The Posibilities Using of Bee Pollen Powder on Breeding Japanese Quail Rations: I. Effect on Performance and Hatching Egg Quality Characteristics

In this study, it was aimed to determine the posibilities use of supplementing breeder diets with different level concentrations (C: 0, BPP1: 1, BPP5: 5, BPP10: 10, and BPP20: 20 g/kg feed) of the bee pollen powder (BPP) effect on performance and hatching egg quality characteristics in Japanese quails. The experimental animals consisted of 9-week-old Japanese quails, including 105 females and 45 males, and the experiment continued for six weeks. The results showed higher than control group significant effects of the (BPP) supplementation to quail diets on yolk level (P<0.01), shell thickness, and Haugh unit (P<0.05), but not significant effects as raise or decrease were observed on live gain, consumption feed, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, shape index, yolk index, white index, and shell weight (P>0.05).Taken together, these results can be recommended BPP supplementation of quail diets. No significant differences were observed in shape index between different groups at the end of this six-week trial. The shape index values obtained for the Japanese quails in this study were similar to those (79.54%) mentioned in a previous study performed to determine some internal and external quality characteristics of the quail eggs (Özçelik, 2002). During the experimental period it was found that the BBP-supplemented groups showed statistically higher yolk index values (P<0.05), in the first measurement, but no significant differences were observed in the other two measurements. Although the yolk index values obtained in the last measurement were different from the initial measurement results, they were found to be similar to those obtained in a previous study conducted to investigate the effect of selection for live weight on the reproductive performance of Japanese quails (45.01) (Türkmut et al., 1999). The white index values, which are an important egg quality criterion, did not show any significant difference between groups, and it was observed that the BPP-supplemented groups generally showed higher white index values. These values, differed with a study conducted on Japanese quails (11.43) (Özçelik, 2002). While significant differences in the Haugh unit values were obtained between the groups in the first (P<0.01) and second (P<0.05) measurements, no significant difference was observed between the groups in the final measurement (P>0.05). The Haugh unit values ranged between 72.11 and 76.15 on average at the end of the trial, and these values lied between the value (88.930) obtained in study conducted to determine some yield and egg quality characteristics in Japanese quails and the value (68.479) obtained in a study conducted on egg quality and characteristics in Japanese quails (Altınel et al., 1996; Nazlıgül et 2001). Previous studies suggested that an ideal shell thickness should be at least 0.33 mm in order to