Heat Stress in Quail: Impacts on Health and Productivity, and Mitigation Strategies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Heat stress is a significant problem in quail ( Coturnix spp.) production, more specifically in tropical and subtropical regions. In such places, high ambient temperatures disrupt physiological homeostasis and reduce birds' overall productivity. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of how a rise in temperature (≥ 28°C) affects quail performance, leading to reduced feed intake, weakened immunity, oxidative stress, reduced reproductive efficiency, and deterioration in egg and meat quality. Besides that, behavioral and metabolic disturbances further deepen the bird's welfare problems, which in turn cause substantial economic and production losses. This paper extensively discusses mitigation measures as a response to the problem: they range from nutrition (antioxidants, enzymes, probiotics, and electrolytes) to environment and management (cool water provision, optimized housing, and modified feeding practices) and to genetics and epigenetics (selective breeding, gene‐assisted selection, and embryonic thermal manipulation). This study, by presenting results from different studies, underscores the need for a comprehensive and flexible system to improve the thermotolerance of quail, thereby enabling sustained production amid the challenges of a warming climate.