A study was undertaken on duck farming in a North-eastern part of India (Assam), representing almost all the agro-climatic zones. Five districts were selected, one from each agro-climatic zone except for the hill area. Twenty-five duck farmers from each district, a total of 125 in all, were selected on the basis of flock size. Results of the study in respect of socio-economic status of the farmer, demographic distribution, husbandry and feeding practice, production performance, incidence of diseases, mortality pattern and health protection programmes, marketing, finance and costs and returns from the flocks are highlighted.

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A study was conducted covering a total of one hundred chicken farmers in tribal dominated Boko Block of Kamrup district in Assam to assess different productive and reproductive traits of Desi, Vanaraja and Srinidhi birds under field condition. Information was obtained on mean body weight at various ages, age at first egg, annual egg production, fertility and hatchability and mortality rate. Body weight, egg production and egg weight were significantly (P0.05) higher in Vanaraja and Srinidhi birds compared to Desi chicken. The age at first egg was significantly (P0.05) higher in Desi chicken while compared with Vanaraja and Srinidhi under traditional system of management. However no significant (P0.05) difference was found between Vanaraja and Srinidhi in their body weight and egg production at various ages. Higher mortality percent in Vanaraja (12.23±1.62) and Srinidhi (11.34±1.23) were recorded during 0 to 5 week. No significant (P0.05) differences were found among all three groups of birds in fertility and hatchability.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a Commercial Herbal Growth Promoter (CHGP) with a combination of selective nine numbers of herbs on the performance of broiler chicken. A total of 120 day-old commercial broiler chicks having similar body weight from a single hatch were procured and chicks were randomly distributed into four groups viz, T 0 (standard basal diet as control), T 1 (basal diet + 1.0 % CHGP powder), T 2 (basal diet + 2.0 % CHGP powder) and T 3 (basal diet + 3.0 % CHGP powder) comprising 30 chicks in each groups. All the birds were managed under uniform managemental condition. The final body weight was significantly (P£0.01) highest in T 2 (2059.83 g) followed by T 3 (1956.67 g), T 0 (1845.33 g) and T 1 (1825.17 g). In respect of overall Feed Conversion Ratios (FCR), T 2 group showed significantly (P£0.05) best FCR value of 1.69 followed by T 3 (1.77), T 0 (1.85) and T 1 (1.87). The study revealed that there was increased body weight, improved FCR, higher BPEI, cent per cent livability and increased gross profit per broiler in birds offered 2% CHGP powder as herbal growth promoter.

A biological trial was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding garlic (Allium sativum) powder as prebiotic on the performance of broiler chicken. A total of 144 numbers of day old broiler chicks with uniform body weight were randomly divided into four groups viz, T 0 (Standard basal diet as control), T 1 (basal diet + 0.5 percent garlic powder), T 2 (basal diet + 1.0 percent garlic powder) and T 3 (basal diet + 1.5 percent garlic powder) comprising 36 chicks in each group. The final body weight was significantly (P≤0.05) higher in T 2 group (2175.00g) followed by T 3 (2008.3g), T 1 (1986.11g) and T 0 (1904.86g). In respect of overall FCR, the T2 group showed the best FCR value of 1.67 followed by T 3 (1.74), T 0 (1.78) and T 1 (1.80). The study revealed that there was increased body weight, improved FCR, highest BPEI and cent percent livability and higher gross profit per bird offered with 1.0 percent garlic powder in feed.

Backyard poultry farming is an age-old practice among rural people of NorthEastern Region of India including Assam. It is a potent tool for livelihood promotion of the rural people of Assam. Commercial layer farming is practically non-existent in Assam (Sapcota and Mahanta, 2007). Backyard poultry farming by and large was a low input or no input venture (Singh and Johari, 1990; Saha, 2003). Besides income generation, backyard poultry helps in alleviation of malnutrition of the rural people through production of valuable animal protein and empowers rural women. In spite of low productivity, the contribution of backyard poultry towards Indian egg production is about 30 to 40 per cent (Panda et al., 2008). In Assam, the eggs and meat of indigenous chicken fetch fair prices as compared to that of commercial chicken. Backyard poultry do not require large investment to start and maintain as compared to commercial poultry (Alders et al., 2009). Vanaraja, a dual purpose chicken has become popular among the rural people of as one of the income generating activity especially for the rural women (Niranjan et al., 2008a). In the context of the above, the present study was undertaken to compare the performance of Vanaraja with that of indigenous chicken under rural backyard system of rearing in Jorhat and Nagaon districts of Assam.

Background and Aim: The chicken gut harbors microflora which impacts the health, production performance and immune response against pathogens. Assam local chickens reared under natural conditions are known to possess high immunocompetence which may be attributable to its gut microbiota make-up. This study aimed to investigate the individual effect of two strains of Lactobacillus reuteri PIA16 isolated separately from cecum and jejunum of Assam indigenous chicken on the immunity of broiler chickens against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) when fed singly and in combination with a prebiotic. Materials and Methods: A total of 240 birds (48 per group) were vaccinated with Lasota strain of NDV on the 5th and 21st day of age. Blood samples were collected before and after immunization against ND for the detection of humoral antibody response by hemagglutination inhibition test. The cell-mediated immune (CMI) response was estimated through response to phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) and expressed as web index. Results: A significant influence on the immune response to NDV was observed in all the L. reuteri PIA16 as well as mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) supplemented groups revealing higher antibody titer than the control counterpart. The CMI response revealed a better cutaneous basophilic hypersensitivity response to PHA-P in the treated groups than the control. Conclusion: Enhancement in immunity was perceived in the broilers fed with L. reuteri PIA16 and in combination with MOS due to the stimulation of the host's humoral and CMI response by the probiotics and prebiotics used. Keywords: hemagglutination inhibition, Lactobacillus reuteri PIA16, mannan oligosaccharide, Newcastle disease, phytohemagglutinin-P, probiotics.

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