Production performance and survivability of six dual-purpose breeds of chicken under smallholder farmers' management practices in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract. Chickens kept under free-range, backyard or semi-intensive systems in the developing countries have more diverse use and benefits to rural households. Their use varies from region to region and from community to community within a region. The study investigated growth, laying performance and survivability of six improved dual-purpose breeds in five agroecologies of Nigeria represented by the following states: Kebbi (Sudan savanna/northern Guinea savanna); Kwara (northern Guinea savanna/southern Guinea savanna); Nasarawa (southern Guinea savanna/derived savanna); Imo (lowland rainforest/swamp); and Rivers (freshwater swamp/mangrove swamp). On-farm data were obtained from 2100 smallholder poultry farmers that received an average of 30 birds (mixed sexes) of any one of the following dual-purpose breeds (Fulani, FUNAAB Alpha, Kuroiler, Noiler, Sasso and Shika-Brown) randomly allocated to them. The farmers used the backyard, scavenging system of management. Body weight and mortality records for cocks were taken for 18 weeks, while body weight, mortality, egg production and egg weight data were collected for hens up to 72 weeks. Compared with the local cocks (680 g), Kuroiler (1391 g), Sasso (1398 g) and Noiler (1461 g) had over 200 % body weight at 18 weeks. Hen day egg production (HDEP) was higher in Shika-Brown (45.9 %), FUNAAB Alpha (45.8 %) and Kuroiler (45.7 %) compared with the other breeds. Fulani, FUNAAB Alpha and Shika-Brown had higher survivabilities (p<0.05) than Noiler, Sasso and Kuroiler. Ranking of the breeds for growth, laying performance and survivability was as follows: Shika-Brown/Sasso > FUNAAB Alpha/Noiler > Kuroiler > Fulani. The performance of the breeds was significantly (p<0.05) influenced by the agroecologies. The cock body weights for Fulani (1121.1 g), FUNAAB Alpha (1502.4 g) and Noiler (1459.2 g) were highest in Kebbi, while for Kuroiler (1561.0 g), Sasso (1695.9 g) and Shika-Brown (1131.6 g) cock body weights were highest in Imo. Across the states, Imo had the highest HDEP (62.8 %). Overall, the lowland rainforest/ freshwater swamp agroecologies supported the highest production performance of the breeds.

Impact of COVID-19 on Smallholder Poultry Farmers in Nigeria

“…During COVID-19, less than a quarter (23%) of the farmers purchased day-old chicks, whereas over half (51%) of the farmers resorted to using local hens to brood and hatch chicks for re-stocking. This was largely due to COVID-19-related disruptions in the supply chain of the day-old chicks of the farmer-preferred [11], dual-purpose chicken breeds (FUNAAB Alpha, Noiler, Sasso) [7,22]. This agrees with an earlier report on the logistical challenges associated with poultry input supply chains during the pandemic [15].…”

“…The study locations and households were selected from a previous study (African Chicken Genetic Gains-ACGG) conducted in Nigeria on smallholder poultry [21]. The locations were Kebbi (Sudan Savanna), Nasarawa (Northern Guinea Savanna), Kwara (Southern Guinea Savanna), Imo (Lowland Rainforest/Derived Savana) and Rivers (Mangrove/Freshwater Swamp Forest) states [22]. The states represented different geographical regions (North: Kebbi, Nasarawa, and Kwara; South: Imo and Rivers), and agroecological zones of the country (Figure 1).…”

Comparison of five mathematical models that describe growth in tropically adapted dual-purpose breeds of chicken

“…Results on growth performance of the TADP chickens raised onstation, and on-farm have previously been reported by Bamidele et al (2019), and Ajayi et al (2020), respectively. Estimated growth curve parameters of male and female birds raised onstation are presented in Tables 4 and 5, respectively.…”

Genotype by Environment interactions for egg number and egg weight of five dual-purpose chicken breeds in different zones of Oromia region in Ethiopia

“…Bamidele et al (2019a) predicted Sasso having even highest hen-housed egg production on-station in Tanzania. Bamidele et al (2019b) and Ajayi et al (2020) show consistent low Sasso egg numbers.…”