that the birds in morinda supplemented group achieved higher (P0.05) market body weight (g) at 5 weeks (109.4±7.22) and better (P0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR, g) per week between 1-5 weeks (7.57±0.91) than the market body weight (106.8±6.65) and FCR (9.01±0.97) in the control. The average hen housed egg production per week in 13 weeks (59.34±12.31) was higher (P0.05) in morinda supplemented group than the control (56.80±10.71). The feed cost per gram gain in body weight in quails was 0.13 in morinda supplemented group compared to 0.18 in the control. The cost of an egg was 0.45 in morinda supplemented group, while it was 0.78 in the control group. Thus, morinda supplementation accrued a dividend of 0.05 per gram gain in body weight and 0.33 per egg over the control. It is concluded that substitution of conventional concentrate mixture with Morinda citrifolia dried fruit granules (20%, w/w) in ration was cost-efficient in quails