This study aimed to determine the effect of expired milk powder supplementation at different protein levels on the performance of laying quail. This study used 240 heads of laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) aged 42 days with 10% egg production in the layer phase aged 6-9 weeks. This study used an experimental method with a completely randomized design (CRD) in a 3x2 factorial with four replications. Each replication consisted of 10 laying quails. The first factor is expired milk powder supplementation with three levels, namely 0%, 0.25%, and 0.50%. The second factor is the level of protein requirement with two levels, namely 20% and 18%. The variables observed were ration consumption (g/head/day), daily egg production (%), egg weight (g/grain), egg mass (g/head/day), feed conversion, and income over feed cost (IOFC). The analysis of variance showed that supplementation of expired milk powder in the ration had no significant effect (P>0.05) on ration consumption, daily egg production, egg weight, egg mass, and ration conversion at 20% and 18% protein levels. Based on the study results, it can be concluded that the addition of expired milk powders up to a dose of 0.50% did not affect the performance of quail aged 6-9 weeks. Numerically, higher income over feed cost (Rp. 274,272) was attained from the quail layer fed with 20% protein.
Keywords | Expired milk powder, Protein level, Performance, Laying Japanese quail