Impact of dietary cold-pressed chia oil on growth, blood chemistry, haematology, immunity and antioxidant status of growing Japanese quail

Chia (Salvia hispanicaL.) is a member of Labiate family and its seeds are rich in phenolic compounds and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) which could enhance the performance and productivity of birds. This study was carried out to determine the effects of supplementation with cold-pressed chia oil at different concentrations on the growth performance, carcase traits, haematology, blood chemistry, immunity and antioxidant status of growing quails. A total of 240 growing quails (1 week-old) were divided equally into five groups (4 replicates with 12 birds each). The experimental groups were G(1)(basal diet), G(2)(basal diet + 0.4 g chia oil/kg diet), G(3)(basal diet + 0.8 g chia oil/kg diet), G(4)(basal diet + 1.2 g chia oil/kg diet) and G(5)(basal diet + 1.6 g chia oil/kg diet). Birds in the G(2)group exhibited the highest body weight at 3 and 5 weeks of age, and the highest body weight gain at 1-3 weeks (6.24 g) and 1-5 weeks (6.17 g). Birds fed diets enriched with 0.4% chia oil exhibited the best FCR values. Dietary supplementation with chia oil increased the red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), haemoglobin (HGB) and haematocrit (HCT) when compared to the control group (G(1)). The antioxidant and immunity parameters were not affected by the supplementation of diet with chia oil. This study showed that quail diet supplementation with 0.4 g chia oil/kg diet improved the growth performance, certain blood parameters and lipid profile.