The effects of dietary probiotic supplementation on some productivity and blood parameters of laying quails raised under constant heat stress

A study was carried out to determine the effects of yeast based (Biosacc(TM)) and mixture of bacteria-mold-yeast based (Protexin(TM)) dietary probiotics on live weight, feed consumption, feed efficiency, egg production, egg weight, egg shell weight, and some blood parameters of quails raised under constant heat stress conditions. One hundred and ninety-eight 9-week-old Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) were used in the experiment. They were randomly assigned in equal numbers to three treatments: a control and two dietary probiotic treatments. Dietary treatments had six replicates with 11 quails in each. Three dietary treatments were formed by the inclusion of either no (control) or 0.5% of two different probiotics in the basal diet. The quails were housed, in a room maintained at constant (32 +/- 2 degreesC) ambient temperature throughout the 9-week experiment. No dietary probiotic effect on quail performance (live weight, feed consumption and efficiency), or egg (egg production, weight, and shell weight), or serum (serum albumin, cholesterol, Mg, Cl, and Na) parameters was detected with the exception of serum total protein (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the data suggest that dietary probiotic supplementation has no beneficial effects on the performance of laying quails under constant heat stress.