INTRODUCTION
A broiler
chicken (Gallus gallus
domesticus) is known to be of fast-growing
genotype (Riber et
al., 2018) and nowadays, broiler chicken can attain slaughter weight with
decreasing age of maturity (Sleman et al., 2015). Zuidhof
et al. (2014) and Wilson (2005)
reported that the ability of broiler chicken to grow faster has been as result
of improved breeding, nutrition and good husbandry practices. The Nigerian
poultry industry approximately has 165 million birds and predominantly chickens
(SNL, 2015). By market size perspective it has the second largest chicken population
in Africa after South Africa (SNL, 2015). The poultry sector is extremely
fragmented and most of the chickens are raised in the ‘backyards’ or on poultry
farms with less than 1,000 birds (USDA, 2013). However, there outstanding farms
with thousands of chickens; most are concentrated in the South-Western Region
namely Obasanjo Farms, Chi Farms, Supreme Farms, Agrited, Amo Farms, Farm Support,
Poultry Plaza, Nastech and Zartech
and few in the Northern Region notably are ECWA Farms and Olams
Farms (Olawumi and Fagbuaro,
2011). The common broiler strains in the Nigeria market include Marshall, Abor Acre Plus, Cobb, Ross, Hubbard, Anak,
Cockerel, Neoiler/Kroiler (Amao et al.,
2015; Olawumi and Fagbuaro,
2011). The management of birds by these big Farms is sophisticated due to their
financial capability of using modern technologies, but in the case of the small
scale farms the use of sophisticated gadgets may not be feasible. As a result,
the performance of birds in most rural communities may not be adequate because
of poor infrastructure. Farmers often improvised equipment, light, heat, cold
storage, and other facilities necessary to be in production. Another challenge
is poor transportation network which make it difficult to access chicks,
vaccine, feeds and drugs as when due. Feed in particular pose major challenge
and accounts for about 65 to 70 % of broiler production (Pathak
et al., 2015; Srivastava
et al., 2013). Due to high cost of
feed, most village farmers either compromised feed supply or resorted to
restrict feeding. Ghanem (2012) reported that
broilers that are fed ad libitum grow
faster and heavier.
Besides, the aforementioned challenges, what worried
rural farmers and the less privilege in cities mostly is which breed or strain
of broilers to rear believing that when high mortality is recorded, it is
attributed to the source of stock, neglecting the fault in management. In a
quest to ascertain the productive performance of commercial birds in rural
areas, it becomes necessary to conduct this experiment. Therefore, this paper aimed at determining
the performance of three broiler strains fed commercial feed.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Site location
The
experiment was conducted at the Poultry Unit, Plateau State College of Agriculture,
Garkawa, Nigeria. Garkawa lies within the Guinea savanna zone about 300 m
above sea level. It is located on latitude 8.8955°N and longitude 9.4537°E. Its
annual average temperature was usually about 27.7°C and annual average
precipitation was usually about 1178 mm ((Shiru, 2018; Sudik et al., 2016) (Figure 1a and b).
Experimental birds and management
Three
broiler strains were randomly selected among the commonly sold in Jos, Plateau
State, Nigeria. They were Arbor Acres Farm Support, Arbor Acres Grinphield and Marshall Grinphield
and fifty (50) day-old of each were purchased and weighed in group of 10 and
distributed randomly into 5 replicates. The design used was a completely
randomized design. They were reared under deep litter system in an opened sided
house. Wood shaving was used as litter material. Heat was supplied using
charcoal. The opened side of the house was covered with tarpaulin during
brooding to maintain adequate heat. The birds’ behavioural
disposition was used to moderate the heat. Lanterns that use dry cell batteries
were used to supplied light in the nights. However, after brooding, the
tarpaulin was removed to ensure free ventilation. The birds were served with
water and feed (Vital feed produced by Grand Cereal Company Ltd, Jos) (starter:
0-3 weeks of age; finisher: 3-6 weeks of age) ad libitum. Waste litter was usually removed and replaced at 4 days
interval. Infectious bursal
disease vaccine was administered through drinking water on day 11 and was
repeated at day 21 of age; Newcastle disease vaccine was administered also
through drinking water at day 14. On arrival, clean water with glucose was
served to them as anti-stress and subsequently during vaccination. A brood
spectrum antibiotic was administered in drinking water in the first 3 days and
occasionally serving as prophylactics against bacterial infections. Anticoccidial drugs were administered occasionally in
drinking water. Management was strictly adopted as described by Oluyemi and Roberts (2000). Mortality was recorded as
occurred and calculated as shown below:
% mortality
=
x
Data collection
The initial
body weights of the birds were taken at the start of the experiment and
subsequently on weekly basis. The difference between the final and initial
weights gave total weight gain (TWG). Daily weight gain (DWG) was calculated as
shown below:
Daily weight
gain: DWG =
A known
quantity of feed was supplied each day and the leftover in the following day
was weighed. The difference between the feed supplied and the leftover gave the
quantity of feed consumed per week. The accumulative feed consumed for the six
weeks gave total feed intake (TFI).
Average daily feed intake (DFI) was calculated as shown below:
Feed Intake
(g/bird): FI=
Values
generated from daily weight gain and daily feed intake was used to calculate
feed conversion ratio (FCR) as shown below:
Feed conversion ratio:
FCR =
At the end
of the experiment, two birds per replicate were randomly selected and starved
for 8 hours thereafter they were weighed and sacrificed. Some bloods were
collected in bijou bottle containing ethylenediamine
tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) forhaematology. Packed cell
volume (PCV) and haemoglobin (Hb)
were determined by the method of Lamb (1981). Red blood cell (RBC) count, white
blood cell (WBC) and differential counts were determined as described by Jain
(1986) while Mean Cell Volume (MCV), Mean Cell Haemoglobin
(MCH), Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC)
were calculated as follows:
MCV (fl) = 
x 
MCH (pg) = 
x
MCHC (g/dl)
= 
x
After blood
collection, the carcass was scalded in 60°C hot water for about 30 second to
remove the feathers. Each carcass was open and the visceral organs (gizzard,
heart, kidney, liver, lungs and spleen) were excised. The dressed weight was
calculated as shown below:
% dressed weight =
x 
Each organ
was expressed as percent of dressed weight.
Data analysis
The data
collected were subjected to statistical analysis under completely randomized
design employing one way analysis of variance results of the SPSS 16.0 version.
Differences in means were separated using Duncan new multiple range test
(DNMRT).
RESULTS
General
observation: Mortality was recorded within the first week of commencing the
experiment.
Table 1 shows the performance of broiler stains fed
commercial feed. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) by strain in
all the parameters measured. Table 2 shows the carcass and organs weight of
broiler stains fed standard feed. Also, the dressed weight and entire organs’
weights had no significant difference (P>0.05) by strain. Table 3 shows the haematological
parameters of the three broiler strain fed commercial feed. Also, there were no
significant difference (P>0.05) by strain.
DISCUSSION
The strain difference among the Arbor Acres Farm Support,
Arbor Acres Grinphield and Marshall Grinphield could not have caused variations in their
performance, they exhibited insignificance difference in live weight, feed
consumption and efficient of feed utilization. This supported the findings of Hossain et al.
(2014) that heavier broiler strain consumed more feed and gain similar weights.
However, it
disagrees with the finding of Pathak et al. (2015) who reported that genetic
differences cause variation in broilers performance. Also, it disagrees with
the report of Ghanem (2012) who observed higher live
body weight, weight gain and better feed efficiency in Cobb-500 than that of
Hubbard strain. By values the average live body weight of these three broiler
strains is lower than 2.5 kg and average feed conversion ratio is higher than
1.38-1.72 reported for 6 weeks old broilers by McDonald et al. (2002). This difference may be attributed to environmental
and management differences. The present study was conducted in sub-standard
environment characterized with inadequate social amenities such as electricity,
pipe borne water, cold rooms, poor transportation
network. Interestingly, despite the remote environmental condition the average
live body weight is higher than that of 1.96 kg reported by Pathak
et al. (2015) and the FCR is better
than 2.5 reported by SNL (2015). The performance demonstrated that the birds
were at better condition. The crude protein and energy contents of the feed
served to the birds were within the nutrient requirements of broiler chickens
as recommended by (NRC, 1994).
The acceptable mortality rate in broiler chickens
production is 5% (Oluyemi and Roberts, 2000; Obioha, 1992). By this recommendation, a 5% mortality means
for every 50 broilers 2-3 should die, but 8% mortality was recorded in this
study depicted an uncalled situation. Behavioral disposition of the birds was
used to control heat which may have probably not been effective. Heat was
supplied using charcoal controlling heat and smoke may also not have been
effective. There was no provision for testing water quality, powder milk was
added to water used for vaccination, and whether or not it was effective could
not be ascertained. The efficacy of vaccine used could not be guaranteed
because of epileptic power supply. Another likely factor for the high mortality
could be the stress incurred by the birds at transit. The birds spent 2 days
before arriving at the study site due to poor transportation network. This
implies that environment play key role in the survival of birds (Leinonen et al.,
2013).
The insignificant
difference in the haematological parameters among the
birds confirms that when these birds are given the same feed, they also
exhibited similar blood characteristics. These parameters compared favourably with the reference value reported by MVM (2012).
This probably implies that the birds’ health status was not threatened.
According to MVM (2012) the examination of blood parameters help in diagnosis
and monitoring of health status of animals. The high mortality recorded
occurred within the first week of commencing the study, which was probably
attributed to management factors rather than infection.
CONCLUSION
This study
indicated that Arbor Acres Farm Support, Arbor Acres Grinphield
and Marshall Grinphield would exhibits similar
performance when fed with the same diet. A similar study that would involve
more than three broiler strains is suggested.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We thank the Head of Department and all the
staff at the Livestock Unit, College of Agriculture, for providing necessary
assistance when called upon during this study.
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