Evaluation of the Probiotic Potential of some Native <i>Lactobacillus</i> Strains on the Laying Performance and Egg Quality Parameters of Japanese Quails

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the probiotic effects of different concentrations of four selected native <em>Lactobacillus</em> strains on laying performance and egg quality parameters of quails. To do this, a six-week farm trial was performed in completely randomized design with seven different probiotic treatments of four replicates each consisting of eight quails, resulting in a total of 224 quails. Four native <em>Lactobacillus</em> strains whose probiotic potentials had previously been confirmed at <em>in vitro</em> levels were cultured in a 10 liter batch fermentor and lyophilized (10¹⁰ CFU/g). Treatments were as follows: T1: control (basal diet without probiotics); T2: basal diet + Primalac<strong>®</strong> (454 g/ton); T3: basal diet + Protexin<strong>®</strong> (50 g/ton); and T4, T5, T6, and T7: four native strains in levels of 50, 100, 150, and 200 g/ton diets, respectively. The native strains and Protexin<strong>®</strong> could significantly improve egg production, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and egg mass during the laying period (P<0.05), whereas no significant effect was observed on feed intake and egg weight. The probiotic treatments had significant positive effects on the albumen height, Haugh unit, and internal quality unit (IQU) (P<0.05), whereas there was no difference between the treatments in terms of egg shell weight, egg yolk weight, and egg albumen weight of the quails (P>0.05). It can be concluded that the use of native strains (a 50 g/ton diet) improved the performance (egg production, egg mass, and FCR) and egg quality parameters (Haugh unit and IQU) of quails.