Studies on the growth performance of native chicken ecotypes and RIR chicken under improved management system in Northwest Ethiopia

Halima Hassen, F W C Neser, Tadelle Dessie, A de Kock and E Van Marle-Koster

Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa
ILRI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Department of Hematology and Cell biology, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa
Department of Animal science and Grassland Sciences, University of Pretoria
halimamog2002@yahoo.com

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the growth performance of native and RIR chickens under intensive management condition for 22 weeks using a standard commercial ration. Seven native chicken populations were collected from representative administrative zones in northwest Ethiopia. The experimental layout was a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Data on feed consumption, body weight and related parameters were collected up to the age of 22 weeks.

The mean total feed intake for the seven native chicken ecotypes and RIR chicken lines at the end of their growth phase were 13.80, 15.16, 13.44, 13.25, 13.81, 13.36, 14.11 and 12.83 kg for the native chicken types named as Tilili, Gellilia, Debre-Ellias, Mello-Hamusit, Gassay, Guangua, Mecha and RIR, respectively. There was no significant difference in feed consumption among the tested chicken ecotypes. However, a significant (p<0.05) difference was observed in average body weight and body weight gain between the different lines. The average body weights for Tilili , Gellilia, Debre-Ellias, Mello-Hamusit, Gassay, Guangua, Mecha and RIR were 1191, 1186, 1054, 1222, 1038, 1249, 1257 and 1394 g respectively. The lowest and highest mean mature body weight at the age of 22 weeks were 1038 g for Gassay and 1257g for Mecha native chicken lines, respectively. Besides, the average mature body weight for Tilili, Gellilia, Debre-Ellias, Mello-Hamusit, Gassay, Guangua, Mecha and RIR was 1191, 1186, 1054, 1222, 1038, 1249, 1257 and 1394 g and their mean daily body weight growth rates were 7.6, 7.5, 6.7, 7.8, 6.6, 7.9, 8.0 and 8.8 g per bird, respectively. The native chicken lines named as Mello-Hamusit, Guangua and Mecha were the fastest growers among the native chicken lines. Mortality from hatching to end of the growth period i.e. at maturity was higher for all the native and RIR chickens used under intensive management condition.

Key words: Growth, intensive, Native chickens, RIR

Introduction

Chickens are widely kept in Ethiopia and make up the largest share in terms of number compared to other farm Animal Genetic Resources (AnGRs), with a total population of about 65 million (FAO 2000), which plays a significant role in human nutrition and as income sources. Moreover, 99 % of population consisted of native chickens and are managed under scavenging systems while the remaining birds are mainly in private farms under modern management system. About 98.5 % and 99.2% of the national egg and poultry meat production is contributed from the traditional Poultry production, respectively (AACMC 1984), with average annual output of 72,300 metric tones of meat and 78,000 metric tones of eggs (ILCA 1993).

The distributions of chickens in Ethiopia varies with altitude and the highest concentration of village chickens is found in Gojam, Gonder, Shewa, Sidamo, Tigray and Wollo administrative regions (EMA 1981). The local chickens, which are basically non-descriptive types, vary widely in body size, conformation and plumage color and characteristics. According to Teketle (1986), the productivity of birds under the rural production system in Ethiopia is very low, which is expressed in terms of low egg production, small sized eggs, slow growth and low survivability of chicks. This low production potential may be attributed to lack of improved poultry breeds, the presence of predators, the high incidence of diseases, poor feeding and management followed by farmers (Alemu 1987; Alemu 1995).

Establishment of a strong breeding program to combat constraints related with poultry production is highly essential, for which a wider genetic base of germplasm is a prerequisite. However, the chicken genetic resources in Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia, is becoming very acute due to the high rate of genetic erosion resulted in from diseases (Newcastle) and recurrent drought. Furthermore, the massive distribution of exotic chicken breeds via fertile eggs, day-old chicks and three months old pullets and cockerels by both governmental and non governmental organizations has resulted in the dilution of the indigenous genetic stock. If this trend continues at the current pace, the gene pool of the indigenous chickens could be lost in the near future even before they are described and studied. In northwest Ethiopia (Gojjam and Gonder), studies to determine the production potential in traits such as egg and meat production and productivity of native chickens have never been commissioned. Therefore, this investigation was initiated to evaluate and compare the growth potential and feed consumption and survival of chicken types identified, characterized and collected from the representative administrative zones of northwest Ethiopia.

Materials and methods

Description of the study area

The performance evaluation trial was conducted at Andassa Livestock Research center, Ethiopia, which is located 11^o29' N latitude and 37^o29' E longitude with an elevation of 1730 meters above sea level. It receives average annual rainfall of 1150 mm with temperatures ranging from 6.5-30 ^oC. It is spread over an area of 360 hectares and it is situated at a distance of about 22 km from Bahir Dar that is the capital city of Amhara regional state.

Method of egg collection and production of experimental chicks

The required number of fertile eggs from the identified seven indigenous chicken groups was purchased in the selected villages found in northwest Ethiopia. The collected eggs were transported to Andassa Livestock Research Center (ALRC), Ethiopia, for hatching using the hatchery units of poultry division following standard procedures. In addition, fertile eggs from RIR breed found at ALRC were included as reference. All the eggs were fumigated using formaldehyde gas (17g KmnO₄ + 100ml of 20% Formalin) and incubated to hatch the experimental chicks.

Management of experimental chickens

Chicks, after hatching was vaccinated against Newcastle and fowl typhoid according to the recommendations of the veterinarian and their growth characteristics were evaluated under intensive management conditions. Based on the types and number of chicken populations identified and hatched, they were weighed and randomly allocated to the pens using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and placed in deep litter pens. The identified indigenous chicken populations and reference breed were taken as the experimental unit and treatments having three replications. The chicks were offered a standard starter rations for a period of 8 weeks (brooding period) and then, a commercial grower ration for an additional period of 12 weeks ad libitum, which have specified energy value and protein content. Data on growth characteristics such as growth rate (body weight at hatching and at 15 days interval) and feed utilization were recorded and the data was analyzed using GLM of SPSS version 10 (SPSS 1996).

Results

Body weight and body weight gain

The least squares means from the analysis of variance presented in table 1, 2 and 3, indicated that the seven native and RIR chickens body weight, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio and their survival rate from day-old to 4, 5-8 and day old to 22 weeks of their growth period, respectively.

From day old to 4 weeks of age significant (p<0.05) body weight and body weigh gain difference were obtained between native and RIR chickens while the mean body weight gain per bird were non-significant for Tilil vs Melo Hamusit, Tilili vs RIR, Gellilia vs Debre Elias, Melo Hamusit vs Guangua vs RIR and Guangua vs Mecha chicken types. On the other hand, the lowest and highest mean body weight gain per bird were recorded for Gassay and Mecha native chickens, which indicated that there was an average daily growth rate of 3.3 g and 4.2 g per bird per day at their starter growth phase, respectively (table 1).

Table 1. Comparison of the growth performance of native and RIR chickens under intensive management condition in Northwest Ethiopia, 0-4 weeks
Parameters	Native chicken populations							Exotic	P-value
Parameters	Tilili	Gellilia	Debre-Ellias	Mello-Hamusit	Gassay	Guangua	Mecha	RIR	P-value
Mean body wt, g/bird	134^cd	126^e	127^e	137^bc	119^f	142^ab	146^a	137^bd	0.00*
Mean body wt gain, g/bird	107^cd	97.8^ef	100^e	111^bc	93.1^f	113^ab	118^a	101^de	0.00*
Mean daily wt gain, g/bird	3.8^cd	3.5^ef	3.6^e	4.0^bc	3.3^f	4.0^ab	4.2^a	3.6^de	0.00*
Mean total feed intake, kg/bird	0.70^bcd	0.94^a	0.96^a	0.73^ac	0.81^ab	0.70^bcd	0.72^ad	0.65^bcd	0.11
Mean daily feed intake, g/bird	24.9^bcde	33.6^a	34.2^a	26.2^ac	28.8^ab	24.8^bcd	25.7^ad	23.4^bcde	0.12
FCR(feed: gain)	6.5^bd	9.6^a	9.5^a	6.6^bc	8.7^ab	6.2^cd	6.1^cd	6.5^bd	0.01*
Mortality, %	27.3^ac	27.4^ab	33.5^a	12.0^bcde	15.5^ae	23.3^ad	12.8^bcde	7.4^de	0.05
^abc- Means with a different superscript in a row are significantly different (p< 0.05)

Moreover, from 5 to 8 weeks of age the mean daily body weight gain ranged from 8.8g (Gassay) to 11.5 g (Mecha) (table 2).

Table 2. Comparison of the growth performance of native and RIR chickens under intensive management condition in Northwest Ethiopia, 5-8 weeks
Parameters	Native chicken populations							Exotic	P-value
Parameters	Tilili	Gellilia	Debre-Ellias	Mello-Hamusit	Gassay	Guangua	Mecha	RIR	P-value
Mean body wt gain, g/bird	284^b	272^bef	254^cdf	277^bc	247^ef	316^a	322^a	275^bd	0.00*
Mean daily wt gain, g/bird	10.2^b	9.7^bef	9.1^cdf	9.9^bc	8.8^ef	11.3^a	11.5^a	9.8^bd	0.00*
Mean total feed intake, kg/bird	1.17^bd	1.32^a	1.22^ab	1.19^ac	1.02^e	1.14^be	1.06^cde	1.00^e	0.00*
Mean daily feed intake, g/bird	42.1^bc	47.3^a	43.4^ab	42.7^ac	36.4^d	40.6^bd	38.0^cd	35.9^d	0.00*
FCR(feed: gain)	4.1^bd	4.9^a	4.8^a	4.3^ab	4.1^bc	3.6^cdf	3.3 ^ef	3.6^cdf	0.00*
Mortality (%)	5.8^a	6.0^a	1.5^a	2.7^a	6.2^a	1.7^a	5.3^a	1.8^a	0.23
^abc- Means with a different superscript in a row are significantly different (p< 0.05)

In addition, significant body weight differences within the native, between native and RIR chicken populations were obtained at day-old and at their final body weight and the highest body weight was observed for the control (RIR) group. The average body weight for Tilili, Gellilia, Debre-Ellias, Mello-Hamusit, Gassay, Guangua, Mecha and RIR was 1191, 1186, 1054, 1222, 1038, 1249, 1257 and 1394 g, respectively. Hence, there is variation in growth rate between the native and RIR chicken populations. The Mello-Hamusit, Guangua and Mecha native chickens were the fastest growing among the local groups (Table 3 and Figure 1).

Table 3. Comparison of the growth performance of native and RIR chickens under intensive management condition in Northwest Ethiopia, day old - 22 weeks
Parameters	Native chicken populations							Exotic	P- value
Parameters	Tilili	Gellilia	Debre-Ellias	Mello-Hamusit	Gassay	Guangua	Mecha	RIR	P- value
Mean day-old body wt, g/bird	27.2^d	27.8^c	27.1^d	26.3^e	25.5^f	29.3^b	27.9^c	35.2^a	0.00*
Mean final body wt , g/bird	1191^bd	1186^be	1054^cde	1222^bc	1038^de	1249^ab	1257^ab	1394^a	0.01
Mean body wt gain , g/bird	1164^bcde	1158^bcdf	1027^e	1196^ad	1013^ef	1220^ac	1229^ab	1359^a	0.01*
Mean daily gain , g/bird	7.6^bc	7.5^bd	6.7^cd	7.8^ab	6.6^cd	7.9^ab	8.0^ab	8.8^a	0.01*
Mean total feed intake, kg/bird	13.80^ad	15.16^a	13.44^ae	13.25^bcdef	13.81^ac	13.36^af	14.11^ab	12.83^bcdef	0.33
Mean daily feed intake , g/bird	89.6^ab	98.5^ab	87.3^ab	86.0^b	89.7^ab	86.7^ab	91.6^ab	83.3^b	0.33
FCR(feed: gain)	11.9^ad	13.1^ab	13.1^ac	11.1^bcde	13.9^a	11.0^bcde	11.6^ae	9.5^de	0.04*
Mortality (%) (20-22 weeks)	15.7^cd	18.0^bd	13.1^cd	39.8^a	24.3^ac	16.9^bce	32.7^ab	6.3^de	0.02*
^abc- Means with a different superscript in a row are significantly different (p< 0.05)

Figure 1. Growth curve of native and RIR chickens in Northwest Ethiopia

Feed consumption and feed conversion ratio

Feed consumption from day old to 4 and from day old to 22 weeks were none significant while a significant variation on feed intake was recorded from the age of 5 to 8 weeks. The lowest and highest daily feed intake were recorded by RIR (23.4g) and Debre-Ellias (34.2 g) chicken types. There was a significant (p<0.05) variation in FCR between the native and RIR chickens. Also, day old to 22 weeks of age the lowest and highest mean daily feed intake was 83.3 g for RIR and 98.5 g for Gellilia chicken types (table 3).

The mean total feed intake for the seven identified native chicken ecotypes and RIR chicken at the end of their growth phase were 13.80, 15.16, 13.44, 13.25, 13.81, 13.36, 14.11 and 12.83 kg for the native chicken types named as Tilili, Gellilia, Debre-Ellias, Mello-Hamusit, Gassay, Guangua, Mecha and RIR, respectively. There was no significant (p<0.05) difference in total feed consumption among the tested chicken lines. On the other hand, in all the cases, there was a higher level of feed consumption by the seven identified native chicken populations which is related with their pronounced selective feeding and feed scratching behavior and this seems to be overestimated there feed intake during their growth period. Feed conversion ration is a complex process and a highly aggregate trait which is the result of the interaction of behavior, level of production, appetite and other factors. Hence, the feed conversion ratio (feed: gain) for the native and RIR chickens were very poor with the feed conversion ratio varying from 9.5 to 13.9 (table 3) for RIR and Gassay chicken lines, respectively, at the end of the growth period.

Mortality

Mortality from hatching to end of the growth period, i.e. at maturity was higher for all the native and RIR chickens used under intensive management condition (table 1, 2 and 3). The results of this study showed that the lowest and highest rate of mortality from day old to 4 weeks, 5 to 8 weeks and 20 to 22 weeks were 7.4% (RIR) and 33.5% (Debre-Ellias), 1.5% (Debre-Ellias) and 6.2 % (Gassay), 8.5%(RIR) and 39.8 %(Mello-Hamusit), respectively. The reason for the high rate of mortality for the native and RIR chickens during their growth period was mainly due to Coccidiosis, E.coli (pathogenic level) and also the local chickens were exposed for the first time for confined environment.

Conclusions

It can be concluded that the Mello-Hamusit, Guangua and Mecha chicken lines seemed to be the faster growers amongst the seven chicken populations identified in northwest Ethiopia.
The growth performances of these lines are comparable to that of RIR chicken.
Further study for the identification, characterization and conservation of indigenous chickens have to continue for the other respective administrative zones found in the Amhara regional state, which can lead to start selection and/or crossing programmes within the indigenous chicken lines.
Care should be taken in the random distribution and crossing of exotic chicken breeds in the rural parts of the country.

References

Alemu Y 1987 Small scale poultry production. Proceedings of the first national livestock improvements conference 11-13 February 1987, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, PP 100-101.

Alemu Y 1995 Poultry production in Ethiopia. World's Poultry Science Journal 51:197-200.

AACMC (Australian Agricultural Consulting and Management Company) 1984 Livestock sub-sector review, Volume1, Annex 3.MoA, Ethiopia.

EMA (Ethiopian Mapping Agency) 1981 National Atlas of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

FAO 2000 Statistical database of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy http://faostat.fao.org/

ILCA (International Livestock Research for Africa) 1993 Handbook of African livestock statistics. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. http://www.ilri.cgiar.org/InfoServ/Webpub/Fulldocs/X5482e/x5482e00.htm#Contents

SPSS 1996 Statistical package for social sciences. SPSS users' guide 10.0 SAS Institute inc.,Cary NC

Teketle F 1986 Studies on the meat production potentials of some local strains of chickens in Ethiopia. PhD Thesis, J L Giessen University, Germany