INTRODUCTION
Poultry production is one of the major areas of animal
production with significant contribution to human food production. Poultry
products provide protein of high biological value (Eshiette and Okere, 1990).
Nigeria is endowed with many poultry species which are indigenous to the
country. These have lived, adapted and reproduced for several years in the
Nigeria environment. Momoh, (2005) estimated poultry population in Nigeria to
be about 33 million. With the ever growing population and improvement in the
living standard of Nigerians, the demand for egg and other poultry products
will continue to grow.
The Nigerian local chicken exhibits
of diversity in morphological characteristic and consist of various unimproved
sub-population of heterogeneous characteristics, not yet classified into breeds
and varieties since they do not share common ancestry, breed through to type
and have no clear plumage colours (Obioha, 1992, Ibe,2001). They generally have
small body and egg size compare to their exotic counterpart (Nwosu and Omeje,
1985). They are hardy and generally reported to adapt favourably to the local
environment (Ikeobi and Godwin, 1990). The chickens are flighty in nature,
resistant to some diseases and parasites and lay eggs within relatively thick
eggshell (peters et al., 2007). The village poultry production is mostly based
on the scavenging indigenous domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus). The
genetically unimproved local chicken remains predominant in African villages
despite the introduction of exotic and cross-react type. This is due to the
fact that local farmers have not been able to afford the high input requirement
of the introduced breed (Kaiser, 1990).
Despite their non-resistant and
mongrel nature, there exist strains or inbred lines (ibe,1998) within the
native chicken populations which have definite genetic constitutions. Based on
this, the Nigerian local chickens can be group into various genotype or genetic
groups having identifiable genes of direct and in directed effect on production
and quantitative trait loci (Fayeye et al., 2006). These genes, according to
Ibe and Nwosu (1999) called major genes; advantageous gene complexes or plumage
reducing genes which include the naked-nek (Na) and Frizzle (F). These genes
are associated with heat tolerance and possess productive adaptability (Horst,
1988). A study by Ojo (2003) reveals that the indigenous poultry industry falls
short of its aim of self-sufficiency in animal protein consumption in the
country that is put at 5gm/caput per day which is far cry from FA0 recommended level
of 35gm/caput. These statistics indicates that there exists an inalienable
inequality between the Nigerian human population which grows astronomically and
that of poultry.
The native chicken constitutes about
50 percent of the 120 million poultry birds found in Nigeria (FOS, 1996). Aryee
and Kutame, (1991) reported that the indigenous village chicken is the most
prominent class of livestock in the country and constitutes about 60 – 80% of
the total poultry population but their productivity level are low because of
poor nutrition and low genetic potential. In an effort to address the problem
of low productivity in local chickens, high-yield exotic breeds have been
introduced through cockerel exchange programme by the government (Hagan and
Adjei). This intervention is bed willed with many challenges; prominent among
them is the birds’ inability to adapt to the hot and humid environment,
resulting in reduced feed intake and retarded growth (Cowan and Michie, 1988).
Badubi et al. (boo6) observed that the diversity inform include plumage
type, plumage colour, leg feathering and
comb type. This diversity, which constitutes genetic resource, informs the
reason for incorporating the local chicken into breeding programmes aimed at
producing an indigenous meat breed adapted to the tropical environment (Oke,
2011).
EAOSTAT (2001) put the population of
chicken species in Nigeria as 37 million in 1961 and 126 million in 2000. The
indigenous chicken are essential part of the Nigeria societies. They are
reported to be domesticated as early as 2500BC (Farel, 1995). Peter (2000)
reported that indigenous chicken are characterized by hardiness, and disease
tolerance. He also stressed that their survival depends on natural selection
which makes them genetically envied for genetic exploration and Hybrid vigour
exploitation.
Earlier attempts to improve the
performance of local chickens started in the late 30’s (Otchere et al; 1990). In his reports there was
introduction of the village poultry improvement scheme which was based on
cockerel exchange. These attempts have been made in the past to improve the
productivity of the indigenous chicken because of its potentials a source of
meat to reduce significantly the gap of animal protein deficiency in the
society. One of the ways to enhance the commercial values of the local chicken
is to commercial values of the local chicken is to improve their fertility,
hatchability and their general breeding performance. This may be achieved
through the utilization of advantageous gene in breeding strategies Horst
(1998) identified nine major genes of indigenous chicken that can be used in
genetic improvement programme. Among these include the Naked Neck (NN), Frizzle
gene (FZ) and normal Feather (MF), in our local chicken populations. Machebe et al. (2005) reported that birds which
possesses these genes need to be explored for development of a viable
indigenous poultry industry.
Fertility is an important concept to
consider in hatchability of eggs. Unfertile eggs cannot hatch. That is why it
is imperative to include fertility as part of the work. Fertility refers to the
fertile status of group of eggs laid by hens and by commercial flocks it is
expressed as the percentage of the total eggs laid (Wishart et al 2000).
Fertility is also expressed as the percentage of egg fertilized and it is
judged by candling or microscopy (Wilson, 1993). The ultimate test of fertility
can only be done by depositing semen in the oviduct of the hens and the
evaluation is only possible when sufficient spermatozoa number are deposited
with optimum frequency (Sexton and random, 1988).
Fertility in local chicken is the
ability of the birds to reproduce. Peter
et al (2005) described fertility as the fertile state of group of eggs laid
over a period of time by a single hen or by commercial flocks and is usually
expressed as percentage of total eggs laid as reported also by Wishart et al., (2000) Peters et a., l(2005) also reported that egg
fertility has be affected by age of breeder, exposure to high temperature,
nutrients, management, mating ratio and semen quality.
Hatchability on the other hand
refers to the proportion of fertile eggs that continue development and produced
viable chicken (Peter et al; 2005). Hatchability also refers to the percentage
of hatched eggs reported either as percentage of fertile eggs hatched; or
percentage of chicks hatched from all eggs in the incubator. According to
Allese et al. (1993), Zygote
development and thus hatchability are traits of the embryo influenced by material effects. In most
previous studies, they were considered solely as female reproductive traits
(Sewalem et al., 1998).
Fertility and hatchability are the
most important determinant for producing more chicks from a given number of
breeding stocks within a stipulated period (Islam et al., 2002) Oluyemi (1990)
and peters (2000) revealed that poor performance of local chicken is a function
of their exposure to extremes fluctuating and adverse effect of weather under
scavenging or extensive system.
OBJETIVES OF THE STUDY
The Following are the Objective of the
Study
i. To
evaluate the fertility and hatchability of the three indigenous local chicks, Frizzle
feather gene, Naked-neck gene and Normal feather or smooth feather gene.
ii. To compare
the hatchability of the three indigenous local chickens.
iii. To make recommendations using the result
of the research.
JUSTIFICATION
The tropical environment is
characterized by stress factors, notable among is the high temperature (Ibe
1993). This can lead to heat stress and thus, negatively affect the performance
of the animals. Attempts to significantly reduce heat stress problem in poultry
through management practices or dietary adjustments have not been successful
(Ige et al.,2012). Eberhart and
Washburn (1993) reported a genetic basis to heat resistance and suggested the
need to breed birds with more natural resistant to heat.
Certain major genes have been found
potentially useful to the tropical environment. Among these major genes are the
feather distribution. (Naked-neck (NN). And frizzle feather (FF) genes, another
gene of consideration is the normal feather gene. Both genes have been
associated with increased resistant (Horst, 1988). Genetic and phenotypic
heterogeneity have been observed to exist in the domestic chickens (Oke 2011).
This diversity which constitutes genetic resources informs the reason for
incorporating the local chicken into breeding programmes aimed at producing an
indigenous meat breed adopted to the tropical environment.
Consequent upon their
thermoregulatory functions, the plumage reducing genes have been found relevant
in the tropics. The relevance’s feather of naked-neck and frizzle chickens. For
instance, the naked-neck genes have been found to cause 30-40% reduction in
feather coverage (Njenga, 2005). The advantages of these genes over their
normally feathered counterpart in hot humid environment is in terms of feed
intake, growth rate. (Cachaner, 1994) and weight gain (Yalcin et al., 1997). Several other researchers
have reported on the effects of the frizzle and naked-neck on growth rate, egg
number, fertility and hatchability in the Nigeria local chicken (Ikeobi et
al., 1996; Peters et al., 2007;
and Mathur 2003). Egg quality in chicken is influenced by several factors,
which may be genetic or environmental (Peters et al, 2007). This in turn affects egg hatchability.
There is huge amount of financial
resources that has been channeled towards the importation of exotic stock, when
it would have been used to develop the potentiality of our indigenous local
breeds of birds. Hence this has led to paucity of data on fertility and
hatchability of our local indigenous Chicken. Fertility and hatchability are
important parameters that determine the profitability of the poultry
enterprises. This makes it imperative to explore the potential in the locally
indigenous Nigeria chicken and compare the fertility and hatchability of
different strains of the indigenous chicken so as to measure the progress that
have been made so far the current study will undertaken to investigate or
evaluate the hatching performance of Frizzle feathered gene, Naked Neck gene
and Normal feathered gene of the indigenous Nigeria local chicken.
MATERIAL
AND METHODS
EXPERIMENTAL SITE
The research will be conducted at
the poultry breeding unit of the department of animal Science of the Ebonyi
State University Abakaliki Nigeria. The area lies in the south-east of Nigeria
and has a prevailing tropical climate with a mean annual rainfall of about 1500
mm the mean ambient temperature ranges from 210C during the coldest
period (December-January) and 300C during the hot period
(February-April).
EXPERIMENTAL BIRDS
The birds to be used for the research will be obtained
form the villages within Ikwo Local government area of Ebonyi State where the
birds can be easily located in a more abundant numbers. Three different genetic
groups will be selected from the indigenous local chicken. The genetic groups
to be selected are Naked-neck (NN) strain, Frizzle feathered strain (FZ) and
Normal feathered strain (NM). A total of twenty four hens and six cocks will
divided according to their strains into two replicates groups for the purpose
of this study.
HOUSING AND MANAGEMENT
The breeding birds will be divided
into three treatments base don their strains, the naked-neck, the frizzle
feathered and the normal feathered. Each strain will make-up to eight hens and
two cocks which will be subdivided or replicated into two groups of four hens
and one cock. All the birds will bee
housed in a deep litter system and will be fed with commercial breeder mash for
the hen, why the cock will be fed on grower mash. Both feed will be served
ad-libitum till the end of the experiment.
The house will contain half wall
with open area covered with wire-gauze for adequate ventilation. The house will
be kept clean as well as the surrounding environment to avoid poor health
management.
DATA COLLECTION
Data
will be collected as follows:
1. Feed
intake: The quantity of feed to be served will be weighed and served to the
birds between 6:30-7.30am daily. Left over feed will be collected for group
every morning, weighed and recorded. From this the daily feed intake of each
replicate group will be determined by difference between the quantity of feed
served and the leftover.
ii. Weigh gain: This will be obtained by
weighing the birds individually at the beginning of the experiment and weekly,
thereafter. This will be done in the morning when the crops are virtually empty
before feeding the birds. At the end of the experiment, the total body
weight gain will be calculated per group by subtracting the initial body weight
form the final body weight. The daily body weight gain will be determined by
dividing the body weight gain with number of days the experiment will last.
iii. Feed Efficiency: This will be
determined by dividing the daily weight gain by the feed intake i.e
Feed
efficiency = Daily weight gain
Daily
feed intake
iv. Hen
day Production: Total number of eggs laid by each replicate group will be
collected twice each day, at 1200 hours and 1800 hours. This will be used to
calculate the hen day egg production using the formular: =
Hen day production =
Total
egg/hen/day x 100
Number
of birds 1
EGG CHARACTERISTICS
The
following are the external quality trait will be determined:
1. Egg weight: Individual egg weight will
be measured to the nearest 0.10gm using a sensitive scale
ii. Egg length: This will be determined by
measuring the distance between the broad end and the narrow end of the egg
using a veneer caliper.
iii. Egg width: This will be measured as the
diameter of the egg at the widest cross-sectional region using a vernier
caliper.
iv. Egg shape index: The egg shape index
will be measured as the ratio of the length an width of the egg.
v. Shell weight: Egg shell which will be
air dried over night will be weighed and the relative weight calculated by
relating the shell weight to the weight of the egg.
vi. Shell thickness: This will be
determined by measuring the individual dry eggshells at three location of the
shell (narrow, middle and broad portions) to the nearest 0.01mm using a
micrometer screw gauge.
- Egg number: This is the total number of
eggs laid by each group replicate during the period of experiment.
- Percentage
fertility: This is take as the percentage of eggs that were fertile out of
all the fertile eggs set. Percentage fertility
= Number of fertile egg x 100
Number of eggs set
1
- Percentage hatchability: This is taken
as the percentage of egg that will be hatched out of all the fertile eggs set.
Percentage Hatchability = Number of chicks hatched x 100
Number of fertile eggs 1
- Percentage dead in shell: This is taken
as the percentage of dead in shell out of all the fertile eggs set. Percentage
dead in
shell = Number of dead in shell x 100
Number
of fertile eggs 1
- Percentage dead in germ: This is taken
as the percentage of dead in germ out of all the fertile eggs set. Percentage
dead in germ
= Number of dead in germ x 100
Number
of fertile eggs 1
- Percentage weak in shell: This is taken
as the percentage of weak in shall out of all fertile eggs set.
Percentage weak in shell = Number
of weak in shell x 100
Number
of fertile eggs 1
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Data
obtained will be subjected to analysis of variance according to the method of
Snedecor and Cochran (1978), while the difference between means of the
treatment will be separated for significance using Duncan’s new multiple Range
Test as outlined by Obi (2002).
Linear
Additive Model for Completely Randomized
Design is as follows
Xy = m + Ti +Sij
Where
xij = Any observation
m = Population mean
Ti = Treatment effect
Sij = experimental error
i = Number of treatment
j = Number of replicates
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A
RESEARCH PROPOSAL PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE COURSE FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF AGRICULTURE IN ANIMAL
SCIENCE EBONYI STATE UNIVERSITY ABAKALIKI
COURSE
CODE: 599
COURSE
TITLE: RESEARCH PROJECT