Nigerian Fulani Ecotype Chickens: Growth Performance under Two Production Systems

الملخص

The study evaluated the growth performance of Nigerian Fulani ecotype chicken (NFEC) under intensive and pastured poultry production systems. Two hundred (200) day-old chicks of Nigerian Fulani ecotype chicken (NFEC) were obtained from established stocks of NFEC population at the Teaching and Research Farm, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The chickens were separated randomly to intensive and pastured poultry production systems at 12 weeks of age. Data on body weight were taken weekly from day-old to 20 weeks. Data were analyzed using PROC GLM of SAS^® at statistical significance level of P<0.05. Results showed significant effect of sex of chicken from the 10^th to the 20^th week of age (P<0.05). Significant interaction effect was observed between sex and production system at weeks 16 and 18 (P<0.05) when the male chickens under the intensive production system outpaced their male counterparts in the pastured poultry. Average daily gain for the period of 20 weeks was 6.83g and 9.21g for female and male chickens respectively. Weight gain pattern across weeks was not uniform. Therewas no significant difference in the growth rate in the two production systems (P>0.05).