The effects of carotenoids in quail breeder diets on egg yolk pigmentation and breeder performance

The effects of supplementation of 10 mg/kg (i) apoester, (ii) canthaxanthin, (iii) 3% clover extract, (iv) paprika oleoresin and (v) aztec marigold extract pigments to a wheat-based non-pigmented feed on hatchery performance and egg yolk pigmentation in quail breeders were investigated. At six weeks of age a total of 432 Japanese quail breeders were randomly divided into 6 treatments, each of which was replicated 3 times, with 24 birds (18 female: 6 male) per replicate. Hatchability was significantly better in the apoester treatment compared to the control, canthaxanthin, clover extract and paprika oleoresin treatments (p <.05) but similar to the aztec marigold treatment (p >.05). Total carotenoids concentration, YCF score, yellowness (b*) and redness (a*) of egg yolk were significantly higher in pigment-supplemented treatments compared to the control treatment (p <.05). YCF and redness (a*) were highly correlated in all treatments (0.94; p <.0001).