Densidades de alojamento e níveis de energia metabolizável das rações para codornas de corte

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance, bed quality, carcass yield and quality of European quails meat submitted to different housing densities and metabolizable energy of rations. One hundred day old quail was used in a completely randomized experimental design distributed in a 4x3 factorial scheme, with four levels of metabolizable energy in the diets (2,750, 2,900, 3,050 and 3,200 kcal ME / kg of feed) and three (224, 194 and 171cm2/bird), with five replicates of 13, 15 and 17 birds / m2, respectively. Feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion and quail bed quality were analyzed. At 35 days of age the birds were slaughtered for analysis of carcass, breast, thigh + overcoat, heart, liver, gizzard, meat sensory parameters (aroma, color, taste and overall evaluation) and physical characteristics (retention capacity of Water, weight loss by cooking and shear force). The data were submitted to analysis of variance, the averages compared by the Tukey test (5%) for densities and polynomial regression, for energy levels. A difference in performance was observed, where the higher metabolizable energy levels and the housing density 224 cm2 / bird provided higher results for feed intake and weight gain in the periods from 1 to 21 days and from 1 to 35 days of However, the feed conversion did not change. No difference was observed between the energy levels used for volatile ammonia, however 224 cm²/bird provided a smaller result for this variable. The pH of the bed and the carcass and liver yields were not altered by the treatments. The yield of heart was higher when the birds were housed in space of 224 cm²/bird, while the highest values for gizzard were using 171cm2/bird. The physical characteristics of the meat were influenced by the interaction between the analyzed factors, while in the meat sensory analysis, the spacing of 171cm2/bird provided lower averages for all variables. It is concluded that quails housed at 224cm²/bird present better performance, bed quality, breast yield, heart and physical characteristics of the meat, but reduce the gizzard yield and increase the sensorial characteristics of the meat. High levels of metabolizable energy impair feed conversion and breast yield.