This study was carried out to estimate and evaluate the growth performance and carcass yield of the black and pearl guinea fowl and their crosses. The following three mating groups were established: Pearl male X Pearl female (PXP), Black male X Black female (BXB) and Black male X Pearl female (BXP), from which a total of 317 guinea fowl keets were obtained in six hatches and used for the study. There were 100 PXP, 118 BXB and 99 BXP keets. Growth parameters estimated were body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Carcass traits studied include live weight at point of slaughter, slaughter weight, dressed weight and dressing percentage. Carcass traits were taken at 14 weeks of age. All the growth performance traits studied did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) across the genotype groups, except body weight at 10, 12 and 14 weeks of age. Birds of the PXP pure line were significantly higher (P < 0.05) at 10-14 weeks old than the other two genotype in this respect. The average bi-weekly body weight gains (g/bird) were 149.34, 126.78 and 124.24g and average daily body weight gains were 9.33, 9.06 and 8.87g for birds in the PXP, BXP and BXB genotypes respectively. The average daily feed intake were 47.92, 47.15 and 47.18g for the PXP, BXB and BXP genotypes respectively while average feed conversion ratios were 5.14, 5.22 and 5.32 for the PXP, BXP and BXB genotypes respectively. Significant differences were not observed among the genotype groups in all the carcass traits. The dressing percentages were 75.83, 75.17 and 74.50 for the BXB, PXP and BXP genotypes respectively. It was concluded that the genotype groups did not differ significantly in their growth performance and carcass traits due to a probable genetic relatedness among the ancestors.

Next to the domestic fowl, the guinea fowl is the most important poultry species in Nigeria in terms of number and acceptability. Most of the commercial poultry production is focused on the exotic chicken neglecting other indigenous poultry species. Very little research studies have been carried out on the guinea fowl and it has remained largely unimproved. The prospects accruable from and challenges to the production of this species were reviewed in this paper as enumerated by various researches. Some of the benefits of guinea fowl include its adaptability to diverse climatic conditions and suitability for backyard rearing. It consumes various nonconventional feedstuffs and is tolerant to most poultry diseases. It yields high protein and low fat carcass unlike the chicken. Chief among the problems militating against the production of guinea fowl in Nigeria is the predominant free-range management system which is plagued by various challenges such as high keet mortality, theft, predation, poor feeding and disease prevalence. It was recommended that there is need to improve its management in terms of proper and adequate nutrition, efficient disease prevention and management, adequate housing as well as good management practices tailored to suit its natural behavior to ensure an optimum productivity in the guinea fowl enterprise.

This study determined the haemoglobin polymorphism, haematology and morphometric characteristics of Muscovy ducks. A total of 80 adult Muscovy ducks (40 per sex) respectively were used for the study which lasted 60 days. Blood samples of the ducks were collected and analysed for haemoglobin type and haematological traits while body weight (BWT) and body parts such as body girth (BG), wing length (WL), keel length (KL), shank length (SL), body length (BL), thigh length (TL) and Body circumference (BC) were taken and subjected to one –way ANOVA.  Drakes exhibited significantly (P<0.05) higher values in body girth, body length and thigh length than the ducks. Average values recorded were BWT (2040 g), BC (30.43cm), KL (25.75cm), BL (25.78cm) and TL (4.85cm).  Haemoglobin types found among the ducks were Hb AA, AB and BB, males being predominantly of Hb BB and females of Hb AA.  Gene frequencies of 0.5435 and 0.4565 were recorded for alleles A and B respectively among the ducks. Genotype frequencies were AA (39.14%), AB (30.43%) and BB (30.43%). Some average haematological values recorded were Packed Cell Volume (PCV) (29.86%), Erythrocytes Sedimentation Rate (ESR) (7.34mm/hr), Haemoglobin Concentration (HBC) (11.93g/dl), Red Blood Cell Counts (RBC) (2.4 × 106/L) and White Blood Cell (WBC) (1.98 × 103/L). Results of body morphometry from this research could serve as an important basis for characterization, conservation and improvement of this duck breed in the study location. The establishment of the haemoglobin types of ducks in Calabar is a precursor to the determination of its relationship(s) with economic traits in the birds. Haematological values recorded in this study showed that the ducks were in normal condition of health and growth.

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Goat milk is a suitable alternative to human milk owing to its high beta casein content which makes it very digestible unlike cow milk. Moreover, the West African Dwarf goat is highly trypano- tolerant and thrives excellently in the humid forest zone of Nigeria. It  therefore necessitated the need to expound its potential in human nutrition in the study area. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the proximate, mineral composition and physicochemical characteristics of milk of West African Dwarf goats in Cross River State, Nigeria .Twenty five lactating West African Dwarf does within the age of 3-5 years were milked from five Local Government Areas of Cross River State (Calabar South, Calabar Municipal, Akamkpa, Biase and Odukpani) in which three goat milk samples were obtained by hand milking from each location. Data collected were presented using descriptive statistics. Completely randomized design was used to study the relationship between components of the milk samples. Proximate components of milk were crude protein (3.91-6.35%), ether extract (2.69-5.04%), Ash (1.51-1.95%), Nitrogen free extract (88.68-90.32%) and moisture content (77.72-85.56%). Values of physicochemical components were: Total Acid (0.16-0.21%), Total solid (12.30-13.30%), Density (0.90-1.95%) and pH (6.50-6.90%). Elemental components (mg/100g) were potassium (202-64-204.39), sodium (49.06-49.96), calcium (133.18-133.98), magnesium (13.96-14.07), iron (0.04-0.07), zinc (0.30-0.32) copper (1.32-1.35) and phosphorus (110.32-110.98). Proximate composition of milk samples from the different locations varied significantly (p>0.05).Similarly, the physicochemical composition from the locations also varied significantly (p<0.05) with exception to milk pH with no significant difference. Mineral elements of milk samples from different locations were not significantly different except the potassium content in milk from Odukpani which was significantly lower than the other locations. Goat milk from the study locations met the nutritional standards in terms of proximate, mineral and physicochemical composition. Results from this research provides veritable information of the nutritional content of goat milk in the study locations particularly and help encourage the incorporation of goat milk in the diet of Nigerians generally.