Studies on the effects of season on fertility, hatchability and the subsequent growth rates of white leghorn and local strains of chickens of Ethiopia
1996
Teketel Forsido (Awasa College of Agriculture, Awasa (Ethiopia))
Seasonal and biometeorological influences were observed in parental (feed consumption and fertility traits) and offspring (growth rate) populations in five local strains and a Leghorn group in Southern Ethiopia. Feed consumption was positively correlated with relative humidity (R=0.32** ), the rate of fertility was negatively correlated with dry-bulb temperature (r=0.32** ), radiation intensity (r=0.20* ) and the number of sun-shine hours (r=0.40** ); the hatchability of fertile eggs was positively related to the relative humidty (r=0.33** ). The Leghorn chickens were more affected by high temperature than the local strain in relation to egg-laying rates and fertility. Chickens consumed more feed during the cooler seasons than warmer seasons. In the offspring population body weight gains were positively associated with air temperature, radiation intensify and sun-shine hours with correlations of 0.25**, 0.24** and 0.25**, respectively.
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