Abstract: A total of forty (40) growing rabbits with an average initial weight of 921.5g were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% palm kernel cake as replacement for soyabean cake respectively. All diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous (20% CP). The final live weights of the rabbits were higher in the control diet compared to those on palm kernel cake diets. With the exception of the rabbits placed on 40% level of palm kernel cake daily feed inta...
Abstract A study was conducted at the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Shika, Zaria, Nigeria to access some semen quality characteristics and to determine the effect of mating ratio on fertility and hatchability of Hubbard broiler breeders. 20 cocks were examined for semen quality characteristics. Parameters evaluated were: ejaculate volume, semen pH, sperm concentration and sperm motility. Sequel to semen quality evaluation, hens were divided into three groups according ...
ABSTRACT Fifteen days prior to parturition, studies was conducted using sixteen West African dwarf (WAD) ewes weighing between 22.80 and 26.03kg on a basal diet of Panicum maximum were allotted into 4 treatment groups A, B, C and D of 4 replicates each. The MSL replaced Wheat bran (WB) gravimetrically at 0, 15, 30 and 45%. Treatment A served as control, while animals in treatments B, C and D received Mexican sunflower leaf (MSL) at 15, 30 and 45% respectively. The experiment lasted for one we...
ABSTRACT Agricultural activities have been identified as the most common causes of land transformation. Such transformation results in changes in ecological features, such as weed flora succession. It is in view of this that a work is carried out to evaluate the effect of land clearing and tillage methods on weed incidence under maize - cassava intercropping system. The experiment was carried out at the International Board for Soil Research and Management experimental site, Epemakinde Nigeria...
Improvement of the domestic chicken has dominated the effort of indigenous breeders in Nigeria in recent times. Three hundred and fifty-seven (357) Fulani ecotype chickens were surveyed and assessed for their phenotypic and productive characteristics in Osun State, Nigeria. Mature weight (kg), comb size, wattle size, breast length, breast width, leg length (all in cm); egg weight (gm), clutch size were examined and classified. A higher level of variability was revealed in comb size, wattle si...
ABSTRACT Genotype sensitivity as a change in the relative performance of a genotype in the presence of two or more environments could be an important factor in the breeding of exotic birds in the tropics. Farm records covering 10 years (1999 - 2008) were employed to study the effect of seasons on genotype sensitivity and their usability for selection in the breeding of exotic Parent stock chickens of Bovan and ISA origins in South-West Nigeria. Cock weight, hen weight, Hen-day production, egg...
Abstract: Seasons play an important role in the performance of breeder chickens, but lack of adequate records on its specific effects in specific seasons could influence the efforts of breeders to improve on local ecotypes of chicken for standardization into breeds. This is why Nigeria still depends mainly on imported breeds of chicken for commercial production of chicken. In this study, the influence of Early Wet (EW), Late Wet (LW) and Early Dry (ED) and Late Dry (LD) seasons on reproductiv...
Summary Chicken breeding is a technical enterprise that involves specific and timely strategies to manipulate latent Factors. It is also intensive and involves high managerial competence for high profitability. Data on Hen day production, egg weight, Age in production (Prodage), Season, Strain (genotype) and Batch on weekly basis were obtained from Layer chicken from a popular chicken farm in Ibadan. These data covered the production cycle of 2 Strains – Bovan Nera and Isa Brown – of chic...
SUMMARY Stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to classify pullet strains into Early maturing or Late maturing. Reproductive, Age and body traits examined were Age at first egg (AFE), Hen weight at first egg (HWFE), Hen weight at 20 weeks (H20wks), Egg weight at full maturity (EWT), Hen house production at full maturity (HHP), Fertility of egg set at full maturity (FES), Hatchability of egg set at full maturity (HES) and Pullet day-old chicks hatched at full maturity (PDC). Test of equa...
ABSTRACT O. M. A. JESUYON Animal Breeding and genetics Unit, Department of Animal Production and Health Federal University Oye-Ekiti, P. M. B. 373, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria E. mail: [email protected] The objective of the study was to elucidate some of the factors that affect growth and development of breeder cockerels on deep-litter system in the environment. Sexual maturity characteristics in cockerel are important breeding and management indices. T en records namely ...
Abstract. The study was aimed at elucidating the effect of seasons, namely the early wet (EW), late wet (LW), early dry (ED) and late dry (LD) seasons, on genotype sensitivity, its magnitude and application for selection and management of chickens of Bovan Nera (BN) and ISA Brown (IB) origins. Breeding and hatching records from 1999 to 2008 were collected from CHI (Ajanla) Farms and hatchery records, Ibadan, Nigeria. Cock weight (CW), hen weight (HW), hen-house egg production (HHP), egg weigh...
Abstract To evaluate heterosis, reciprocal effect, general and specific combining abilities for bodyweight, a diallel crossing experiment was conducted using three genotypes of Nigerian indigenous chickens: normal (N), frizzle (F) and naked-neck (Na). A total of 601 chicks was hatched from all possible matings between the three genotypes. The chicks used in this study were hatched from a foundation stock of 90 chickens comprising 25 hens and 5 cocks for each of the three genotypes. A mating r...
Population of wild cane rats decline in African countries due to high rate of hunting, destruction of their natural habitats and high demand for cane rat meat. Subsequently cane rat has been classified among the threatened and endangered wildlife (Aluko et al., 2015) in the West African sub-region. Global concerns over hunting of endangered species of animals has led conservationists and advocates to lead campaign for domestication, to increase production and supply of cane rats, thus reducin...
Abstract Interactive effects of strain, live weight and a non-genetic factor namely micro-environment on the live weight development of cane rats reared in captivity were investigated over a seven-month period. A total of seventy-nine (79) cane rats (Thryonomys swinderianus) originating from three different sources (strains) and of four body weight categories were used for the study. The treatment design was 4x3 Factorial of Live-weightXStrain randomly assigned to 3 Houses (block) using RCBD,...
The study was conducted to compare early sexual maturity characteristics between Bovan Nera and Isa Brown Parent stock chickens reared in a commercial breeding system in Ibadan, humid Tropical Nigeria. Records on Pullet weight at 10 weeks (PW10, g), Feed-intake at 10-weeks (FI10, g), Total feed intake from11 weeks to first egg (FI11FE, kg), weight gain from 11 weeks to first egg (WG11FE, g), Feed intake at first egg (FIFE, g), pullet-weight at first egg (PWFE, g) and pullet-age at first egg (...