Effects of Varying Levels of Fermented Ipomoea aquatica Juice Supplementation on Early Laying Performance and Egg Quality Traits of Japanese Quails

A feeding trial was conducted at the Department of Animal Science-College of Agriculture and Food Science, Visayas State University, Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines to evaluate the early laying performance and egg quality traits of Japanese quails supplemented with varying levels of fermented Ipomoea aquatica juice through the drinking water as an alternative to synthetic supplements and antibiotics which are very detrimental to human health. A total of one hundred twenty, and forty-two days old Japanese quail hens were used as experimental birds from February to March 2016. These were randomly assigned into four treatments replicated three times with ten birds every replication and laid out in a Completely Randomized Design set-up. Data gathered except for Yolk color were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and comparison of treatment means was done using Tukey’s Honest Significant Difference test using version 17.0 of the Statistical Package Social Science software. The Yolk Color was analyzed using the Kruskal Wallis test for non-parametric data. Results revealed that the overall laying performance, egg weight, and egg shape were not affected by fermented Ipomoea aquatica juice supplementation through the drinking water. However, eggshell weight and yolk color were significantly affected by the inclusion of different levels of fermented Ipomoea aquatica juice supplementation, and the return on investment indicated a promising prospect for raising Japanese quails