Effects of ultraviolet-B radiation on immunity and carcass characteristics in quail

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of UV-B radiation on immunity and carcass characteristics in quail. Three hundred Korean quail at 3 d old were weighed and randomly allocated into 5 groups (i.e., 30 males and 30 females per group), including 1 control group and 4 experiment groups...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied poultry research 2014-09, Vol.23 (3), p.429-436
Main Authors: Li, Mingli, Gao, Yajun, Lan, Guoxiang, Gu, Zhaobing
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of UV-B radiation on immunity and carcass characteristics in quail. Three hundred Korean quail at 3 d old were weighed and randomly allocated into 5 groups (i.e., 30 males and 30 females per group), including 1 control group and 4 experiment groups (UV-1, UV-2, UV-3, and UV-4). Quail were subjected to UV-B irradiation with different doses: 0 µW/cm2 (control), 1.4 µW/cm2 (UV-1), 2.8 µW/cm2 (UV-2), 5.6 (UV-3), and 8.4 µW/cm2 (UV-4) each day. At 38 d of age, 15 males and 15 females in each group were randomly selected to measure immune index concentrations and carcass characteristics. The mean serum IgG, IgA, and alexin C4 concentrations of UV-1 quail were significantly improved, whereas UV-3 and UV-4 quail had better live weight and carcass characteristics. Taking into account immunity and carcass characteristics together, we conclude that the optimum dose of UV radiation for Korean quail is 1.4 µW/cm2 each day. Moreover, female quail had better carcass characteristics than males in most indices of carcass characteristics.
ISSN:1056-6171
1537-0437
DOI:10.3382/japr.2013-00919