Effect of season on production performance of quail in the semiarid region of Paraiba state, BrazilThe objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of wet and dry seasons in productive performance and egg quality of quails in semiarid region of Paraiba State. 2,400 quails of Japanese lineage (Coturnix coturnix japonica) and European lineage (Coturnix coturnix coturnix), were used with 60 days (age) at the beginning and 150 days at the end. A completely randomized factorial 2 x 2 x 3 design was used corresponding to the two lines , two seasons and three months , with 12 replications. Environmental temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, radiant heat load and index of black globe temperature and humidity were measured for 24 h per day. The feed intake, egg production, feed conversion and weight per dozen eggs were evaluated. Egg weight, egg white weight, yolk weight, weight and thickness of the shell were measured to qualify egg variables. The production performance was better in the rainy season, which recorded the best thermal comfort indices and the birds of the Japanese lineage were more efficient than the European lineage as for the egg's quantitative characteristics.
thermal environment; quail breeding; egg production
