Performance, immune response, and meat quality in Newcastle-vaccinated quail fed with colored corn in place of yellow maize

This work investigated the effects of the usage of colored corn as a replacement for 50% and 100% yellow corn in the diet of Japanese quail. Two hundred and forty-day-old Japanese quails were indiscriminately separated into four experimental groups consisting of six replicates each containing 10 quails. Experimental groups designed: the control group (C) (basal diet-0% colored corn, vaccinated), negative control group (NC) (basal diet-0% colored corn, no vaccine), 50% CC group (basal diet-50% colored corn, vaccinated), and 100% CC group (basal diet-100% colored corn, vaccinated). At the end of the 35-day period, the highest body weight and body weight gain (BWG) were recorded in the 50% CC (P < 0.05). The highest feed intake (FI) was recorded in the 100% CC group, the lowest FI in C (P > 0.05), and the best feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the 50% CC group (P < 0.05). While L* was not affected, a* and b* values were significantly affected by feeding colored corn (P < 0.05). Meat pH, cooking loss (CL), and water holding capacity (WHC) values were significantly affected, and the highest pH and CL values were in the C group and the highest WHC value in NC (P < 0.05). Colored corn had no influence on MDA7th concentration of breast meat. The antibody titers against NDV were significantly superior in the vaccinated groups than in the NC (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the use of colored corn in quail had an affirmative effect on meat quality and growth performance but not on the immune response of quail against NDV.