Effect of supplementation of onion peel powder as a herbal feed additive on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of Japanese quails

Mujeebulla, S.MD., Susmita, T., Reddy Tirupathi R, and Kishore Raja K. Effect of supplementation of onion peel powder as a herbal feed additive on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of Japanese quails. Indian Journal of Poultry Science, 59(3): 379–83. The goal of the current study was to assess how Japanese quail performance was affected by the use of onion peel powder (OPP) as a herbal feed additive. For this, a basal diet was prepared and was designated as T1. To this T1, graded levels of OPP were supplemented viz., 10g/kg (T2), 20g/kg (T3), 30g/kg (T4) and 40g/kg (T5). A biological trial was conducted on 225 birds for 5 weeks distributed into 5 treatments with three replicates and 15 birds per replicate and Every bird was kept in a uniform management condition. They have unlimited access to food and water. The results of the current study revealed that the mean body weights and body weight gains were increased (p=0.01) with increasing levels of OPP supplementation. Whereas, better (p=0.01) FCR was reported at 40g/kg OPP in the diet. The coefficient of digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE) and crude fiber (CF) were significantly (p=0.01) increased with increasing levels of OPP. It is concluded that OPP can safely be supplemented up to 40g/kg in the diet without any adverse effect on the performance of Japanese quail.