Growth performance and physiological responses of growing japanese quail to methanolic lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) leaf extract in drinking water
Abstract
The current study assessed the impact of lettuce leaf extract (LLE) supplementation in drinking water as a natural substitute for antibiotics on growth performance, antioxidant status, immune response, gut microbiota, and intestinal morphology in growing Japanese quail. A total of 375 nine-day-old Japanese quail chicks were randomly allocated into five experimental groups for the experiment: a negative control group, a group that received colistin, and three groups that received LLE at 1, 2, or 3 mL/L of drinking water. The supplementation continued until the chicks were 39 days old. The methanolic LLE had a lot of phenolics and flavonoids and was a strong antioxidant. In comparison to the control and colistin groups, birds that got 2- and 3-mL LLE had much higher body weight and body weight gain, as well as a better feed conversion ratio (P
Fields of Study & Subjects
Animal Nutrition and Physiology
Rabbits: Nutrition
Reproduction
Health
Plant Toxicity and Pharmacological Properties
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Poultry Science
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 106844–106844
- Publication date
- 21 March 2026
- Language
- EN