The aim of this study was to relate morphometric measurements of the Coturnix coturnix japonica quail egg with the weight at birth in a commercial line of laying. In total, 274 birds were evaluated at one-day old, whose fertile eggs were classified into three categories according to weight: (1) 10.00-10.99, (2) 11.00-11.99, (3) 12.00-12.99 g for the variable birth weight, while the variables: transverse diameter and longitudinal diameter of the egg, and shape index were evaluated according to quartiles. In addition, the sex of the bird was evaluated. A completely randomized block model and correlations between the quantitative variables were used. A mean correlation of 0.65 was obtained between egg weight and longitudinal diameter, and low correlations between the variables longitudinal and transverse diameter (0.15). The birth weight was 7.36 ± 0.038, 7.92 ± 0.036 and 8.47 ± 0.058 g ...

The dynamics of primary production and nutritional value were evaluated based on the variation of dry matter yield, plant height, crude protein content, crude fibre, and in vitro digestibility of dry matter (DM) in three phenological stages (floral bud, start of flowering and seed maturation) of three species of tropical grasses: para grass (Brachiaria mutica), molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora) and South African pigeon grass (Setaria sphacelata). The study was conducted in the province of Oxapampa, Pasco region (Peru) using a statistical design of divided plots for the variable of production of aerial biomass and completely randomized blocks for the nutritional value of the forage. B. mutica had the highest average height (97 cm), followed by S. sphacelata (55 cm) and M. minutiflora (40 cm). The superiority in height of B. mutica was reflected in the highest cumulative dry matter prod...

Se evaluó la dinámica de la producción primaria y el valor nutritivo basado en la variación del rendimiento de materia seca, altura de planta, contenido de proteína cruda, fibra cruda y digestibilidad in vitro de materia seca (MS) en tres estados fenológicos (botón floral, inicio de floración y maduración de semilla) de tres especies de gramíneas tropicales: gramalote (Brachiaria mutica), gordura (Melinis minutiflora) y setaria (Setaria sphacelata). El estudio se realizó en la provincia de Oxapampa, región Pasco (Perú) utilizando un diseño estadístico de parcelas divididas para la variable de producción de biomasa aérea y de bloques completamente randomizado para las variables de valor nutritivo del forraje. B. mutica presentó la mayor altura promedio (97 cm), seguida por S. sphacelata (55 cm) y M. minutiflora (40 cm). La superioridad en altura de B. mutica se reflejó ...

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) on productive performance (WG: weight gain, FI: feed intake, FCR: feed conversion ratio, EPEI: European productive efficiency index) and intestinal morphometry (VL: villus length,  VW: villus width, CD: crypt depth) in broilers. In total, 240 one-day-old male chicks from the Cobb 500 line were used, distributed into four treatments with six replicates of 10 chicks each. The treatments were: T0: base diet without spirulina (control), T1: base diet with 0.25% spirulina, T2: base diet with 0.5% spirulina, T3: base diet with 1% spirulina. A completely randomized block design was used. The effect of increasing levels of spirulina was evaluated by linear and quadratic polynomial orthogonal contrasts. The WG and FI variables showed quadratic trend while FCR and EPEI showed linear trend. The optimal level of ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the age of bulls at grazing on their diurnal behaviour in Setaria sphacelata meadows. The forage variables were the availability and nutritive value of the diet, and the animal variables were body weight, size and frequency of bites, and diurnal behaviour. Four Brown Swiss x zebu crossed bulls with an initial live weight of 285.8 ± 18.1 kg that grazed in an area of 29 ha (11 paddocks) were selected from a group of 36 bulls. The evaluations were done when the animals reached the ages of 12 (T1), 15 (T2) and 18 (T3) months. A randomized complete block design was used. Forage availability showed differences (p<0.05) between treatments; however, the forage allocation and the nutritional quality of the diet did not compromise their performance. Bite weight was higher in T3 (0.87 ± 0.22 g per bite; p<0.05), but without differences ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the productive performance of laying quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). The study was carried out at the poultry farm of the La Molina National Agrarian University in Lima, Peru. In total, 1296 quail distributed in 96 females and 48 males of three ages (45, 52 and 59 days) with 130, 140 and 150 g of body weight, respectively, at the beginning of the laying were used. A random block design with a 32 factorial arrangement was used, taking as factors age and weight at the beginning of laying and as a block the weeks of laying (8, 11 and 17). The highest egg mass (10.72 ± 0.41 g/day/bird) was obtained when the quails started laying with 150 g of live weight.