The effects of dietary zinc oxide nanoparticles on some reproductive parameters of male quail

In present study, the effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NP) on reproductive performance of male Japanese quail was studied. In this study, one hundred Japanese quails were used based a completely randomized design in 5 treatments and each treatment was repeated 5 times. Each repeated included three females and one male quails. The experiment was performed during 20 weeks. Experimental treatments included negative control (0 and 0 mg/kg), positive control (30 and 60 mg/kg commercial zinc oxide) and different dietary levels (10 and 20 mg/kg), (30 and 60 mg/kg) and (90 and 180 mg/kg) of ZnO NP respectively during growth ((from day one to day 42 of age) and production (from day 42 of age to week 20 of age) periods. The results showed that lack of dietary Zn causes the decreased  body weight, testis weight, daily sperm production and serum testosterone concentration (P<0.05). The consumption of 180 mg/kg of nanoparticles increases the daily sperm production, serum testosterone concentration and body weight of the birds (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between the positive control and the quails fed 20 ml/kg of ZnO NP for reproductive performance and testosterone concentration .Increasing the ZnO NP level to 180 mg/kg leads to significant increase of reproductive performance in male Japanese quail. In conclusion, the consumption of the 20 mg/kg of ZnO NP causes the improved reproductive performance of male quails and hence can be a good replacement for 60 mg/kg of commercial zinc oxide in the diet.