title: Body weight, egg production, and egg quality traits of gray, brown, and white varieties of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) in coastal climatic condition of Odisha.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted to evaluate the performance of gray, brown, and white varieties of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) with respect to body weight, egg production, and egg quality traits in the coastal climatic condition of Odisha.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 500-day-old straight run Japanese quail chicks of three varieties, viz., gray, brown, and white were randomly selected and reared in deep litter system at Central Poultry Development Organization, Eastern Region, Bhubaneswar. The weekly body weight of the birds was recorded till their egg production stage (up to 6 weeks of age). The average egg production was recorded every biweekly from 6(th) to 20(th) week. Exterior and interior quality of eggs from each variety was determined at 6 weeks of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The initial average weekly body weight of three varieties did not differ (p>0.05) among the varieties. However, from 1(st) to 6(th) week significantly higher body weight was observed in gray than white and brown. Brown varieties had reached 50% egg production 1 week earlier than gray and white. Brown had higher peak hen day (HD) production or hen-housed egg production followed by white and gray. External quality such as: Egg weight, egg length, egg width, volume, shape index, shell weight, shell thickness depicted no significant difference among the varieties except circumference length and circumference width, which were significantly higher (p≤0.05) in gray varieties than brown varieties. Internal egg characteristics such as: Albumen length, albumen width, albumen height, albumen index, yolk length, yolk width, yolk height, yolk index, albumen weight, yolk weight, Haugh unit revealed no significance difference among the varieties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It may be summarized from the findings that gray excelled in body weight followed by white and brown. Egg production potential in terms of hen house egg production or HD egg production was higher for brown followed by white and gray in the coastal climatic condition of Odisha.
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: Jessy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bagh
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Panigrahi
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Panda
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.affiliation: Central Poultry Development Organization, Eastern Region, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Mallik
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Majhi
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Rout
keywords: body weight; egg production potential; egg quality traits; quail