EGG PRODUCTION TRAITS OF THE JAPANESE QUAIL (Coturnix coturnix japonica) IN A SEMI-ARID AREA OF NIGERIA

Some factors affecting egg production characteristics of the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were investigated at the poultry unit of the University of Maiduguri Livestock Teaching and Research farm. Three hundred Japanese quails were used for the study which lasted for 52 weeks. Production system significantly affected egg number (P<0.01), total egg weight, feed intake, hen-day and hen-housed egg production (P<0.001) but had no significant effect on egg weight and FCR. Birds housed in cages had higher eggs/week (4.73 vs 4.17), weekly egg mass (43.29 vs 37.67 g), feed intake/hen/day (23.24 vs 21.51 g) and hen-day egg production (71.52 vs 59.60%) than those on litter. The dry cold and wet seasons had superior values for all the traits except egg weight and feed intake/hen/day. Light brown quails had higher values for the different traits except feed intake. The values for light brown as compared to wild type quails were 5.27 vs 4.63 (eggs/week), 48.24 vs 42.30 g (total egg mass), 9.19 vs 9.09 g (average egg weight), 75.34 vs 70.43% (hen-day egg production) and 4.04 vs 4.51 (feed conversion ratio). Egg production traits increased with hen weight as hens weighing more than 180 g generally had the highest values for the traits while those that were less than 140 g had the lowest. Age of flock equally had significant (P<0.001) effect on all egg production traits. Similarly, egg weight was highest (9.24 g) at age group > 40 and lowest (8.70 g) at the start of lay implying that egg weight increased with increase in age. However, hen-day egg production reached its peak at week 19 and started to decline at week 36, with a performance above 60% maintained up to 48 weeks of age. Therefore, Japanese quails can be kept for egg production up to 48 weeks before replacement.