Effects of different levels of Portulaca oleracea seed on performance, egg quality and blood biochemical parameters in Japanese quail

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of purslane seed on performance, egg quality traits and some serum biochemical parameters in Japanese quails. In this experiment were used 192 laying quails in a completely randomized design with four treatments, four replicates and in each replicate 12 laying quails. The period of this experiment was two months. Experimental groups included 0, 1, 2 and 3% of purslane seed in diet. The eggs were collected, counted and calculated every day. At the end of this experiment, four eggs selected from each replicate randomly for analyzing egg quality (percentage of yolk, albumen, shell, shell thickness, yolk color and internal quality unit). Also, at the end of the experiment, from each group, two laying quails were selected to evaluate serum biochemical parameters. The results showed that feeding laying quails with 2% purslane seed increased egg production in compared with the other groups (p