Evaluation of dietary butyric acid supplementation on small intestinal morphology, performance and carcass traits of Japanese quails

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of different contents of butyric acid on small intestinal morphology, performance, carcass traits of Japanese quails. A total of 384 one day old quails were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments with 4 replicates of 24 quails and fed with basal diet including 0, 40, 50 and 60 mg of butyric acid/kg of feed. Growth performance, small intestinal morphology (villus height and width), carcass traits (carcass weight and relative weights of breast, heart, liver and gizzard) were assessed on days 21 and 42. Weight gains and feed conversion ratio were significantly improved in quails supplemented with butyric acid compared to the controls. Carcass and breast yields were also markedly increased in the treated birds. Furthermore, the dietary butyric acid addition has also induced highly significant increases in the jejunal villus dimensions (height and width) since the end of the staring period (day 21) persisting over the growing period (day 42). These results demonstrate that dietary supplementation using high quantities of butyric acid greatly improves the small intestinal morphology by increasing the absorptive surface area that consequently promotes the nutrient assimilation and sustains performance in Japanese quails.