The effect of supplementation on the performance of free range local chickens in Tanzania

摘要

AstudytoevaluatetheeffectsupplementationongrowthandeggproductioninfreerangechickenswascarriedoutinMorogoro,Tanzania.Theeffectoflocationandhouseholdsurroundingsonperformanceoffreerangelocalchickenswasalsoassessed.Atotalof144chickenswereused.Birdswereselectedandsortedbasedontheirbodyweightandageandthenrandomlyallocatedtothreefeedingregimes.Thethreefeedtypeswere;homemadeandcommercialsupplementandtheun-supplemented(thosewhichwerelefttoscavengeonly).Duringthegrowingperiod,performancewasmeasuredintermsofbodyweight,shanklengthandgrowthrate.Totalnumberofeggslaid,eggweightandshellthicknesswererecordedduringthelayingperiod.Grossmarginanalysiswasdoneforthelayingperiod.Adigestibilitytrialwascarriedouttoassessthenutritivevalueoffeedsandtheirutilizationbythebirds.nbsp;Totaldrymatterdigestibilitydifferedsignificantly(P0.05)betweenseasonsandwas79and67%forthedryandwetseasonfeed,respectively.Feedsupplementationtofreerangelocalchickensledtoimprovedperformanceintermsofgrowthrateandbodyweight.Themeanmaturebodyweightforthesupplementedandun-supplementedchickenswas1484gand1282g,respectively.Howevernodifferencewasobservedbetweentreatmentsonshanklength.Significant(P0.05)differencesforgrowthratewereobservedbetweentreatmentsduringperiods1-3andbetweenlocations.Performanceforbirdsattheexperimentalstationwaslowerformostparameters.Anincreaseineggnumberandshellthicknesswithsupplementationwasnoted.Themeaneggnumberforfreerangelocalchickenssupplementedwithhomemadefeedandcommercialwas31.9and31.8,respectivelywhereasitwas20.4fortheun-supplementedfreerangechickens.Theprofitmarginfromeggswasincreasedby11.2%anddeclinedby3.4%inbirdsunderhomemadeandcommercialsupplementation,respectively.Fromtheseresultsitwasthereforeconcludedthatsupplementationledtoimprovedperformanceintermsofgrowth,eggproductionandqualitybuttheprofitmarginwassubstantiallyreducedbyfeedcost.Thismeansthatcheaplocallyavailablefeedingredientsshouldbeusedwhensupplementingruralchickens.nbsp;