Comparative growth, production, egg and carcass traits of different crosses of Brown Nicobari with White Leghorn under intensive and extensive management systems in Andaman, India

R N Chatterjee, R B Rai, S C Pramanik, Jai Sunder, S Senani and A Kundu

Animal Science Division, Central Agricultural Research Institute,
Port Blair, A and N Islands 744101, India
rncchat@rediffmail.com

Abstract

A total of 278 progeny of the cross of Brown Nicobari male with ILI-80 female and 343 progeny of the cross of ILI-80 male with Brown Nicobari female were evaluated under intensive and 198 progeny of the first cross and 224 progeny of the second cross were evaluated under extensive management system for different growth and production traits.  Simultaneously, feed conversion efficiency, laying period mortality, egg and carcass quality traits were also studied for suitability of different crosses of Brown Nicobari (with White Leghorn) for rearing under backyard conditions.

Significantly (P<0.05) higher growth rate was observed among the progeny reared under deep litter at and beyond 8 weeks of age than under back yard. The body weight of the birds at 14 weeks of age under backyard was more than 700 g. Lower (P<0.05) age at sexual maturity and higher (P<0.05) body weight at maturity and egg production were observed among the progeny reared under cages. The ASM, WAM, annual egg production and average egg weight among the progeny of direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 under backyard were found to be around 190 days, 1050g, 160 eggs per year and 51 g, respectively. The laying period mortality under backyard was below 10%. The average live weight of male progeny of the cross of Brown Nicobari (M) X ILI-80 (F) was higher than the male body weight of the progeny of its reciprocal cross at 24 weeks of age. There was no significant difference for evisceration percentages  between  the  two   genetic groups. Significant (P<0.05) differences between the two genetic groups for feather, back, gizzard and testis were observed. The cut-up parts for back, neck and breast differed significantly (P<0.05) between the two genetic groups. Egg weight at 45 week of age of the birds did not differ significantly. However, shape index, albumen weight, yolk weight, yolk height, shell weight, albumen, yolk and shell percentages differed significantly (P<0.05) between the studied genetic groups. Albumen pH was alkaline, while yolk pH was acidic in nature.

Due to better growth, production and survivability under extensive management system, the cross of ILI-80 (M)X Brown Nicobari (F) may be chosen for backyard farming (for higher egg production) of the birds under Island ecosystem.

Keywords: back yard, Brown Nicobari crosses, egg and carcass traits, growth, intensive, production traits

Introduction

Nicobari fowl is an indigenous and endemic breed of poultry of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and produces highest number of eggs among all the indigenous chicken breeds of India (Ahlawat and Chatterjee 2002). There are several evidences that the exotic birds that are known for their good performances are always not found to be the best in all the climatic conditions as they require stringent management conditions for their optimum performances. The commercial importance of increased performance of the crossbreds of different breeds/ strains /lines for economic traits is well known (Singh et al 2002). ILI-80 is a commercial strain of White Leghorn developed by CARI, Izatnagar and can produce 220-240 eggs per year under cages in hot and humid climate of Andaman and not suitable for backyard or extensive management system. The direct and reciprocal crosses of Black and White Nicobari with ILI-80 were evaluated and found to increase growth and production performance of Nicobari fowls under intensive and extensive management systems but with higher mortality under backyard (Chatterjee et al 2002; Chatterjee et al 2004 a and 2005 a and b).

The net economic merit of a laying flock depends not only on the total number of eggs produced but also on the egg weight and other egg quality traits. Egg quality traits of different indigenous (Padhi et al 1998) and Crossbreds (Chatterjee et al 2004 a) were reported. Evaluation of carcass quality traits of any breed help to identify suitable birds according to consumer’s preference. Carcass quality traits of the pure, crosses of Black and White Nicobari with ILI-80 and synthetic broiler have been evaluated (Padhi et al 1997; Chatterjee et al 2004 b). However, the performance of direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 were not simultaneously evaluated under intensive and extensive management for their suitability for backyard farming. The egg and carcass quality of these crosses were also not yet evaluated.

The present study was therefore, undertaken to evaluate the comparative growth and production performance of the progeny of direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 under intensive and backyard management systems. The egg and carcass quality traits of these crosses were also evaluated in this study.

Materials and methods

The progeny of the direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 have been produced with the aim of producing a suitable disease resistant bird (strain cross) for backyard farming system with better growth, egg production, lower age at sexual maturity and better survivability under backyard. A total of 476 progeny of the cross of Brown Nicobari male X ILI-80 female and 567 progeny of ILI-80 female X Brown Nicobari female were produced and 192 progeny of the first cross and 224 progeny of the second cross were supplied to 17 farmers (Selected at random ) of 7 villages of South Andaman at 5 weeks of age. All the birds were reared in deep litter up to 5 weeks of age under standard managemental practices. The birds which were supplied to the farmers at 5 weeks of age for their evaluation under backyard were housed only at night. Under backyard, birds were provided with some amount of supplementary feed in the form of kitchen waste, broken rice or wheat in the morning and allowed to walk to a distance in search of feed and these birds used to come back at dusk. All these birds were not vaccinated against any disease under both the management systems. Under deep litter, the birds were kept under standard managemental practices up to 16 weeks of age. After 16 weeks of age, the birds were transferred to cages to record their individual production performance.

Growth traits

Under deep litter system, the body weights of the birds were recorded at weekly interval up to 4 weeks of age and thereafter at  2 weeks interval up to 14 weeks of age. Under backyard, the body weights were recorded from 6 weeks of age to 14 weeks of age at 2 weeks interval.

Production performance

Under intensive management the production traits studied were age at sexual maturity (ASM), weight at sexual maturity (WAM), first hundred days egg production (EP100), average egg weight at 280 days of age of the birds (EW), annual egg production, average feed consumption per dozen of eggs (AFC) and laying period mortality. Under backyard, the production traits recorded were ASM, WAM, EW, annual egg production and laying period mortality.

Carcass quality traits

Six males from both the genetic groups (Brown Nicobari X ILI-80 and ILI-80 X Brown Nicobari) were selected at random from the birds kept under intensive management and slaughtered at the age of 24 weeks. The birds were slaughtered after taking the live weight as per the procedure given by Kotula et al (1960). Birds were bled, plucked and weighed and blood and feather losses were determined. The weight of the eviscerated carcass, blood, feather, head, neck, back, wings, breast, shank, thigh, liver, gizzard, heart and testis were recorded and expressed as percentage of live weight. Eviscerated carcass was cut into five parts, namely, wing, back, neck, legs and breast. The weight of the cut-up parts were recorded and expressed as percentage of evisceration weight.

Egg quality traits

A total of 40 eggs, 20 each from direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 were selected at random from the birds kept in cages. Eggs were collected on the day of lay at 45 weeks of age.  Eggs were weighed individually (on electronic balance) to the accuracy of 0.01 g. Egg quality traits evaluated were egg weight, shape index, albumen height and weight, yolk height and weight, shell weight, albumen: yolk weight, albumen%, yolk%, shell%, albumen pH and yolk pH. The traits were determined following standard procedure. The weights of albumen, yolk and shell were recorded and expressed as percentage of egg weights.

Statistical Analysis

The means and standard errors of different economic traits and F- test to observe the difference of mean of the growth, production, egg and carcass quality traits between different crossbreds were computed by standard statistical procedure (Snedecor and Cochran 1994) using different computer programmes. Arc sin transformation of percentage values of production, egg and carcass traits was done before analysis.

Results and discussion

Growth traits

The body weights (pooled for male and female) of the progeny of direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 under intensive management were significantly (P<0.05) higher than the body weights of the progeny of both direct and reciprocal crosses under backyard management at 8, 10, 12 and 14 weeks of age  (Table 1).

However, there was no significant difference of body weight of these crosses under both the management systems at 6 weeks of age (Table 1. This might be due to the fact that the birds were supplied to the farmers at 5^th week of age. There was no significant difference in body weights between the progeny of direct and reciprocal crosses either under intensive management or under backyard management. This is perhaps due to lack of effect of sex-linked genes on body weights. Similar results were reported by Chatterjee et al (2005a,b) in direct and reciprocal crosses in Black and White Nicobari with ILI-80. The body weights of the progeny of both the crosses under both the management systems were higher than pure Nicobari fowl as reported by Chatterjee et al (2002 and 2004c,d) and indicated the increase of body weight of pure Nicobari fowl due to introduction of exotic germplasm. The body weight of both direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari fowl with ILI-80 (White Leghorn) at different ages were much higher than pure Nicobari fowl under both backyard and intensive management systems (Table 1). The higher body weight of the birds under intensive management might be due to better care, management and feeding of the birds under intensive management system.

Production traits

The ASM of the progeny of both the crosses under intensive management was significantly (P<0.05) lower than the progeny of the same crosses under back yard management system. However, the WAM of the progeny of both direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 under intensive management was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the progeny under backyard management system (Table 2).

The ASM of pure Nicobari was still higher than both the crosses under both intensive and backyard systems of management as observed by Chatterjee et al (2005c and 2004d), while WAM of pure Nicobari was slightly lower under intensive management. The record of WAM of pure Nicobari under backyard is not available. The mean values of ASM and WAM of these crosses under intensive management in the present study corresponded well with the values reported by Jai Sunder et al (2005). However, both these values are higher than the values of direct and reciprocal crossed of White Nicobari with ILI-80 under intensive management reported by Chatterjee et al (2004a). The EP100 and feed conversion efficiency (as measured by average feed consumption per dozen of eggs) were recorded only under intensive management system and there was no significant difference of these traits between the progeny of direct and reciprocal crosses (Table 2). The EP100 of pure Nicobari was lower than both the crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 under cage system of rearing and under backyard the EP100 of pure Nicobari was still lower as observed by Chatterjee et al (2004d and 2005c). The FCR of the same crosses was little higher in our previous study (Jai Sunder et al 2005) than the present study which might be due to improvement of management.

The annual egg production of these crosses under intensive management was significantly (P<0.05) higher than under backyard management. Jai Sunder et al (2005) reported little lower annual egg production. Again, this might be associated with management. The annual egg production of pure Nicobari (Chatterjee et al 2004d and 2005c) was much lower as compared to both the crosses under both the systems of management.

There was no significant difference in egg weight among the progeny under both the management systems. The egg weight of pure Nicobari was lower than both the crosses under both the systems of management.

The laying period mortality was lowest among the progeny of ILI-80 (M) X Brown Nicobari (F) under intensive management. The laying period mortality under backyard of both the crosses was lower than 10% (Table 2). The laying period mortality of direct and reciprocal crosses of Black and White Nicobari with ILI-80 under intensive management was higher (Chatterjee et al 2004a) than the progeny of both the crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80 in the present study. The better production performance under cage management system might be due to better care, management and feeding of the birds under cage system of management.

Carcass traits

The average live weight of the male progeny of the cross of the Brown Nicobari (M) X ILI-80 (F) was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the male progeny of the cross of ILI-80 (M) X Brown Nicobari (F) at 24 weeks of age. However, there was no significant difference of evisceration percentage between these progeny (Table 3).

The evisceration percentage of different pure and crossbreds of different strains of Nicobari varied between 60.72 % (White Nicobari X ILI-80) to 69.33 % (ILI-80X Black Nicobari ) in our previous reports (Chatterjee et al 2003 and 2004b). The evisceration percentage of pure Nicobari (Chatterjee et al 2003) was slightly higher than the crossbreds in the present study. Padhi et al (1997) also reported no significant difference of evisceration weight among different crosses of synthetic broiler. There was significant (P<0.05) difference of the mean percentage value of feather, back, gizzard and testis (Table 3) between the two genetic groups. However, the weight of blood, head, neck, wings, breast, shank, thigh, liver and heart did not differ significantly among these genetic groups. Chatterjee et al (2004b) also obtained significant differences of mean percentage values of back and gizzard of different crosses of Black and White Nicobari with ILI-80. Different particulars of carcass traits of pure Nicobari (Brown) differed (Chatterjee et al 2003) than the crossbreds, which might be due to genetic group differences.  The cut-up parts for back, neck, and breast (expressed as percentage of eviscerated weight) differed significantly (P<0.05) between the two genetic groups studied (Table 4).

Significant differences of cut-up parts for back and breast were also reported among (Chatterjee et al 2003) different strains of Nicobari.

Egg quality traits

There was significant (P<0.05) difference of shape index, albumen weight, yolk weight, yolk height, shell weight, and their mean percentage values (Table 5) between the progeny  of direct and reciprocal crosses of Brown Nicobari with ILI-80.

However, there was no significant difference among these two genetic groups for egg weight (taken at 45 weeks of age of birds) albumen and albumen: yolk weight, albumen and yolk diameter, shell thickness and albumen and yolk pH (Table 5). Significant differences for albumen weight and yolk percentage among different genetic groups of Black and White Nicobari crosses were reported (Chatterjee et al 2004a). The albumen pH  was alkaline in nature, while, yolk pH was acidic in nature. Different egg quality traits of pure Nicobari (Chatterjee et al 2007) differed from the crossbreds of the present study, which might be due to genetic effects.

Conclusions

• This study showed that body weights at different ages under intensive management were higher than backyard. However, the bodyweight has been increased among the crossbreds than the pure Nicobari fowl.

  
  

• Age at sexual maturity was significantly higher under backyard,  while weight at sexual maturity was higher among the progeny reared under intensive management system.

  
  

• Age at sexual maturity decreased in the crosses compared with pure Nicobari.

  
  

• Annual egg production was also higher among the crosses than the pure Nicobari reared under both the systems of management. Laying period mortality under both the management systems was observed to be less than 10 %.

  
  

• The average live weight at 24 weeks of age was higher among the progeny of the cross of Brown Nicobari (M) X ILI-80 (F).

  
  

• The average egg weight did not differ significantly among both the genetic groups and higher than pure Nicobari.

  
  

• Some of the egg and carcass quality traits differed among both the genetic groups.

  
  

• Keeping in view of the growth, production, egg and carcass quality traits and laying period mortality under intensive and extensive management systems and previous studies, the progeny of ILI-80 (M) X Brown Nicobari (F) were found to be better suitable for backyard rearing under Island ecosystem.

References

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Received 9 August 2007; Accepted 20 August 2007; Published 12 December 2007

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