Comparative Study Of Production And Reproductive Performance Of Parent Stock And Commercial Layer Chickens Under Different Management Conditions In Ethiopia

A total of 6 parent stocks (PS) bred by European companies, and 1 local PS, females and males of 7 commercial (ComL) and 3 experimental (ExpCr) crossbreeds were evaluated under Ethiopian condition for their production and reproductive performance. The ExpCr obtained by crossing one parental line with another here in referred to as experimental Crosses were compared with progenies of parents ComL and evaluated for their (females' eggs and males' meat) production performances. The study was conducted in two locations; Debre Zeit research center and Hawassa University. The imported PS and ComL were Lohmann-Brown Classic (LB), Lohmann-Dual (LD), NOVOgen-Brown (NB), NOVOgen-Color (NC), Dominant-Sussex (DS), Dominant-Red-Barred (DR); Koekoek (KK) was obtained locally. The ExpCr were Dominant red Barred female × Koekoek male (DR×KK), Dominant Sussex female × Dominant red Barred male (DS×DR) and Koekoek female × Dominant Sussex male (KK×DS). Females and males of both the PSs and ComL and ExpCr were evaluated for feed intake, body weight, egg production, fertility and hatchability, males‟ relative organ weights in percent and their primal cuts and mortality. Additionally, three ExpCr, ♀DR×♂KK, ♀DS×♂DR, and ♀KK×♂DS were evaluated for fertility and hatchability. In total, 1810 females and 261 males parents were arranged in a randomized blocks design in DZARC, whereas a total of 600 females and 75 males parents at HU arranged in a completely randomized design, in females' eggs and males' meat used a total of 621 females and 516 males using a completely randomized design for on-station trials and a total of 4200 females and males using in a completely randomized design for on-farm trials. There were differences among PS in body weight (BW), feed intake, age of sexual maturity, egg production,fertility and hatchability in DZARC. Among females, DR and DS had the higher BW, whereas LB, NB and NC had the lower BW. Final mean BW of the meat-type males of NC and LD, were the higher (5027g and 3660g, respectively) whereas other males ranged from 2585g to 2955g. Fertility and hatchability of DR, DS and KK, where females and males have the same genetics, was improved by 6.3% in the crosses of these hens with males from different PS. The LD hens exhibited the higher overall laying rate (64.2%), and with AI, LD hatchability of set eggs (66.6%) was the higher, making it the best chick producer. There were significant (P

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