EVALUATION OF USING GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE) ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS, BLOOD BIOCHEMISTRY AND IMMUNE RESPONSES OF QUAIL BIRDS

: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of Ginger ( Zingiber officinale) on growth performance, immunity response, some blood biochemical and hematological parameters of quail birds. A total of 180, one day-old quail birds were divided into four treatment groups, with three replicates per treatment and 15 birds per replicate. Birds in control group were fed basal diet. Birds in treatment groups were fed on diets supplemented with 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75% Ginger. Body weights and feed intake of birds were measured weekly. Feed conversion was calculated, accordingly. Blood samples of three birds per replicate were collected at 42 days of age for biochemical and hematological analysis. At the end of experiment, three birds were taken randomly from each replicate and slaughtered, and the spleen, thymus and bursa were separated and weighted. Results of this experiment showed that, supplementing of Ginger to quail diets improved body weight gain and feed conversion ratio of quail birds (P<0.05), and also increased total protein and albumin levels (P ≤ 0.05). On the other hand, supplementing Ginger decreased serum triglyceride and plasma cholesterol levels in all treatments compared with control. In addition, high-density cholesterol fraction increased and low-density cholesterol fraction decreased in all treatments groups compared with control group. Birds fed Ginger significantly improved spleen, thymus and bursa percentage/body weight compared with control group. Plasma ALT and AST decreased in all levels of Ginger and could indicate good liver health. In conclusion, results of this study showed that addition of Ginger showed a positive influence on growth performance, blood biochemical parameters, immune-responsiveness and it could be considered as a growth promoter agent for quail birds.