Effect of Mating Ratio on Weight of Day Old Chicks in Lines of Shikabrown@ Parent Stock Chickens
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.4103Keywords:
Mating, weight, chickens, lines, ratio, parentAbstract
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of mating ratio on weight of day old chicks in lines of Shikabrown @ parent stock chickens. A total of 210 birds (30 roosters and 180 hens) from the two lines were used for this study. Fifteen (15) roosters were mated to 90 hens in the dam and sire lines at mating ratio 1:3, 1:6 and 1:9, and a total of 1711 fertile eggs were hatched in three sets. Weight of day old chicks was taken using a weighing balance in grammes. Data collected were subjected to ANOVA procedure of SAS, with significant means separated by DMRT procedure. From the results obtained, no significant (p<0.05) difference was observed on the weight of day-old chicks in the two lines. In conclusion, it is recommended that lower mating ratio be used for chick production to reduce cost of production.
