Feed and nutrient utilization efficiency and juvenile traits of Vezaguda chicken of Odisha in floor rearing system

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of Vezaguda, an indigenous chicken population of Odisha, up to 8 weeks of age in floor rearing system. Unsexed day-old chicks (100) were selected for this study. Mortality and feed intake were recorded daily while body weight was recorded weekly. Body conformation traits such as shank length, shank circumference, shank width, thigh length, chest girth, keel length, body length, height, back length, wing length, folded wing length, wing span, neck length, head length, skull length, head width, beak length and breast angle were measured at 6th and 8th weeks of age. The 8th week body weight of male and female chicks were 501.58±21.64 g and 423.35±13.44 g, respectively. The cumulative feed conversion ratio (FCR), energy efficiency ratio (EER), and protein efficiency ratio (PER) at 8th week were 4.00±0.06, 8.73±0.12, and 1.25±0.02, respectively. An index of productivity, production efficiency factor (PEF) was calculated taking into account final weight, liveability %, age of the bird and FCR. The PEF at 8th week was 16.38±0.46. At 6th week of age, all recorded conformation traits were higher in male chicks than that of female chicks. At 8th week of age, chest girth, skull length and beak length were significantly higher in male chicks than that of female chicks.