Short-term effect of Nanoparticles of silicon dioxide on the performance and egg quality traits in laying quails

This experiment was conducted to evaluate short time effects of Nano silicon dioxide on the performance and egg quality traits of laying quail. The experiment was administrated using sixty laying quails at 18-22 weeks of age allocated to 5 treatments with 4 replicates (each containing 3 birds) in a completely randomized design. Experimental treatments were: control group with no Nano silicon dioxide and Nano silicon dioxide at different levels of 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 (mg/kg of diet). The experimental diets were provided ad libitum for all the dietary groups from 18 to 22 weeks of laying period. During the experiment, the amount of feed intake was recorded weekly and performance parameters including egg weight, feed conversion ratio and egg production were measured. In last three days of last week, all of the eggs in each replicate were collected for three continuous days and egg quality parameters were measured. The results showed that body weight, silicon concentration in egg and egg quality parameters were not affected by Nano silicon dioxide supplementation except for the shell dry weight (P