A total of 78 one day-old random-bred Nigerian local turkey poults were used to produce another 232 day-old poults in two planned experiments to characterize and discriminate Nigerian local turkey based on fertility and hatchability traits. Three phenotypic classes (black, white and spotted)were obtained as base population and used to generate F progeny. Experimental design was a randomized complete block (RCBD) with phenotypic class as major factor of interest and hatches as block. Results showed that there was significant difference (p
Selection for trait of interest is a major problem in cattle production when faced with the challenge of varied growth traits in different genotypes. Low understanding of the production potentials of these cattle breeds constitute problems in effective improvement of physical body characteristics. A total of 18 cattle was used to characterize the Nigerian local cattle genotypes based on quantitative traits. Three genotypic groups {White Fulani (WF), N'Dama (ND) and White Fulani x N'Dama (WFxND)} crosses were used for the experiment. Experimental design was a completely randomized design (CRD) with genotypic group as major factor of interest. Quantitative traits measured were body length (BDL) (cm), hip height (HHT) (cm), heart girth (HG) (cm), horn length (HL) (cm), tail length (TL) (cm), ear length (El) (cm) and neck length (NL). Results showed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) in body length in weeks 99 – 111 and 112 – 124 with the White Fulani and N'Dama genotypes having longer bodies. The values ranged from 33.00 to 39.29cm in WF, 39.49 to 39.59cm in N'Dama and, 18.25 to 32.90 in WF x ND. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in hip height of cattle in age interval of 99-111 and 112-124 weeks of age, with the White Fulani and N'Dama genotypes having highest hip. The genotypes showed significant (p<0.05) differences in heart girth in 99 and 124 WOAwith the White Fulani and N'Dama genotypes having widest heart girth. The genotypes showed significant (p<0.05) differences in horn length in all the weeks with White Fulani showing superiority. The genotype had longer horns in the White Fulani and followed by WF x ND across the week intervals. The values ranged from 14.99 to 15.20cm in WF, 5.75 to 10.19cm in N'Dama and, 3.00 to 4.29 in WF x ND. The tail length of the three genotypes showed significant (p<0.05) differences in 99-111 and 112-124 WOA. Higher values were obtained in White Fulani genotype which showed longer tails than the N'Dama and WF x ND. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in neck length of the cattle genotypes in 112-124 WOA. Higher values were obtained in White Fulani genotype which showed longer neck than the N'Dama and WF x ND. White Fulani could be used to enhance growth of Nigerian indigenous cattle in the study area. The present findings could assist in the design of long-term genetic improvement programmes for cattle production in Nigeria.
A total of 78 day-old Random-bred Nigerian local turkey poults were used as parent stock to generate 232, 1 day-old poults ( ) used in the evaluation of the Nigerian local turkey phenotypes based on egg quality parameters. Three phenotypic classes (black, white and spotted) were obtained as base population and used to generate F progeny for the study. Experimental design for the experiment was a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with phenotypic class as major factor of interest. Results showed that Initial body weights were 62.39g, 62.56g and 62.43g in black, white and spotted respectively, whereas final body weights were 2761.25g, 2586g and 2697.58g in black, white and spotted respectively, and differed significantly (p<0.05) in weeks 13 and 17 with the heaviest weight in black phenotype. Therewas no significant difference (p>0.05) in bodyweights of the phenotypes in all other weeks. With the exception of weeks 3 and 13 in which there were significant differences (p<0.05), there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in average daily feed intake (ADFI) in all other weeks. It was therefore, concluded that for rapid improvement of these traits, the black variety could be used to enhance growth of Nigerian local turkeys in the study area. The present findings could assist in the design of long-term genetic improvement programmes for turkey production in Nigeria.
The study was conducted to investigate the effect of genotype on the laying performance of Nigerian local chicken. The experiment was carried out using 99 local chicken of the three genotypes, comprising of 90 hens and 9 cocks (33 frizzle feather, 33 naked-neck feather and 33 normal feathered). Eggs were collected from the different genotypes for 8 weeks. The laying performance traits were egg number, hen-housed (%) and hen-day (%) egg production. Data collected were subjected to ANOVA in a completely randomised design. The hen-day egg production showed significant differences (P<0.05) in all the weeks. Naked-neck genotype performed better in terms of hen-day egg production than the other two genotypes and had highest values in week 1 (27.14±0.01), week 5 (27.60±0.09), week 7 (34.53±1.13) andweek 8 (16.30±0.03). Therewere significant differences (P<0.05) in all the weeks for hen-housed egg production and naked-neck also performed better than the frizzled and normal feather apart from week 2, 3 and 6. The naked-neck genotype had highest mean values in week 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 with 27.18±0.06, 25.70±0.02, 19.33±0.67, 24.08±0.22 and 11.39±0.03 respectively for hen-housed egg production. The naked-neck had significantly (P<0.05) higher values for egg number when compared with frizzle and normal feathered genotypes. The values ranged between 5.67±0.67 to 2.00±0.10 (naked-neck), 6.33±0.33 to 2.67±0.67 (frizzle) and 3.33±0.33 to 1.33±0.33 (normal). It is therefore, reasonable to incorporate the naked-neck and frizzled feather genotypes of local chicken in producing locally-adapted commercial eggs
The study was conducted to determine the correlations between biologic markers,haematological indices and growth traits in Arbor Acres broiler strain. A total of 120 Arbor acres strain were used for the experiment which lasted for 56 days. The birds were raised in separate deep litter pens. Data collected include biologic markers: hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), mean cell volume (MCV), mean cellular hemoglobin (MCH), mean cellular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and biochemical parameters include: blood glucose (GLU) and total serum protein(PRT). Growth traits include: body weight (BW), body length (BL), shank length (SL), keel length (KL), wing length (WL), breast width (BWD) and drumstick length (DSL). The result obtained showed that MCHC in week 4 it associated significantly with breast length(rp=0.989) and keel length (rp= -0.986), whereas in week 6, serum protein, MCH, PCV, WBC and RBC proved significant markers based on their significant association (P<0.05;P<0.01) with SL (rp=0.975), KL (rp=0.981), DSL (rp= -0.982; -0.989) and BL (rp= -0.991). In week 8, Hb, WBC, MCV, MCH and MCHC proved to be useful markers for selecting keel length, breast length, body length, body length and thigh width in Arbor Acre. Highest correlation was observed between WBC and BL (rp= -0.991) and between MCH and breast length (rp= 0.991) in the 6 week. Due to the limited associations observed in week 4, it may be more reliable to apply the biologic markers in selection programs, starting at the 6 week for Arbor Acres broiler strains. This study advocates that highly polymorphic DNA-based markers which are more reliable should be attempted for improving body weight of broilers.
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