Vol. 10, Issue 12, Part D (2025)

India faces a persistent dietary protein deficit despite being home to millions of chickens, underscoring the need to diversify poultry production systems to meet future nutritional demands. Among alternative avian species, the Japanese quail has gained prominence owing to its rapid growth, early sexual maturity, resilience to diseases, and low maintenance requirements. Given its economic importance for both meat and egg production, understanding the genetic architecture underlying growth traits is essential for designing effective breeding programmes. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic parameters associated with juvenile growth in two domesticated Japanese quail varieties CARI Brown and CARI Suneheri reared under controlled management conditions.
A total of 200 sires and 200 dams per variety were utilized in a single-pair mating system, and pedigree-based hatching produced 3400 chicks across three consecutive hatches. Body weights were recorded weekly from hatch to five weeks, and mortality and hatchability were also monitored. Data were analysed using least squares procedures, and heritability and genetic correlations were estimated using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) via the WOMBAT mixed model.
CARI Brown exhibited superior hatchability (72.02%) and lower mortality (6.8%) compared to CARI Suneheri. Significant effects (p<0.01) of variety and sex on body weight were observed, with CARI Brown and females outperforming their counterparts across all ages. Heritability estimates ranged from low to high, with hatch weight showing particularly strong heritability in both varieties (0.272-0.584). Positive and often high genetic correlations were detected between body weights at successive ages, indicating that early-age growth can reliably predict later body weight performance.
The findings demonstrate considerable potential for genetic improvement of juvenile growth traits in Japanese quails. The observed moderate to high heritabilities, particularly in CARI Suneheri, suggest that selective breeding can achieve rapid genetic gain, strengthening the foundation for sustainable quail production in India.