Comparison of Correlation between Egg Production Traits in Three Varieties of Helmeted Guinea Fowl from 28 to 46 Weeks of Age

Abstract

This study investigated the egg production performance of three varieties of guinea fowls. The experimental varieties were Pearl (Sake), Lavender (Hurudu) and Black (Angulu). Base populations of 180 guinea fowls were used to generate 144 F1 females comprising 48 birds per variety. Each variety was divided into three randomized replicates containing 16 birds per replicate. Data were collected fortnightly on egg production performance traits. Parameters collected for egg production included body weight (BWT), body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed per dozen egg (FDE), feed efficiency (FE), egg number (EN), percent hen day production (% HD). Data collected were subjected to Pearson Product Moment Correlation using SPSS. The result showed that most meat production traits are highly incompatible with egg production characteristics in the helmeted varieties of guinea fowl studied. This was particularly shown in the negative associations between egg numbers and feed efficiency (-0.607, -0.177, and -0.275), percent hen day and feed efficiency (-0.601, -0.320, and -0.362) and body weight gain and egg number (-0.493, -0.148, and -0.433) among others in Pearl, Lavender, and Black respectively. The Pearl and Lavender varieties showed more similarities in their association followed by the Pearl and Black varieties, whereas, the Lavender and Black varieties showed least relationship in their association. The differences that exist among these varieties may be due to non-genetic and/or genetic reasons and suggests the possibility of genetic polymorphisms existing among the egg production traits of helmeted guinea fowls.