| Abstrakt: |
A study was conducted to evaluate morphological characteristics and performance pertaining to native chicken of the Gadag district. The survey was conducted in several villages in Gadag district and the average flock size observed was 12.97±3.56, the percentage of farmers providing separate housing facilities was 15.08±1.87 and the percentage of farmers providing extra grains in addition to scavenging was 67.18±2.48. The average marketing age of males was 7.93±0.17 and that of females was 11.01±0.25 months. The average egg production per cycle, number of cycles per year, and average egg production per year were 13.88±0.63, 2.08±0.27 and 46.84±0.32, respectively. The average age at sexual maturity, body weight at sexual maturity and average egg weight at sexual maturity recorded were 171.21±0.53 days, 1221.93±23.27 g and 29.42±0.28 g, respectively. The percent fertility, hatchability percent on total eggs set and hatchability on fertile eggs set at field conditions recorded was 43.37, 31.11, and 71.79, respectively. The percent mortality recorded from day old to eight weeks and 9-20 weeks was 7.14 and 4.33, respectively. The mean shank length at the 8th week of age recorded was 57.28±0.38 and 50.13±0.29 mm in males and females, respectively and the average breast angle recorded was 79.43±0.28° and 70.45±0.51° in males and females, respectively. The adult body weight in the combined sex recorded was 1308.98±7.61 g and the FCR was 3.17 at the 8th week of age. The predominant plumage colour and pattern observed was multicolor and solid in males, and black and dull in females, respectively. The colour of skin and shanks was yellow in the majority of the birds. All the observed birds had red ear lobes and the majority had brown eyes. Most of the birds had wattles and were single-combed. This study revealed distinctive variations among the birds of Gadag with regard to morphology and productive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
