Studies were made on growth, carcass and egg performance as well as mortality of the
Lesotho native chickens compared to the South African native (Potchefstroom Koekoek,
Ovambo, Lebowa-Venda and Naked Neck) and two exotic lines, namely the New
Hampshire a nd Rhode Island Red from 3-days old to 70 weeks old (moulting).
Chickens were raised in two batches with an interval of four weeks between the two
batches: from 3-day old to ten and six in Batches 1 and 2, respectively. Chickens were
reared in Bloemfontein (UFS) under confinement, fed ad libitum with broiler starter mash
for the first four weeks where after grower mash was fed to the chickens up to the age of
ten weeks old. From this stage until the end of the laying phase, they were all fed yellow
maize and managed semi-intensively in Lesotho at the NULFOA. The study was done in
two phases, namely the pre-laying and laying phases.
With the exception of feed conversion ratio (FCR), which was conducted in the first 35
days of the study, all measurements of growth and egg performance traits were recorded
weekly while mortality was recorded daily. Carcass yield analysis was done at 70 weeks
of age. Presentation of the growth data was done in three stages, namely 3-day, 26-week
and 70-week weights, which are considered crucial in a chickenâs life span.
The means of the Lesotho line were significantly different (p<0.05) from other lines in all
growth traits, namely 3-day weight, 26-week weight, average daily gain (ADG) and
average weekly gain (AWG) except for the FCR and hen weight at 70 weeks old. With
the exception of the New Hampshire and Potchefstroom Koekoek, no significant differences (p>0.05) were observed between the Lesotho hen weight and other lines. The
Ovambo had the highest body weight and avera ge daily gain of all the native populations
at 26-weeks old, while the Potchefstroom Koekoek had the highest 70-week weight. Feed
conversion ratios ranged between 3.2±1.9 for the New Hampshire to 3.9±1.2 for Naked
Necks in Batch 1, and 3.3±1.2 for New Hampshire to 4.2±0.9 for the Lesotho line in
Batch 2. All differences between the lines for FCR were highly significant (p<0.01).
All the lines commenced their egg production between the 25th to 26th weeks of age and
there were no significant differences (p> 0.05) between the ages at first lay among all the
lines. Egg production was found to differ significantly (p<0.05) among the different lines.
The average number of eggs laid per week per hen and egg weight of the Lesotho hens
was 1.2 and 48.5g, respectively. The New Hampshire had a significantly (p<0.05) higher
dressed weight than other lines (1903.0±190.8g) while the Naked Neck had the lowest
(1297.7±133.0g). Bone and head weight were not significantly different (p>0.05) among
the different lines. The Lesotho line had the highest overall mortality (89%) of all the
lines. The lowest mortality (27%) was found in the Potchefstroom Koekoek. A probable
reason for high mortalities in the Lesotho could be ascribed to the result of inbreeding
within the line.
Although the Lesotho hens exhibited the lowest growth at the onset of laying
(1113.8±71.6g), they eventually compensated and ended being large (2047.5±65.6g) at
70-weeks old. The Lesotho hen, like the New Hampshire and Potchefstroom Koekoek
showed potential for being a good dual-purpose breed, since it was able to maintain a
high body weight at the end of laying. Therefore the breed has an advantage of fetching a higher market price at the end of laying. The constraint is that of their low growth in the
earlier part of their life span. This can be improved through the implementation of
planned breeding programs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-09292005-160111 |
| Date | 29 September 2005 |
| Creators | Nthimo, AM |
| Contributors | Prof FWC Neser, Dr WO Odenya |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-09292005-160111/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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