INFLUENCE OF CURCUMIN AND GROUND ANISE SEEDS AS MEDICAL HERBS ON THE PERFORMANCE, EUROPEAN PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY FACTOR, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS AND SOME BLOOD CONSTITUENTS OF JAPANESE QUAILS

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of curcumin, anise seeds levels and their interactions on growth performance European Production Efficiency Factor, carcass criteria and some blood parameters of quails. One hundred sixty-two, one day old of Japanese quails were randomly assigned in (3×2) factorial design. Three curcumin levels (0, 100, 200 mg/kg) and two ground anise seeds levels (0, 1%) in six treatments of 27 chicks each (three replicates of 9 chicks, each) were used. Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly. Body weight gain and feed conversion were calculated at the end of the experiment (42 day of age). Carcass criteria and some blood constituents were measured throughout the experiment. The results showed the main effect of curcumin didn't affect body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, European Production Efficiency Factor and European Broiler Index. Numerically, all the previous parameters were improved by supplementation of curcumin or ground anise seeds. Concerning with the interactions between the two medical herbs, the results showed that quails fed curcumin at level of 200 mg/kg plus 1% ground anise seeds diet achieved significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight, body weight gain and feed intake during the period from 0-14 days of age compared to the control. From the current experimental results, we can recommend supplementing diets with curcumin at level of 200 mg/kg and ground anise seeds at level of 1% to improve growth performance.