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Chapter 2: Species and Breeds


Different Poultry Species and Breeds

All species of poultry are used by rural smallholders throughout the world. The most important species in the tropics are: chickens, guinea fowl, ducks (including Muscovy ducks), pigeons, turkeys and geese. Local strains are used, but most species are not indigenous. The guinea fowl (Numididae) originated in West Africa; the Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) in South America; pigeons (Columba livea) in Europe; turkeys (Meleagrididae) in Latin America; pheasants (Phasianidae) in Asia; the common duck (Anas) in Europe; and geese (Anser) in Asia.

Flock composition is determined by the objectives of the poultry enterprise (see Chapter 1). In Nigeria for example, the preference is for the smooth-feathered, multicoloured native chickens or Muscovy ducks. Multicoloured feathers serve as camouflage for scavenging birds against predators, including birds of prey, which can more easily see solid colours (especially white). Foundation stock is usually obtained from the market as grower pullets and young cockerels. A hen to cock ratio of about 5:1 is common. Both sexes are retained for 150 to 300 days, for the purposes of culling, selling, home consumption and gifts, most of which require adult birds.

In the last 50 years, there has been a great advance in the development of hybrid breeds for intensive commercial poultry production. This trend is most noticeable in chickens, turkeys and ducks. The new hybrids (those of chickens in particular) are widely distributed and are present in every country in the tropics, even in the most remote villages. The hybrids have been carefully selected and specialised solely for the production of either meat or eggs. These end-product-specialised hybrid strains are unsuitable for breeding purposes, especially for mixing with local village scavenger stock, as they have very low mothering ability and broodiness.

For the smallholder, keeping hybrids means considerable changes are required in management. These changes are expensive for the following reasons:

The meat and eggs from intensively raised hybrid stock are considered by many traditional consumers to have less flavour, and the meat to have too soft a texture. Consumers will thus often pay a higher price for village-produced poultry meat and eggs. Thus for rural family poultry keepers, it is more appropriate to maintain and improve local birds to meet this demand.

Chickens

Chickens originated in Southeast Asia and were introduced to the rest of the world by sailors and traders. Nowadays, indigenous village chickens are the result of centuries of cross-breeding with exotic breeds and random breeding within the flock. As a result, it is not possible to standardize the characteristics and productive performance of indigenous chickens.

There is no comprehensive list of the breeds and varieties of chickens used by rural smallholders, but there is considerable information on some indigenous populations from various regions. Most of this is based on feather colour and other easily measured body features (genetic traits), but more detailed data are becoming available. Examples of local chickens from different parts of the tropics are given in Tables 2.1 to 2.3 below. These evaluations were usually carried out under intensive management conditions in research stations, as the objective was to evaluate the local birds’ productivity. More recently, data on the performance of local chickens under extensive management have become available, which makes it possible to compare performance under extensive and intensive systems (see Table 2.3).

Table 2.1 Performance of local breeds in South Asia (intensively housed)

Traits

Desi

Naked Neck

Aseel

Kadak-anath

Black Bengal

12 wk live wt (g)

544

629

640

NA

433

Age at 1st egg (d)

208

NA

219

NA

200

Eggs/hen/year

116

104

100

80

NA

Egg wt (g)

46

45

51

39

49

Fertility (%)

81

80

55

90

86

Hatchability (%)

55

61

45

61

68

Source: Acharya and Kumar, 1984. Desi means “local” (as in Bangladeshi)

Characteristics such as adult body weight and egg weight vary considerably among indigenous chicken populations, although reproductive traits, such as the number of laying seasons per year, the number of eggs per clutch and hatchability are more consistent. Desi hens in Bangladesh range from 190 to 200 days of age at first egg (an easy measure of age-at-sexual-maturity), and they lay 10 to 15 eggs per season in 3 to 4 clutches (3 to 4 times) per year, with a hatchability of 84 to 87 percent (percent of eggs set) (Haque, 1999).

Table 2.2 Local chicken breeds of Ethiopia

Traits

Tukur

Melata

Kei

Gebsima

Netch

24 wk body wt (g)

960

1000

940

950

1180

Age at 1st egg (d)

173

204

166

230

217

Eggs/bird.yr

64

82

54

58

64

Egg wt (g)

44

49

45

44

47

Fertility (%)

56

60

57

53

56

Hatchability (%)

42

42

44

39

39

Source: Shanawany & Banerjee, 1991 as cited in Forssido, 1986; Australian Agricultural Consultancy and Management Company, 1984; Beker and Banerjee, 1990.

Indigenous village birds in Ethiopia attain sexual maturity at an average age of seven months (214 days). The hen lays about 36 eggs per year in three clutches of 12 to 13 eggs in about 16 days. If the hen incubates her eggs for three weeks and then rears the chicks for twelve weeks, then each reproductive cycle lasts for 17 weeks. Three cycles then make one year. These are very efficient, productive and essential traits for survival.

Guinea fowl

Guinea fowl are native to West Africa but are now found in many parts of the tropics, and are kept in large numbers under intensive systems in France, Italy, the former Soviet Union and Hungary. In India, guinea fowl are raised in parts of the Punjab (Shingari et al., 1994), Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Madhya Pradesh, usually in flocks of a few hundred birds. Guinea fowl are seasonal breeders, laying eggs only during the rainy season, under free-range conditions. They are very timid, roosting in trees at night, and although great walkers, they fly very little.

Guinea fowl thrive in both cool and hot conditions, and their potential to increase meat and particularly egg production in developing countries deserves better recognition. The first egg is normally laid at about 18 weeks of age, and unlike many indigenous birds (which produce a single clutch a year), guinea hens lay continuously until adverse weather sets in. In West Africa, laying is largely confined to the rainy season. Guinea hens under free-range conditions can lay up to 60 eggs per season, while well-managed birds under intensive management can lay up to 200 eggs per year. The guinea hen “goes broody” (sits on eggs in the nest) after laying, but this can be overcome by removing most of the eggs. A clutch of 15 to 20 eggs is common, and the incubation period for guinea fowl is 27 days. Domesticated guinea fowl under extensive or semi-intensive management in Nigeria were reported to lay 60 to 100 eggs with a fertility rate of 40 to 60 percent.

Table 2.3 Performance of local chicken breeds under scavenging and intensive management systems

System

Country

Breed

Body
Wt (g)

Egg

Egg
Wt (g)

Scavenging


Africa

Burundi

Local

1 500

75

40



Mali

Local

1 170

35

34



United Rep.Tanzania

Local

1 200

70

41


Asia

Indonesia

Kampung

2 000

35

-



Malaysia

Kampung

1 430

55

39



Bangladesh

Local

1 140

40

37



Thailand

Thai

1 400

40

48



Thailand

Betong

1 900

18

45



Thailand

Samae

2 300

70

-


Latin America

Dom. Rep.

Local

1 500

100

38



Bolivia

Local

1 500

100

-

Intensive


Africa

Egypt

Fayoumi

1 354

150

43



Egypt

Dandarawi

-

140

45



Egypt

Baladi

1 330

151

40



Nigeria

Local

1 500

125

36



United Rep. Tanzania

Local

1 652

109

46



Uganda

Local

1 500

40

50



Zambia

Local

1 500

35

52


Asia

Bangladesh

Desi

1 300

45

35



India

Kadakanath

1 125

80

40



Indonesia

Ayam Nunukan

2 000

150

48



Indonesia

Ayam Kampung

1 350

104

45

Sources: Compiled from Horst, 1989; Katule, 1991; Horst et al., 1996; Haque, 1999.

Domesticated guinea fowl are of three principal varieties: Pearl, White and Lavender. The Pearl is by far the most common. It has purplish-grey feathers regularly dotted or “pearled” with white. The White guinea fowl has pure white feathers while the Lavender has light grey feathers dotted with white. The male and female guinea fowl differ so little in appearance (feather colour and body weight [1.4 to 1.6 kg]) that the inexperienced farmer may unknowingly keep all males or all females as “breeding” stock. Sex can be distinguished at eight weeks or more by a difference in their voice cry.

Domesticated guinea hens lay more eggs under intensive management. French Galor guinea hens can produce 170 eggs in a 36-week laying period. For example, from a setting of 155 eggs, a fertility rate of 88 percent and hatchability of 70 to 75 percent, it is possible to obtain 115 guinea keets (chicks) per hen. In deep litter or confined range conditions, a 24-week laying period can produce 50 to 75 guinea keets per hen.

Table 2.4 Reproduction and egg characteristics of guinea fowl varieties

Traits

Variety


Pearl

Lavender

White

Age at 1st egg (d)

196

217

294

Eggs/hen/year

51

38

43

Egg wt (g)

38

37

36

Laying (d/yr)

155

114

92

Fertility (%)

53

50

0.0

Hatchability (%)

87

81

0.0

Source: Ayorinde, 1987 and Ayorinde et al., 1984.

Ducks

Ducks have several advantages over other poultry species, in particular their disease tolerance. They are hardy, excellent foragers and easy to herd, particularly in wetlands where they tend to flock together. In Asia, most duck production is closely associated with wetland rice farming, particularly in the humid and subtropics. An added advantage is that ducks normally lay most of their eggs within the three hours after sunrise (compared with five hours for chickens). This makes it possible for ducks to freely range in the rice fields by day, while being confined by night. A disadvantage of ducks (relative to other poultry), when kept in confinement and fed balanced rations, is their high feed wastage, due to the shovel-shape of their bill. This makes their use of feed less efficient and thus their meat and eggs more expensive than those of chickens (Farrell, 1986). Duck feathers and feather down can also make an important contribution to income.

Different breeds of ducks are usually grouped into three classes: meat or general purpose; egg production; and ornamental.

Ornamental ducks are rarely found in the family poultry sector. Meat breeds include the Pekin, Muscovy, Rouen and Aylesbury. Egg breeds include the brown Tsaiya of Taiwan Province of China, the Patero Grade of the Philippines, the Indian Runner of Malaysia and the Khaki Campbell of England. All these laying breed ducks originate from the green-headed Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos). The average egg production of the egg breeds is approximately 70 percent (hen.day basis). The Indian Runner, Khaki Campbell, Pekin and Muscovy are the most important breeds in rural poultry.

The Indian Runner

This is a very active breed, native to Asia, and ideal for free-range. It is a very good egg layer and needs less water than most other breeds, requiring only a basin in which it can immerse its beak up to the nostrils. It is the most graceful and elegant of all ducks on land with its upright carriage and slim body. It stands at an angle of about 80° to the ground but when startled can be almost perpendicular.

The Khaki Campbell

Originally bred in England, this breed is derived from three breeds: the wild Mallard, the Rouen and the Indian Runner. The female has an overall khaki colour, and the male has a bronze-green head. The female is best known for her prolific egg laying ability, with an average of 90 percent (on a hen/day basis) with an average 73 gram egg weight.

The Pekin

Originally bred in China, this attractive meat breed is favoured by commercial producers throughout the world. It is large and meaty with an upright stance and a broad round head. It has white to lemon-yellow plumage and a yellow skin. It is hardy, a reasonable layer, and grows rapidly. Although timid, it is docile and easily confined by low fences. It is well suited to both large, specialized duck farms and smallholdings. Pekin ducks are the major meat duck breed in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and China.

The Muscovy

This is not genetically a duck or a goose, but is more similar to the goose (Anseridae). It eats grass, as do geese, and has a similarly long egg incubation period of 36 days (compared with that of ducks - 28 days). It is popular in areas where there is little wetland rice production, since it does not require swimming water. The female Muscovy is an excellent brooding mother. It is often used as a foster brooder-mother for other species such as ducks, chickens and guinea fowls. It is a poor layer, producing only 30 to 40 eggs per year under extensive management. The male Muscovy can become very large (4.5 to 5.5 kg) while the female is smaller (2.3 to 2.8 kg). The feather colouring is usually a combination of black and white, ranging from mostly black to mostly white. The male has characteristic red fleshy outcrops around the eyes called caruncles. The Muscovy is the predominant waterfowl in Africa and Latin America, as it thrives well under free-range conditions. Numbers are increasing in parts of Asia where lean, red meat is popular (Hahn et al., 1995). When mated with breeds of domestic ducks, they produce infertile hybrid offspring (“mule” ducks). These mule ducks are a major source of duck meat in Taiwan Province of China. A three-way cross-system is used for white mule duck production. Firstly, Pekin drakes are crossed with white Tsaiya ducks to produce a cross-bred female line called the Kaiya duck. These are then crossed with large white Muscovy drakes, usually by artificial insemination. The resulting progeny is a mule duck, which is sterile but grows rapidly. It has good carcass composition with more meat and less fat than the Pekin. These three-way crosses have the added advantages of the high egg production of the Tsaiya, the high growth rate of the Pekin and the good carcass quality and meat texture of the Muscovy. Their white feathers are more valuable as down than those of darker-feathered ducks.

Table 2.5 Duck breeds and their traits

Breed

Feather Colour

Body weight (kg)

Egg colour



Drake

Duck


Pekin

White

4.1

3.6

White / Blue green

Muscovy

Black/White

4.5

3.0

White / Green cream

Indian Runner

White

2.0

1.8

White / Creamy white

Khaki Campbell

Brown/Khaki

2.0

1.8

White

Mallard

1.4

1.1

Blue green / Mottled

Source: Hahn et.al., 1995

In most tropical countries, there are local duck breeds that have been selected to suit local conditions. They may not perform as well as improved breeds, but they do have the ability to survive and produce well under local extensive and semi-intensive systems. Setioko (1997) described three Indonesian ducks: Tegal, Alabio and Bali. Improved genotypes have been introduced and have either been crossed with local ducks or remained reasonably pure. There was some concern about the ability of the improved genotypes to survive under traditional farming systems. Trials conducted in the Mekong River Delta by The Bin (1996) found that hybrid ducks raised for meat in rice fields were more profitable than the local ducks, even though they consumed more feed and cost more to buy initially. However, when raised for egg production in rice fields and on canals, the hybrids did not perform as well as the local ducks.

Geese

Geese are less important in family poultry production, except in China, where mainly local breeds are kept, except for a few European breeds such as the Toulouse and White Roman, imported for cross-breeding purposes. The great variety in breed size of geese permits their use under various management conditions. At the less intensive levels of production preferred by most family producers, smaller-sized birds (weighing approximately 4 kg, such as the Lingxhian or Zie breeds in China) are easier to manage. Geese are high in the broodiness trait, and have a consequent low egg production of 30 to 40 hatching eggs (in three to five laying cycles) per year. At the other extreme are breeds of high fertility (and egg number), which are smaller and are selected specifically for use in breeding flocks for their lack of broodiness. Breeds such as the Zie may lay 70 to 100 eggs annually. The importance of the wide gene pool variety in China is significant for the Asian region in particular and for the world in general.

Pigeons

Pigeons are scavengers (not fed any supplementary feed) in most countries, living on the roofs of houses and treated as “pets” that do not need to be fed. They appear to prefer homestead compounds to fields. In some countries, they are eaten only for ritual purposes. They normally lay two eggs in a clutch, and the young birds (squabs) hatch after 16 to 17 days. The growing squabs are fed by their mothers on crop milk, produced in the mother’s crop (first stomach). This enables young squabs to grow very rapidly. They reach maturity in three to five months at a body weight of 200 to 300 g for males, and 150 g for females. Adult pigeons are monogamous for life.

Local pigeons are specific to different regions in the tropics. Africa has five breeds, within which Chad has three local breeds. Asia and the Pacific have five breeds, with local breeds found specific even to the Cook Islands. Latin America and the Caribbean islands have only one breed. Europe has six breeds, two of which come from Belgium.

Turkeys

These birds are native to Latin America. The breeds kept by rural producers in the tropics usually have black feathers, as distinct from the white-feathered breeds that are raised intensively. Where there are no geese and ostriches, they are the largest birds in the farming system. Body weight ranges from 7 to 8 kg in males and from 4 to 5 kg in hens. They have good meat conformation, produce about 90 eggs per year and have medium to good hatchability. They are more susceptible to disease than either chicken or ducks.


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