Effect of dietary aflatoxin B1 on the growth response and haematologic changes of young Japanese quail.

Feeding of aflatoxin B1 at the rate of 0.5 ppm to young Japanese quail resulted in significant (p less than 0.01) decrease in body weight gain that became apparent on the third week. There was no significant difference in the mean values of haemoglobin, packed cell volume and total erythrocyte counts of quail chicks given aflatoxin B1 in feed in comparison to those fed on a similar diet without aflatoxin. However, the total leucocyte count revealed an increase on the third week which was due to an increase in the percentage of heterophils and decrease in lymphocytes.