الفهرس 
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Abstract
This study was carried out at the farm of Animal and Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Minia University. during the period from 28 May to 30 Juny 2016. It was designed to study the effect of red yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous or active dry yeast (ADY) on performance, carcass, biochemical, immunological and histological alterations of quail chicks.
In this study 360 unsexed Japanese quail chicks, at two weeks old, randomly distributed into 6 experimental groups of 60 birds each. Each group contains three replicates of 20 birds each. Birds of all experimental groups were fed on a commercial basal diet supplemented with or without Red yeast or active dry yeast as follows: -
1-Basal diet (Control)
2-Basal diet + 4g Red Yeast / kg diet
3-Basal diet + 8g Red Yeast / kg diet
4-Basal diet + 12 g Red Yeast / kg diet
5- Basal diet + 16 g Red Yeast / kg diet
6-Basal diet + 16 g Active dry yeast (ADY) / kg diet.
1. Productive performance
Data indicated that there were no significant (P>0.05) differences among all groups on feed intake as affected by dietary treatments. In contrast, at the end of treatment 5-6 weeks of age the addition of 16 g ADY/ kg diet led to increased feed consumption of quail chicks comparing with other treatments except control group which had similar trend of ADY supplementation. Data recorded that, there was insignificantly difference (P>0.05) in feed conversion ratio because of adding different sources of RY and ADY to Japanese quail diet during all experimental period.
Obtained data showed a significant (P<0.05) difference between treatments during the experimental periods. Whereas, At the 5th of the experiment (4:5 weeks of age), there was a slightly numerically improvement (P<0.05) in body gain for birds fed dietary red yeast and active dry yeast followed by quails compared with control.
2. Physiological performance
Results showed not significant (P > 0.05) differences among all treatments on absolute and relative weights of digestive organs (Duodenum and small intestinal length). Contrary, regarding to sexual organs absolute and relative weights the addition of RY or ADY significantly increased testis and ovary weights. Also, the oviduct length was affected by dietary supplementation.
3. Biochemical parameters
Results revealed that, administration of RY affect all parameters measured in the current study in a concentration dependent manner. This could be attributed to the difference in concentration and profile of carotenoids in the tested product. High inclusion levels of RY in quail diet were seen to elevate within the normal range serum AST, urea, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. No significant differences were found between ADY administrative groups and control in most tested parameters. Furthermore, RY and ADY administration did not show any pathological alteration in the liver and renal tissues.
In summary, RY can be safely used as a feed supplement in quail to enhance their antioxidant status and immune response. In addition, dietary supplementation with RY at high levels in quail diet cause minor changes in some blood biochemical parameters including liver and renal function testes. Also, high dose of RY administration caused slight liver and kidney damage whereas, ADY did not show any pathological alteration in the liver and renal tissues. Future studies may be recommended to investigate the possibility of RY cultural filtrate inclusion as a supplement in the drinking water during periods of stress. Conclusively, RY can be used to improve the quality of quail chickens. However, high doses (more than 8g/kg diet) are not recommended.
4. Microbiological parameters
The results of this study showed that the treatment with red yeast affected all the microbiological measurements that were estimated in this study through the decrease in the number of E. coli bacteria and not affected the number of aerobic bacterial counts. This isolation from the red yeast showed the ability to interact with the pathogen fungus, highlighting its economic importance and recommending its use in the diets.