Hatchability and growth performances of normal feathered local, Sasso-RIR and their F1-cross chickens managed under on-station condition in southern Ethiopia.

Abstract

The Normal feathered local chicken (LL), Sasso-RIR (SRSR) and their F1-cross (LSR) chickens were hatched to evaluate for egg hatchability, body weight, feed efficiency, and survival rate. After 14days of brooding, 150 chicks of each genotype were randomly selected and further replicated into five pens in a deep litter grower house consisting of 30 chicks each in a completely randomized design, and evaluated for a period of 16weeks. Hatchability of fertile eggs was highest for LL (80.0%), intermediate for LSR (68.6%), and lowest for SRSR (55.9%) chickens. The body weight (BW) of chicks at 2weeks of age was 80.0, 76.3, and 61.5g/bird for SRSR, LSR, and LL, respectively, the latter being the lowest (p < 0.05). The respective BW at 8weeks of age was 732, 587, and 451g while at 18weeks it was 1877, 1379, and 1070g/bird and different from each other (p < 0.05). During 3- to 8-week and 9- to 18-week growth periods, the LL chickens were inferior (p < 0.05) in feed intake (29.7 and 66.9g/d/bird) whereas the SRSR chickens were superior (p < 0.05) in body weight gain (15.5 and 16.3g/d/bird) and feed conversion ratio (2.67 and 5.35g feed/ g gain), respectively. The mortality rate of chicken was not affected by genotypes. It can be concluded that Sasso-RIR chicken genotype had played a significant role in upgrading the growth rate and market weight of the local normal feathered chicken without adverse effect on hatchability, feed efficiency, and survival rate.