Reproductive characteristics of japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) hatched from eggs incubated under different light colors

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different colors of light during the incubation of eggs on the reproductive parameters of male and female Japanese quails. A total of 1776 eggs were incubated in four lighting conditions, 24 hours a day, during the entire incubation period: white LED, green LED, red LED and dark (control). The experimental design was a randomized block (incubation time) with four treatments of six replicates of two cages each. After hatching, the birds were housed in brood cages with 18 birds each until 35 days of age, when they were sexed and transferred to production cages for evaluation of reproductive parameters. After the start of laying, the number of eggs in each cage was recorded daily and the values were used to obtain the age of the females at the first egg and at 80% of laying. At 35 and 60 days of age a couple of birds from each cage were euthanized for anatomical and histological evaluation of the gonads. Until 60 days of age, two females from each cage were weighed every three days to determine the growth curve. After 60 days, eggs from each cage were collected to assess external and internal quality. At 70, 74 and 78 days of age, semen collections were performed to evaluate seminal quality. Then, the males were transferred to cages containing 9 females for the fertility test. The hatchability was higher (P <0.05) in eggs incubated in the dark and under the red LED. The age of maximum growth was higher (P <0.05) in birds from eggs incubated in the dark and under the white LED. There was no difference (P> 0.05) in the light colors during incubation on the anatomical and histological characteristics of the testicles, except for the diameter of the seminiferous tubules, which was greater (P = 0.06) in the dark and in the white LED. There was no effect (P> 0.05) of the different colors of light in the incubation on the productive index and egg quality of adult birds. There was also no effect (P> 0.05) on sperm quality, except for sperm motility, which values were higher (P <0.05) in birds from eggs incubated in different colors of light. However, this difference was not sufficient (P> 0.05) to influence the birds' fertility. It is concluded that the incubation of quail eggs under white, red and green LED lamps, under the studied conditions, does not influence the reproductive characteristics of quails in the production phase.