Search

Copyright of Ciência Animal Brasileira is the property of Universidade Federal de Goias, Escola de Veterinaria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

When applied at growing phase, lighting program aims to obtain quails with body weight and physiological maturity suitable for the beginning of laying. This study evaluated lighting programs at growing phase on performance, sexual maturity and egg quality of meat quail breeders (Coturnix coturnix) at laying phase. From 7 to 49 days of age, 300 female meat quails were subjected to three lighting programs (natural, intermittent and continuous), with 5 replicates of 20 birds each. At 49 days of age, 240 quails were transferred to a shed, maintaining the same experimental conditions. Meat quails submitted to continuous and intermittent lighting programs had higher weight of reproductive system and lower ages for first egg production and to reach 50% of egg production (P < 0.05). Quails submitted to natural lighting had lower feed intake from 49 to 70 and 71 to 92 days of age and worse feed conversion up to 114 days of age. Continuous and intermittent lighting programs resulted in more precocious quails compared to natural lighting program. Quails submitted to natural lighting at growing phase presented lower egg production during all periods, not differing for birds submitted to continuous and intermittent programs from the second period (71 to 92 days of age). Intermittent and continuous lighting result in better feed conversion of breeding quails up to 114 days and a higher percentage of laying (49 to 136 days), reducing the number of days to produce the first egg and to reach 50% of laying, in relation to natural lighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]