Productive Performance, Egg Characteristics and Hatching Traits of Three Chicken Genotypes under Free-Range, Semi-Intensive, and Intensive Housing Systems

Ahmad, S; Mahmud, A; Hussain, J; Javed, K

doi:10.1590/1806-9061-2018-0935

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of housing system on the live performance, egg quality, and hatching traits of three dual-purpose chicken genotypes. In total, 180 birds, comprising 48 pullets and 12 cockerels from each of three genotypes, were evaluated during the production phase (27-46 weeks). For this, 144 pullets and 36 cockerels were randomly picked from 18 treatment block groups were shifted to breeding coops, allotting 4 pullets to one cockerel. A completely randomized complete block design (RCBD) was employed. Three genotypes, purebred Naked Neck (NN) and two crosses Rhode Island Red × Naked Neck (RIR × NN = RNN) and Black Australorp × Naked Neck (BAL × NN = BNN), were compared. Intensive system (p<0.0001) and BNN hens (p<0.0001) were heavier on week 26 and 46. Higher egg production (p<0.0001) was obtained in the intensive system and in BNN hens (p<0.0001). Hens maintained in the intensive systems produced heavier eggs and higher egg mass (p<0.0001), and RNN and BNN hens laid heavier eggs (p<0.0001) while higher egg mass (p<0.0001) was found in BNN hens. Higher egg shape index (initial, p=0.0002), egg surface area (initial, p<0.0001; final, p<0.0001), egg volume (initial, p<0.0001; final, p<0.0001) and Haugh unit score (initial, p=0.0002; final, p=<0.0001) were obtained in RNN and BNN hens. At the end of the experiment (46 weeks), higher yolk index (p=0.0004) was found in RNN and BNN eggs, and thicker eggshells (p<0.0001) in RNN eggs. Higher egg hatchability was obtained in the free-range system (p<0.0001) and in the RNN genotype (p<0.0001). The highest fertility rates were detected in the free-range system (p<0.0001), and in the RNN and BNN genotypes (p<0.0001). The lowest infertile egg rates were observed in the free-range system (p<0.0001) and in RNN and BNN genotypes (p<0.0001). The lowest dead-in-shell rate was calculated for the free-range system (p=0.0456). In conclusion, free-range and semi-intensive system largely influence productive performance, egg quality and hatching traits. Regarding genotypes, RNN and BNN crossbred hens perform better than NN purebreds.

Keywords:
Crossbred chickens; egg quality; hatching traits; housing system; live performance

[1] Mail Address
Corresponding author e-mail address Sohail Ahmad Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Animal Production and Technology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Phone: +92-313-4288381 Email: sohail.ahmad@uvas.edu.pk

Feed Ingredient (%)	Female formulation (%)	Male formulation (%)
Corn	42.61	39.4
SBM	15.62	10.45
Corn Gluten (60%)	1	--
Rice Tips	19	31
Wheat Bran	13	15.8
DCP	1.2	0.70
CaCO₃	7.42	2.65
DL-Methionine	0.15	--
Nutrient
Crude Protein	15.04	13.13
ME (Kcal/kg)	2682	2848
Calcium	2.81	1.09
Phosphorus	0.34	0.22
Lysine	0.86	0.74
Methionine	0.45	0.39

Trait	Genotype			P-value	Housing System			p-value
Trait	RNN (n = 48)	BNN (n = 48)	NN (n = 48)		FR (n = 48)	SI (n = 48)	I (n = 48)
BW 26wk	1228.36^b ± 30.52	1366.66^a ± 40.62	1064.75^c ± 30.63	<0.0001	1082.16^c ± 16.93	1215.59^b ± 51.65	1362.03^a ± 30.77	<0.0001
BW 46wk	1484.45^b ± 100.73	1679.74^a ± 99.35	1391.25^b ± 72.91	0.0025	1171.86^c ± 31.19	1467.94^b± 34.74	1915.64^a ± 95.95	<0.0001
PR	60.21^b ± 0.14	60.71^a ± 0.18	54.13^c ± 0.29	<0.0001	57.80^b ± 0.59	57.56^b ± 0.43	59.70^a ± 0.35	<0.0001
EW	53.16^a ± 0.15	53.13^a ± 0.14	46.68^b ± 0.06	<0.0001	50.11^c ± 0.36	51.31^b ± 0.49	51.54^a ± 0.49	<0.0001
CEM	4.79^b ± 0.02	4.82^a ± 0.02	3.80^c ± 0.02	<0.0001	4.35^c ± 0.07	4.44^b ± 0.07	4.62^a ± 0.07	<0.0001
Liv	99.98 ± 0.01	99.96 ± 0.01	99.97 ± 0.01	0.7898	99.98 ± 0.01	99.95 ± 0.02	99.98 ± 0.01	0.1141

Trait	RNN			BNN			NN			p-value
Trait	FR (n = 16)	SI (n = 16)	I (n = 16)	FR (n = 16)	SI (n = 16)	I (n = 16)	FR (n = 16)	SI (n = 16)	I (n = 16)
BW 26wk	1074.54^e± 15.55	1251.15^c ± 23.82	1359.40^b ± 20.60	1163.73^d ± 14.35	1430.93^ab± 53.39	1505.32^a ± 29.37	1008.22^ef ± 6.41	964.68^f ± 40.90	1221.36^cd ± 17.49	<0.0001
BW 46wk	1157.92^ef± 31.66	1369.80d^e ± 49.82	1925.63^ab ± 192.66	1318.34^def ± 32.14	1606.50^cd± 36.42	2114.37^a ± 182.59	1039.31^f ± 6.60	1427.51^cde ± 49.07	1706.92^bc ± 82.50	<0.0001
PR	60.09^b ± 0.15	59.43^c ± 0.15	61.11^a ± 0.23	61.07^a ± 0.20	59.67^bc ± 0.29	61.40^a ± 0.26	52.24^f ± 0.20	53.57^e ± 0.14	56.60^d ± 0.26	<0.0001
EW	51.81^b ± 0.12	53.74^a ± 0.08	53.92^a ± 0.10	51.87^b ± 0.11	53.66^a ± 0.06	53.85^a ± 0.09	46.65^cd ± 0.12	46.53^d ± 0.06	46.85^c ± 0.10	<0.0001
CEM	4.67^c ± 0.02	4.77^b ± 0.02	4.92^a ± 0.02	4.74^b ± 0.02	4.78^b ± 0.02	4.94^a ± 0.02	3.66^f ± 0.02	3.76^e ± 0.01	3.99^d ± 0.02	0.0036
Liv	99.98 ± 0.01	99.96 ± 0.03	99.90 ± 0.01	99.97 ± 0.02	99.94 ± 0.04	99.98 ± 0.01	99.99 ± 0.01	99.95 ± 0.02	99.98 ± 0.02	0.7423

Trait	Genotype			p-value	Housing System			p-value
Trait	RNN (n = 15)	BNN (n = 15)	NN (n = 15)		FR (n = 15)	SI (n = 15)	I (n = 15)
SI	74.24^a ± 0.42	73.98^a ± 0.38	71.91^b ± 0.34	0.0002	73.48 ± 0.39	73.33 ± 0.60	73.32 ± 0.39	0.9503
SA	58.24^a ± 0.42	58.13^a ± 0.36	55.78^b ± 0.35	<0.0001	57.55 ± 0.42	57.31 ± 0.45	57.28 ± 0.57	0.8667
EV	40.92^a ± 0.44	40.81^a ± 0.38	38.37^b ± 0.36	<0.0001	40.21 ± 0.43	39.95 ± 0.46	39.93 ± 0.60	0.8695
EW	44.82^a ± 0.48	44.70^a ± 0.41	42.02^b ± 0.40	<0.0001	44.04 ± 0.47	43.76 ± 0.51	43.74 ± 0.65	0.8702
HU	78.84^a ± 0.75	77.23^a ± 0.66	74.56^b ± 0.39	0.0002	76.53 ± 0.78	76.93 ± 0.82	77.17 ± 0.72	0.7844
YI	49.65 ± 1.14	50.00 ± 0.76	47.94 ± 0.23	0.1883	49.93 ± 0.98	49.42 ± 0.82	48.25 ± 0.59	0.3512
ST	0.33^ab ± 0.01	0.32^b ± 0.01	0.34^a ± 0.01	0.0787	0.34 ± 0.01	0.33 ± 0.01	0.32 ± 0.01	0.0724

Trait	RNN			BNN			NN			p-value
Trait	FR (n = 5)	SI (n = 5)	I (n = 5)	FR (n = 5)	SI (n = 5)	I (n = 5)	FR (n = 5)	SI (n = 5)	I (n = 5)
SI	73.93^ab ± 0.26	75.17^a ± 0.76	73.63^ab ± 0.93	74.33^ab ± 0.69	73.52^ab ± 0.86	74.09^ab ± 0.44	72.27^bc ± 0.64	71.31^c ± 0.80	72.24^bc ± 0.19	0.0053
SA	58.49^a ± 0.52	58.28^a ± 0.85	57.94^ab ± 0.91	58.10^ab ± 0.60	57.65^ab ± 0.40	58.64^a ± 0.84	56.08^bc ± 0.59	55.99^bc ± 0.73	55.26^c ± 0.58	0.0057
EV	41.18^a ± 0.54	40.97^a ± 0.89	40.61^ab ± 0.94	40.77^ab ± 0.62	40.30^ab ± 0.42	41.34^a ± 0.89	38.67^bc ± 0.61	38.59^bc ± 0.74	37.84^c ± 0.60	0.0060
EW	45.10^a ± 0.60	44.87^a ± 0.98	44.48^ab ± 1.03	44.66^ab ± 0.68	44.15^ab ± 0.45	45.28^a ± 0.97	42.36^bc ± 0.67	42.26^bc ± 0.81	41.44^c ± 0.65	0.0060
HU	78.62^ab ± 1.63	79.16^a ± 1.16	78.75^ab ± 1.34	76.14^abcd ± 1.24	77.95^abc ± 0.93	77.60^abc ± 1.33	74.84^cd ± 0.63	73.69^d ± 0.85	75.15^bcd ± 0.45	0.0088
YI	49.75 ± 2.81	50.20 ± 2.29	49.00 ± 0.53	51.24 ± 1.16	50.40 ± 0.77	48.35 ± 1.73	48.79 ± 0.37	47.65 ± 0.24	47.39 ± 0.33	0.5937
ST	0.34 ± 0.01	0.32 ± 0.00	0.32 ± 0.01	0.34 ± 0.01	0.32 ± 0.01	0.31 ± 0.01	0.35 ± 0.01	0.34 ± 0.01	0.34 ± 0.02	0.1800

Brasil

Brasil

Productive Performance, Egg Characteristics and Hatching Traits of Three Chicken Genotypes under Free-Range, Semi-Intensive, and Intensive Housing Systems

ABSTRACT

Trait (%)	Genotype			p-value	Housing System			P-value
Trait (%)	RNN (n =15)	BNN (n =15)	NN (n =15)		FR (n =15)	SI (n =15)	I (n =15)
HP	71.57^a ± 1.24	69.24^b ±1.37	64.14^c ± 1.27	<0.0001	73.61^a ± 0.91	67.28^b ± 1.39	64.07^c ± 0.99	<0.0001
FP	87.43^a ± 0.69	86.69^a ± 0.90	81.74^b ± 1.30	<0.0001	88.42^a ± 0.80	84.71^b ± 0.83	81.72^b ± 1.35	<0.0001
IP	12.57^b ± 0.69	13.31^b ± 0.90	18.26^a ± 1.30	<0.0001	11.58^b ± 0.80	15.29^a ± 0.83	17.28^a ± 1.35	<0.0001
DG	7.91 ± 0.45	8.45 ± 0.76	8.66 ± 0.64	0.6430	7.50 ± 0.50	8.28 ± 0.67	9.24 ± 0.63	0.1168
DIS	7.94 ± 0.49	9.00 ± 0.84	8.94 ± 0.55	0.4154	7.31^b ± 0.51	9.16^a ± 0.72	9.41^a ± 0.57	0.0456

Trait	Genotype			p-value	Housing System			p-value
Trait	RNN (n = 15)	BNN (n = 15)	NN (n = 15)		FR (n = 15)	SI (n = 15)	I (n = 15)
SI	77.10 ± 0.82	76.60 ± 1.07	74.21 ± 1.07	0.1067	75.47 ± 1.40	76.47 ± 0.77	75.98 ± 0.84	0.7798
SA	64.75^a ± 0.84	65.12^a ± 0.71	59.59^b ± 0.46	<0.0001	63.01 ± 0.85	63.17 ± 0.97	63.29 ± 1.06	0.9619
EV	47.97^a ± 0.93	48.36^a ± 0.78	42.35^b ± 0.48	<0.0001	46.06 ± 0.92	46.24 ± 1.06	46.38 ± 1.15	0.9566
EW	55.54^a + 1.01	52.97^a ± 0.85	46.39^b ± 0.53	<0.0001	50.45 ± 1.01	50.65 ± 1.16	50.80 ± 1.26	0.9563
HU	82.44^a ± 0.77	82.12^a ± 0.74	75.38^b ± 0.79	<0.0001	80.45 ± 1.22	80.12 ± 0.93	79.37 ± 1.28	0.6153
YI	49.20^a ± 2.72	48.00^a ± 1.90	37.47^b ± 1.51	0.0004	43.00 ± 2.48	43.93 ± 2.15	47.73 ± 2.75	0.2384
ST	0.35^a ± 0.01	0.32^b ± 0.01	0.28^c ± 0.01	<0.0001	0.32 ± 0.01	0.33 ± 0.01	0.31 ± 0.01	0.2441

Trait	RNN			BNN			NN			p-value
Trait	FR (n = 5)	SI (n = 5)	I (n = 5)	FR (n = 5)	SI (n = 5)	I (n = 5)	FR (n = 5)	SI (n = 5)	I (n = 5)
SI	79.09 ± 1.66	76.17 ± 1.16	76.03 ± 1.19	72.25 ± 2.54	77.36 ± 0.61	77.20 ± 2.14	72.05 ± 2.27	75.87 ± 2.07	74.72 ± 0.76	0.2843
SA	63.79^a ± 0.95	65.80^a ± 1.33	64.67^a ± 2.04	65.91^a ± 0.70	63.75^a ± 1.89	65.70^a ± 0.71	59.32^b ± 0.68	59.96^b ± 0.27	59.49^b ± 1.26	0.0002
EV	46.89^a ± 1.04	49.12^a ± 1.50	47.90^a ± 2.25	49.22^a ± 0.78	46.88^a ± 2.07	48.99^a ± 0.79	42.07^b ± 0.73	42.73^b ± 0.28	42.26^b ± 1.33	0.0003
EW	51.36^a ± 1.14	53.80^a ± 1.64	52.47^a ± 2.47	53.91^a ± 0.85	51.35^a ± 2.27	53.66^a ± 0.86	46.07^b ± 0.79	46.81^b ± 0.31	46.29^b ± 1.46	0.0003
HU	82.49^a ± 1.71	81.75^a ± 1.54	83.07^a ± 0.84	83.49^a ± 1.19	81.92^a ± 1.41	80.95^a ± 1.24	75.36^b ± 1.25	76.70^b ± 0.54	74.09^b ± 1.96	<0.0001
YI	50.40^a ± 5.12	44.00^abc ± 4.21	53.20^a ± 4.76	42.40^abc ± 1.75	48.80^ab ± 3.77	52.80^a ± 2.62	36.20^c ± 3.18	39.00^bc ± 2.17	37.20^c ± 2.85	0.0044
ST	0.36^a ± 0.01	0.37^a ± 0.02	0.32^abc ± 0.02	0.31^bc ± 0.02	0.34^ab ± 0.02	0.32^abc ± 0.01	0.28^c ± 0.02	0.29b^c ± 0.02	0.28^c ± 0.01	0.0012

Trait (%)	RNN			BNN			NN			p-value
Trait (%)	FR (n =5)	SI (n =5)	I (n =5)	FR (n =5)	SI (n =5)	I (n =5)	FR (n =5)	SI (n =5)	I (n =5)
HP	77.29^a ± 1.16	69.08^c ± 1.22	68.35^c ± 1.03	73.43^b ± 0.44	70.60^bc ± 2.55	63.69^d ± 0.75	70.11b^c ± 0.85	62.16^d ± 1.47	60.16^d ± 0.43	<0.0001
FP	90.23^a ± 0.84	86.46^ab ± 0.79	85.60^b ± 0.81	88.35^ab ± 1.93	86.37^ab ± 0.44	85.34^b ± 1.87	86.69^ab ± 0.89	81.31^c ± 1.47	77.23^d ± 1.89	<0.0001
IP	9.77d ± 0.84	13.54^cd ± 0.79	14.40^c ± 0.81	11.65^cd ± 1.93	13.63^cd ± 0.44	14.66^c ± 1.87	13.31^cd ± 0.89	18.69^b ± 1.47	22.77^a ± 1.89	<0.0001
DG	6.62 ± 0.98	8.71 ± 0.32	8.41 ± 0.63	7.24 ± 0.95	6.98 ± 1.12	11.12 ± 1.09	8.65 ± 0.50	9.14 ± 1.64	8.19 ± 1.11	0.1017
DIS	6.32 ± 0.73	8.67 ± 0.86	8.84 ± 0.46	7.68 ± 1.10	8.78 ± 1.90	10.53 ± 1.28	7.94 ± 0.81	10.01 ± 0.88	8.87 ± 1.08	0.2643