Effect of age and mating ratio on fertility and hatchability of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) in the coastal climate of Odisha

The experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of mating ratio and breeding age on fertility and hatchability of Japanese quails in the coastal climate of Odisha. The experimental group comprised of three hundred four Japanese quails (87 males and 217 females) were reared on deep litter. The birds were divided into four mating ratio groups with four replicates each. The mating ratios were 1: 1 (50 M: 50 F), 1: 3 (17 M: 51 F), 1: 5 (12 M: 60 F) and 1: 7 (8 M: 56 F). The experiment was conducted from 7 weeks to 13 weeks of age forming six bi-weekly age groups. Out of four mating ratios 1: 5 mating ratio showed significantly (p<0.05) higher fertility. Among the age groups, the mean fertility varied from 79.33 to 90.36% with significantly (<0.05) higher value at 8–9 weeks of age. The hatchability on fertile egg set (H_FES) and total egg set (H_TES) varied from 80.32–84.19 and 64.54–73.55%, respectively, whereas 11–12 weeks group registered a significantly (p<0.05) higher H_FES and H_TES as compared to other groups. It was concluded that mating ratio 1: 5 was ideal, though it could be increased up to 1: 7 without any detrimental effect on fertility and hatchability. Breeder age of 11–12 weeks resulted in higher hatchability, irrespective of the mating ratio.