PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKENS FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES FED A COMMERCIAL DIET

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth performance of broiler chickens from different sources fed a commercial diet. Broiler chickens from four different hatcheries were used and designated as treatment A, B, C and D. The experimental diet consists of a selected commercial diet that was regular and available throughout the year. Two hundred day old unsex broiler chicks were randomly allotted by source to four Treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment of 50 chicks was divided in three replicates of 16 birds per each. The result on performance parameters showed that feed intake on both starter (64.10 - 75.52 g) and finisher phases (127.85- 158.43 g) were significantly affected (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively), while body weight gain and feed conversion ratio at both phases were not affected. Overall phase showed that daily feed intake, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio were not significantly affected. The result on carcass and gut characteristics parameters revealed no significance difference among the treatment groups. The economic analysis showed that feed cost per/kg gain was higher (₦508.10) on treatment B, followed by treatment C (₦493.74) and D with (₦484.59) while treatment A recorded the lowest (₦454.36) which proved to be more economical. It can be concluded from the result of the study that all the broiler chickens from different sources gave good performance in terms of growth and carcass yield. However, treatment A was more economical to produce in the study area.