Hatching performance of backyard hens in Peshawar, Pakistan

摘要

Astudywascarriedoutduringtheyear2000in13randomlyselectedvillagesofPeshawartoinvestigateeggholdingtimeandhatchabilityofeggssetunderabroodyhen.Fromeachvillage,nbsp;10femalefarmerswererandomlyselected.Averageeggholdingperiodwas10.5±0.36days.Eggswereheldforalongerperiodduringthewinter(14.0#177;0.81days)thaninthesummerseason(6.28#177;0.27days).Averagenumberandfrequencyofeggssetperyearunderabroodyhenwas57.5#177;3.67eggsand4.10#177;0.11,respectively.Thenumberofeggsatanyonetimewas14.0#177;0.81.Averagehatchabilityonthebasisoftotaleggssetwas60.8#177;1.56%.nbsp;Hatchabilitywassignificantly(p0.001)andnegativelyassociatedwitheggstorageperiod(b=-2.482#177;0.30).Associationofnumberofeggssetwithhatchabilitywasalsonegative(b=-0.230#177;0.14;p0.09).Significantlyhigher(p0.05)hatchabilitywasfoundforDesi(64.3#177;2.77%)andRIRhens(63.0#177;2.71%)thanforFayumi(55.1#177;2.43%).Higher(p0.05)hatchabilitywasobservedwithaneggholdingperiodof7days(78.6#177;1.90%)thanat14days(46.7#177;2.59%).Hatchabilitywashigherinspring(78.0#177;1.03%)thaninsummer(46.5#177;3.01%).Ahigherproportionofthefarmers(43.8%)selectedeggsonthebasisofweightforhatchingthanthoseselectingonthebasisofeggweight+shape+shellquality(9.23%).Asmallerproportionofthefarmers(10.8%)wereholdingeggsfor7daysthanthoseholdingeggsfor714days(63.9%).Ashortereggholdingperiod,settinganappropriatenumberofeggsunderaheninrelativelyfavorableseasonsoftheyearandselectionofeggsonthebasisofeggweight+shapeandshellqualityweresuggestedaskeyfactorsforincreasedhatchingperformanceofbackyardchicken.