Desempenho e proposta de manejo reprodutivo em codornas de corte

Abstract

In meat quail mating systems, posture, embryonic viability and fertility are the main parameters for predicting the reproductive potential of the flock. The male's performance, however, can interfere in this context. Although the male's performance interferes in this context, the peculiarities of ejaculate collection make sperm evaluation difficult. The objective was to verify the reproductive performance of meat quails depending on the time the male is used for reproduction (1 to 10 days) and the storage time of sperm in the female after copulation (from 1 to 14 days). Thus, eighteen males were used, divided into two distinct lineages, which were mated with ten females each from the same lineage as the males, in order to collect information on egg laying, embryonic viability and fertility for fourteen days after mating. A completely randomized design was used, in a 2x10 factorial scheme, with 14 replications. It was observed that males can remain in copulation for ten consecutive days without altering the laying, embryonic viability and fertility of the eggs and their presence did not cause enough stress on the females to alter the laying and viability rates. However, females showed a fertility rate above 70% just three to five days post-copulation. Furthermore, it was found that, each day after copulation, the chance of fertilized eggs reaching the end of embryonic development decreases by 5%. With the information obtained, a new reproductive management proposal can be used, according to the effective size of the flock, considering a ratio of 1M:3F, so that the male stays with a different female every day, and the eggs are collected three days after coitus, in order to obtain a high fertility rate and greater production of offspring in the herd. Or alternatively, to maintain the 1M:2F ratio, a rest day for the male can be used.