ABSTRACT
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A study was conducted on the comparative evaluation of growth and biochemical metabolites of three types of indigenous chickens and their crosses with Hubbard broiler. The indigenous types of chicken and their crosses with Hubbard broiler were naked neck x frizzle (NaF), normal feather x frizzle (NF), naked neck x normal feather (NaN), Hubbard broiler x naked neck/frizzle (B/NaF), Hubbard broiler x normal feather/frizzle (B/NF) and Hubbard broiler x naked neck/normal feather (B/NaN). A hundred and ten (110) birds were used as foundation stock in this study. This consisted of 90 pullets (30 from each genetic group), three cockerels each from NaF and NF, four cockerels from NaN and 10 male Hubbard broiler chickens. Ten pullets and the cockerels from each of the three genotypic groups were randomly mated, and the other 20 pullets from each of the three genotypic groups were mated artificially with pooled semen from the broilers. The resulting offspring were weighed on weekly basis, body linear measurements were also taken on weekly basis and blood samples were collected in two phases (5th and 10th week of age) with each phase consisting of 4 females and 5 male birds from each of the genetic groups. Data on growth traits and biochemical metabolites were subjected to one-way and three-ways ANOVA respectively. Biweekly body weight and growth rate differed significantly (p<0.01) among the six genetic groups. B/NaF had the highest performance for growth which range from 26.53g to 1084.13g. Similar trend was observed for growth rate except for bi-weekly growth rate at 70 days of age which did not differ significantly (p>0.05) with B/NF and B/NaN genetic groups. Bi-weekly phenotypic correlation of body weight and growth rate of indigenous chickens crossed with Hubbard broilers ranged from negative (-0.39) to positive (0.98). Similar magnitude and direction in phenotypic correlation was obtained for indigenous genetic groups without the
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Hubbard broiler gene. The phenotypic correlation also ranged from negative to positive and high (-0.47 to 0.99). Blood biochemical metabolites (total protein, albumin, glucose and serum alkaline phosphatase) differed significantly (p<0.05) among the six genetic groups. Age and sex also had significant effects (p<0.05) on blood biochemical metabolites. NaF and NF had the highest values for biochemical metabolites except serum alkaline phosphatase which was lowest in NF (816.57 iu/l). Biochemical metabolites decreased in value as the birds increased in age except for serum alkaline phosphatase which increased with increased age. Female birds used in this study showed significantly (p<0.05) higher values of blood metabolites than their male counterparts. Correlation between blood metabolites at 5 and 10 weeks of age of indigenous chickens ranged from negative (-0.56) to positive (0.72). Same negative phenotypic correlation which ranged from low to high was also seen in indigenous chickens with broiler gene (-0.28 to 0.56). Parameters measured for proximate composition were dry matter, ash, ether, and crude protein. The results obtained indicated that there were significant (p<0.05) differences in proximate composition among the genetic groups and the values obtained are comparable to reference values in literature. It was therefore concluded that the naked neck and frizzle genes are important sources of variation in growth and biochemical metabolites as the genes were responsible for body weight, growth rate and normal biochemical values. Thus, the genes can be incorporated either singularly or in combination with Hubbard broiler in genetic improvement.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENT PAGE Title page ——————————————————————————————ii Declaration —————————————————————————————-iii Certification —————————————————————————————iv Dedication —————————————————————————————–v Acknowledgements ——————————————————————————vi Abstract ——————————————————————————————–vii Table of contents ———————————————————————————viii List of Tables ————————————————————————————-xiii CHAPTER ONE ———————————————————————————1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ————————————————————————–1 1.1 Justification ———————————————————————————-2 1.2 Hypotheses ———————————————————————————–3 1.3 Objectives ————————————————————————————3 CHAPTER TWO ——————————————————————————-4 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW —————————————————————-4 2.1 Origin of Indigenous Chickens ———————————————————-4 2.2 Overview of Major Genes in Poultry —————————————————5 2.2.1 The naked neck (Na) gene —————————————————————5 2.2.2 Frizzle gene (F) —————————————————————————-7 2.2.3 Normal feather chicken ——————————————————————-8 2.3 Characteristics of Nigerian Indigenous Chickens ————————————–8 2.4 Adaptation of the chickens in Tropical Environments ———————————9 2.5 Local Poultry as Sources of Pertinent Genetic Materials ——————————9 2.6 Crossbreeding ——————————————————————————10
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2.6.1 Breed complementarity ——————————————————————11 2.6.2 Heterosis ———————————————————————————–11 2.7 Effect of the Naked Neck Gene on Performance of Birds ————————-13 2.7.1 Carcass characteristics ——————————————————————-14 2.7.2 Body weight and growth Rate ———————————————————-14 2.8 Effects of the Frizzle Gene on Performance of Birds ——————————16 2.9 Interaction Between the Naked-neck (NA) and Frizzle (F) Genes ————–17 2.10 Growth Performance of the Indigenous Chickens ————————————18 2.10.1 Effects of day-old chick weight on subsequent growth of Chickens———————————————————————————–18 2.10.2 Body weight and body linear measurement —————————————–19 2.11 The use of Blood Biochemical Values in the Improvement of Poultry————-21 2.12 Meat Quality of Birds ——————————————————————-22 CHAPTER THREE —————————————————————————24 3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS ——————————————————-24 3.1 Experimental Location ——————————————————————-24 3.2 Source of Experimental Animals and Mating Procedure ——————————24 3.3 Brooding and Management Practices of Progenies ————————————-26 3.4 Data Collection —————————————————————————–27 3.4.1 Body weight and body linear measurements ——————————————27 3.4.2 Blood collection and analysis ———————————————————–27 3.4.3 Proximate analysis of breast meat ——————————————————29 3.5 Data Analysis ——————————————————————————-30 3.5.1 Analysis of variance of growth, blood and proximate composition traits —————————————————————————————–30 3.5.2 Phenotypic correlation estimates———————————————————31
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CHAPTER FOUR ——————————————————————————33 4.0 RESULTS ————————————————————————————33 4.1 Growth Performance of Indigenous Chickens and their crosses with Hubbard Broiler Chickens———————————————————————————-33 4.2 Blood Biochemical Metabolites of Indigenous Chickens and their Crosses with Hubbard Broiler Chickens ———————————————————————36 4.3 Estimates of Phenotypic Correlation for Growth and Blood biochemical Metabolites ————————————————————————————43 4.3.1 Growth traits ——————————————————————————–43 4.3.2 Blood Biochemical metabolites ———————————————————-46 4.4 Proximate Composition of Breast Meat ————————————————49 CHAPTER FIVE ——————————————————————————–52 5.0 DISCUSSIONS ——————————————————————————52 5.1 Body Weight and Body Measurement ————————————————–52 5.2 Biochemical Metabolites ——————————————————————-53 5.3 Phenotypic Correlation of Body Weight and Growth Traits —————————-55 5.4 Phenotypic Correlation of Biochemical Metabolites at age 5 and 10 for Indigenous Chickens and Their Crosses with Hubbard Broiler ————————-56 5.5 Proximate Analysis ————————————————————————–56 CHAPTER SIX ———————————————————————————–58 6.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION————————-58 6.1 Summary ————————————————————————————–58 6.2 Conclusion ————————————————————————————59 6.3 Recommendations ————————————————————————–59 REFERENCES ———————————————————————————-61 LIST OF TABLES
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CONTENT PAGES Table 3.1: Mating Plan for Indigenous Chickens ———————————————25 Table 3.2: Mating Plan for Crosses between Indigenous Chickens and Their Crosses with Hubbard Broiler ——————————————————————-26 Table 4.1: Least Square Means (±Standard Error) and Coefficient of Variation for Body Weight and Body Linear Measurement of Indigenous Chickens and their Crosses with Hubbard Broiler Chickens at 5 weeks of Age ———————————34 Table 4.2: Least Square Means (±Standard Error) Body Weight and Body Linear Measurement of Indigenous Chickens and their Crosses with Hubbard Broiler at 10 weeks of Age ———————————————————————————–35 Table 4.3: Bi-weekly Body Weight and Growth Rate of Indigenous Chickens and their Crosses with Hubbard Broiler ————————————————————-37 Table 4.4: Main Effects of Genotype on Blood Metabolites ——————————–37 Table 4.5: Main effects of Age on Biochemical Metabolites ——————————–40 Table 4.6: Main effects of sex on blood biochemical metabolites ————————–41 Table 4.7: Least Squares Mean (±Standard Error) of Biochemical Metabolites of Crosses between Indigenous Chickens at Different Age and Sex ———————–42 Table 4.8: Least Squares Mean (±Standard Error) of Biochemical Metabolites of Indigenous Chickens Crossed with Hubbard Broiler with Different Age and Sex ——-44 Table 4.9: Phenotypic Correlation between Bi-weekly Body Weight and Growth Rate of Indigenous Breeds of Chickens ———————————————————45 Table 4.10: Coefficient of Phenotypic Correlation between Bi-weekly Body Weight and Growth Rate of Indigenous Chickens Crossed With Hubbard Broiler —————-47 Table 4.11: Coefficient of Phenotypic Correlation between Biochemical Metabolites at 5 and 10 weeks of Age of Indigenous Chickens ——————————————-48 Table 4.12: Coefficient of Phenotypic Correlation between Biochemical Metabolites at 5 and 10 weeks of Age for Indigenous Chickens Crossed with Hubbard Broiler —-50 Table 4.13: Proximate Composition of Breast Meat from Indigenous Chickens and their Crosses with Hubbard Broiler ————————————————————-51
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The indigenous chickens evolved through thousands of years of natural selection. They are well adapted to the local climatic conditions, feed and stress, with resistance to diseases. Though their peculiar extensive system of management is characterised by low input and corresponding low output, they provide food security, protein nutrition and women empowerment to the rural families besides alleviating poverty in developing countries (Gondwe, 2004). Their wide distribution in villages demonstrates the importance of these small and easily managed farm animals. Large variations were reported to exist among the indigenous birds in conformation, plumage colour, immune response to various antigens, growth and reproductive performance (Peters, 2000; Msoffe et al., 2001). This led to the conclusion that the indigenous chickens are repositories of unique genes that could be used in other parts of the world (Adebambo, 2005), hence the need for their conservation to keep genetic variation within and between local breeds. For any meaningful progress in the performance of the indigenous chickens to take place, there is a need for improvement in the characteristics of the local chicken including their body and egg sizes (Ndofor-Foleng et al., 2006). An important requirement for this improvement is an appropriate breeding method for bringing about rapid genetic changes. Major genes of chicken are believed to confer not only adaptability to the tropical climate, but also resistance to diseases (Haunshi et al., 2002). The influences of major genes such as naked neck, frizzle, slow feathering and dwarfism on immune competence in chicken have been evaluated by Bacon et al. (1986).
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Crossbreeding can lead to production of birds that will be better in growth rate, feed efficiency and reproductive traits in the local environment. The outcome of crossbreeding is due to the phenomenon of heterosis, which is expressed in the performance of the hybrids. Quality meat-type chickens are developed from local breeds and taste better than fast-growing broilers. They are considered as alternatives to fast-growing broilers in some regions of the world, such as in Europe and East Asia, and the output of quality chicken meat is rising each year (Chin, 2003). The potential use of biochemical blood metabolites as predictors of health status, genetic disease resistance, meat quality and performance traits depend on a better understanding of the causes of quantitative variation in the characteristics among indigenous chickens. Most of the investigated blood metabolites have been associated with diseases resistance, meat quality or performance trials (Ademola et al., 2009). For proper management, breeding, feeding, prevention and treatment of diseases, it is desirable to know the normal physiological values in the Tropical environment (Ibrahim et al., 2012). 1.1 Justification
The indigenous chickens are characterized by poor performance in terms of growth rate (hence meat production) and egg production. Most of them are of small adult size and lay small sized eggs and few egg numbers when compared to improved commercial broiler or layer birds respectively (Nwagu and Nwosu, 1994; Pedersen, 2002; Gondwe, 2004). In spite of the many problems associated with the rearing of indigenous chickens, almost all households in the villages rear them. Indigenous chickens are therefore considered as excellent resources in poverty alleviation due to their quick return on investment. Thus, if production could be improved, village poultry production would create an opportunity for
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the development of the rural segments of society (Permin et al., 2000). Stemming from the importance of indigenous chickens to the economy of the poor majority in Nigeria, this study was designed to evaluate the growth performance and blood biochemical metabolites of the offspring of local chickens crossed with Hubbard breed of broiler. 1.2 Hypotheses Ho: There is no difference in the growth performance of three types of indigenous chickens and their crosses with Hubbard broiler. Ho: There is no difference in the values of serum biochemical metabolites of indigenous chickens and their crosses with Hubbard broiler. Ho: There is no difference in the proximate composition of breast meat from indigenous chickens and their crosses with Hubbard broiler.
1.3 Objectives
The objectives of this study were to evaluate:
1. The growth performance of three types of indigenous chickens and their crosses with Hubbard broiler.
2. The blood biochemical values in three types of indigenous chickens and their crosses with Hubbard broiler.
3. The proximate composition of breast meat from three types of indigenous chickens and their crosses with Hubbard broiler.
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