The Impact of dietary thyme and turmeric essential oils on behavior, performance, carcass traits and meat quality of Japanese quails | ||
| Zagazig Veterinary Journal | ||
| Volume 53, Issue 3, September 2025, Pages 312-324 | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/zvjz.2025.395738.1284 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Heba Said Abdelrahman Gareeb; Aya Saied Ali Gad* ; Hesham Mohammed; Mohamed Youssef; Al Sadik Saleem; Azhar Abdel Fattah; Enas Said; Shereen Abdel-Hamid; Fayza Ahmed; Asmaa I Abdelaty | ||
| Department of behaviour and management of animal, poultry and aquatics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, P.O. Box 44511, Zagazig, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Abstract This study aimed to investigate the impacts of dietary thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) essential oil supplementation on behavior , performance, carcass traits and meat quality of Japanese quails. A total of 192 one-day old Japanese quail chicks were reared for one week for adaptation and then randomly divided into four dietary treatment groups, each with three replicates (16 birds in each). Quails in the control group (G1) fed a basal diet without essential oil supplementation, the second group (G2) fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.2% thyme essential oil, the third group (G3) fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.3% turmeric essential oil and the fourth group (G4) fed a basal diet supplemented with a combination of 0.075% thyme and 0.125% turmeric essential oils. The experiment lasted for 5 weeks. A focal sample technique was used to report the quail’s behaviors twice a day (once in the morning between 7 and 10 a.m. and the other in the afternoon between 3 and 5 p.m.) for 20 min per time for each replicate. Moreover, growth performance, meat quality and carcass traits were evaluated. The results revealed that dietary supplementation of thyme and turmeric essential oils significantly improved ingestive and comfort behaviors, reduced (P < 0.05) feed consumption, improved body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and enhanced carcass traits and meat quality in Japanese quails. Throughout the experiment, Japanese quails of G4 had the best performance. In summary, adding thyme and turmeric essential oils to feed at 0.075% and 0.125%, respectively, enhanced Japanese quail growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and reduce feed consumption. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Behavior; Quail; Thyme; Turmeric; essential oils | ||
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