Abstract
A study was conducted in a Northern Guinea Savannah region to evaluate the growth, reproductive and blood biochemistry parameters of parents and their offspring in Japanese quail. A total of two hundred and twenty Day-old chicks (DOC) were used in the base generation and six hundred and thirty DOC were used in the first generation. A digital scale of sensitivity (0.01 g) was used to take the weights. The body measurements taken were the 4-week body weight (BW4), 8-week body weight (BW8), overall average growth rate (Agr) and relative growth rate (Rgr). The reproductive parameters studied were the age at sexual maturity (ASM), weight at sexual maturity (WtAsm), egg weight at sexual maturity (EgAsm), average egg weight (Aveg), egg laid at the 11th week of age (Egg11) and the ratio of egg weight to 4-week body weight (EgB4), taken from female quails which were individually housed. In the 6th-week blood biochemistry studied, glucose (Glu) was measured according to Trinder, 1969 while Alka
CHAPTER ONE
Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) is an important livestock in Nigeria and in many nations. It is being farmed as the smallest avian species for meat and egg production (Panda and Singh, 1990). Its production is favoured because they are generally accepted, requires less time and space, have rapid growth, earlier sexual maturity, greater laying ability, shorter generation interval and resistance to diseases when compared to chickens. These peculiarities of coturnixs have facilitated its commercial production and rearing; mainly as meat in Europe, eggs in Japan and are often bred as dual-purpose birds in other Asian countries (Minvielle, 1998). They are also used as laboratory animals for researches (Baumgartner, 1994) and for extensive use in many studies (Kayang et al., 2004) such as for growth, selection and breeding. In Nigeria it is used for research purposes and commercially reared mainly for egg production.
Many researchers have focused their genetic studies on improving only economic traits. A broader perspective of improved and efficient genetic study has emerged because selection, breeding and genetic improvement have a marked effect on characteristics of the blood biochemistry; as researchers utilize the biochemical parameters of the blood as markers in livestock species to enhance productivity and reproductive performance (Emmerson, 2003; Nguyen and Tran, 2003). Genetic resources such as serum enzymes, serum proteins and bilirubin have been established as genetic markers in farm animals (Pagot, 1992). Several researches have shown the relationship between poultry birds’ performance and some blood parameters, these includes: plasma Alkaline Phosphatase
activity in Rhode Island birds (Orunmuyi et al., 2007), the relationship between growth and blood constituents in Japanese quail by Faraht et al, (2010), and variation of plasma constituents at different ages of female Japanese quail (Hassan, 2010).
The relationship between blood parameters (Glucose and Alkaline Phosphatase) as it relates to health or diseased conditions, production and reproduction are needed for proper design of breeding and selection study. The methods that can be used to assess genetic relationships are obtained through estimations such as heritability, repeatability and correlation between traits. Heritability of traits is the surest method used to predict the genetic progress obtained (Caron et al., 1990). The higher the heritability of the trait under selection, the faster the genetic progress is. In Japanese quail, the heritability of blood constituents reported by Faraht et al. (2010) ranged from 0.45 to 0.51, while that of the body weight was observed to be moderate to high (Kocak et al., 1995; Abdel Fattah et al., 2006 and Saatci et al., 2006), varying from 0.3 to 0.72 depending on the birds age.
1.1 Statement of Research Problem
The need for more and location specific research on genetic estimates for observable traits and their underlying blood biochemistry in Japanese quail is crucial and has necessitated the need for this research.
1.2 Justification
In order to breed, select or to improve the performance of these birds, certain baseline information/data are required. This work was therefore designed to evaluate the relationship between the performance and blood biochemical parameters in Japanese quails and hence provide further information regarding some genetic parameters of this bird.
1.3 Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis (Ho). There are no significant variations in growth and biochemical parameters of Japanese Quails on the basis of sex, age and generation.
Alternate Hypothesis (Ha). There are significant variations in growth and biochemical parameters of Japanese Quails on the basis of sex, age and generation.
1.4 Objectives
1. To determine variation in growth and some biochemical parameters in Japanese quail across sexes and generations.
2. To estimate genetic parameters between growth, reproductive and some biochemical parameters in Japanese quail.