Effect of Forage Supplementations on Reproductive Performance of Guinea Fowls in Aliero, Nigeria
Abstract
This research was conducted to assess some reproductive traits of indigenous guinea fowls supplemented with green forages at Aliero, Kebbi State, Nigeria. The forages used were Bracharia ruziziensis, Centrosema pubescens, Senna tora, Chloris gayana, Lucaena leucocephala, Panicum maximum and Lablab purpureus. A total of fifty five (55) adult guinea fowls were used for the experiment and stocked in a ratio of 10:1. Three hundred and five (305) eggs were incubated in three batches according to plots. The experimental design used was the Nested type (Henderson, 1963). Parameters considered include fertility, hatchability, and embryonic mortality/survival. The data was analyzed using analysis of variance procedure of SPSS. The results showed no significant (P?0.05) effect on the number of eggs/hen/week, fertility and hatchability of the guinea fowls. However, guinea fowls with forage supplementations started egg laying earlier than the control group. Fertility and hatchability were 83.74 – 93.31% and 49.96 - 61.09% respectively. Additionally, the early and mid-term embryonic deaths were higher (P?0.05) in the control group. From the results of this research, it can be concluded that the forage species studied had no direct impact on the fertility rates of guinea fowls but could be attributed to the early starts off egg laying and low early and midterm embryonic deaths of the guinea fowls. It was recommended that the experiment should be extended to cover the entire laying cycles of the birds in order to investigate the possible long term effect of the forage supplements on the reproductive traits of the guinea fowls.
Keywords
foragesguinea fowlsfertilityhatchabilityembryo mortality
References
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