MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS AS PREDICTORS OF BODYWEIGHT OF BROILER CHICKENS IN THE SEMI-ARID ZONE OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The objective of the research was to examine the influence of morphological traits as predictors on body weight among three strains comprising of Napri-X, Marshall and Ross. 315 strains were used in the study. The birds were brooded with the aid of a kerosene stove and charcoal as heat source and reared on deep litter from day-old to 8 weeks of age. All the chicks were fed ad libitum with a broiler starter feed containing 23.75% Crude Protein (CP) and 3,038.64 MEKcal/kg up to 4 weeks of age.
Thereafter, the birds were given broiler finisher diet containing 19.95% CP and 3,102 MEKcal/kg upto 8 weeks based on the standard of National Research Council. The experiment was conducted in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD). Treatments were replicated seven times with fifteen birds per pen. Morphological traits were taken on weekly basis. The data collected on each strain were subjected to Linear Multiple Regression Model procedure of SPSS (2011) version 20. The results show that regression analysis were highly significant (p<0.001) in all the groups and R2 values more than 50% in all the groups, indicating that the morphological traits are very good predictors of body weight in the three broiler strains. It is therefore concluded that morphological traits (CBL, CBH, OCL, OCW, BEL, ELL, ELW, WTL and WTH) constitute substantial portion in the body weight of
the three strains. However, it is recommended that breeders and poultry farmers should consider these parameters in determining weight of chicken.