Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of dietary supplemental sodium bicarbonate on egg production, egg weight, shell quality, feed conversion efficiency, blood pH, plasma Na+ values and blood gas in Japanese quail Layers reared under high environmental temperature. In this study, 9 weeks old 60 female Japanese quail Layers were used and divided equally into two groups. The control group was fed with basal diet where the second group was fed with a diet containing 0.2 % NaHCO₃. The results showed that, NaHCO₃ supplementation improved egg production (%), shape index (%) and egg shell weight (gr) (P<0.05) significantly. There was no effect on egg shell thickness and feed conversion efficiency. Plazma Na+ value remained unchanged. Blood pH was similar between groups before ovulation however significant difference appeared after ovulation. HCO₃- and CO₂ concentrations (mmol/L) of group fed with supplemented diet were found low before ovulation. However, after ovulation, same value has been found high when compared to the control group. In both groups pCO₂ decreased and pO₂ increased after ovulation.

Key Words: Japanese Quail, egg production, acid-base balance, blood gases, adding NaHCO₃