Research Information System
JOURNAL OF POULTRY SCIENCE, vol.46, no.1, pp.25-29, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
To evaluate the effect of malic acid (MA) on performance and some digestive tract (gut) traits of Japanese quails, 320 quails were divided into 4 treatment groups each with 4 replicates containing 20 birds. While one of groups was fed a mash form basal diet with no additives (0 MA), other groups were fed the diets with malic acid at 0.4 (0.4 MA), 0.8 (0.8 MA) or 1.2 (1.2 MA) g/kg from 7 to 42 d of age. The weight gains of 0.8 MA and 1.2 MA birds and the feed consumption of 1.2 MA were higher than those of 0 MA. Addition of the malic acid to the diets did not affect the feed efficiency. The 0.8 MA birds had a higher carcass weight compared to other groups. The 1.2 MA bird, had a higher gut length compared to the 0 MA. The results indicated that feeding diets with malic acid at 0.8 and 1.2g/kg might increase weight gain and feed consumption without affecting feed efficiency and a significant benefit of feeding diet with malic acid at 0.8 g/kg compared to the control diet was obtained in terms of carcass weight in the Japanese quails.