VIVIAN U OLEFORUH-OKOLEH

Sustenance of smallholder poultry production as an alternative source of food security and income is imperative in communities exposed to hydrocarbon pollution. Exposure to hydrocarbon pollutants causes disruption of homeostasis, thereby compromising the genetic potential of the birds. Oxidative stress-mediated dysfunction of the cellular membrane is a contributing factor in the mechanism of hydrocarbon toxicity. Epidemiological studies show that tolerance to hydrocarbon exposure may be caused by the activation of genes that control disease defense pathways like aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and nuclear factor erythroid 2p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2). Disparity in the mechanism and level of tolerance to hydrocarbon fragments among species may exist and may result in variations in gene expression within individuals of the same species upon exposure. Genomic variability is critical for adaptation and serves as a survival mechanism in response to environmental pollutants. Understanding...

Albumen quality is recognized as one of the major yardsticks in measuring egg quality. The elasticity of thick albumen, a strong bond in the ovomucin-lysozyme complex, and excellent biological properties are indicators of high-quality albumen. The albumen quality prior to egg storage contribute to enhance egg’s shelf life and economic value. Evidence suggests that albumen quality can deteriorate due to changes in albumen structure, such as the degradation of β-ovomucin subunit and O-glyosidic bonds, the collapse of the ovomucin-lysozyme complex, and a decrease in albumen protein-protein interaction. Using organic minerals, natural plants and animal products with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, high biological value, no residue effect and toxicity risk could improve albumen quality. These natural products (e.g., tea polyphenols, marigold extract, magnolol, essential oils, Upro (small peptide), yeast cell wall, Bacillus species, a purified amino acid from animal blood, and p...

Enhanced albumen quality is reflected in increased thick albumen height, albumen weight, and Haugh unit value, while the antimicrobial, antioxidant, foaming, gelling, viscosity, and elasticity attributes are retained. Improved albumen quality is of benefit to consumers and to the food and health industries. Egg quality often declines during storage because eggs are highly perishable products and are most often not consumed immediately after oviposition. This review provides insights into albumen quality in terms of changes in albumen structure during storage, the influence of storage time and temperature, and the mitigation effects of natural dietary antioxidants of plant origin. During storage, albumen undergoes various physiochemical changes: loss of moisture and gaseous products through the shell pores and breakdown of carbonic acid, which induces albumen pH increases. High albumen pH acts as a catalyst for structural changes in albumen, including degradation of the β-ovomucin su...

An experiment which lasted for 56 days was carried out to investigate the growth performance, haematological and serum biochemical response of broiler chickens to aqueous extract of ginger and garlic. Eighty day-old Marshal Strain broiler chickens were used for the experiment. The birds were randomly allotted into four treatment groups consisting of four replicates with five birds per replicate. The aqueous extract was obtained by infusing 14 g of each test ingredient in 1 litre of hot boiled water for 12 hours and 50 ml of the filtrate/litre of drinking water given to birds ’ ad-libitum. T1 (control), T2, T3, and T4 contained 0, and 50 mls of ginger, garlic and a 1:1 ratio mixture of ginger and garlic in drinking water respectively. T2 gave the best performance (p < 0.05) in all growth performance traits – final body weight, weekly weight gain, weekly feed intake and feed conversion ratio and T1 the least. Significant (p < 0.01) increases were observed in haemoglobin concentr...

This study was carried out to investigate the growth performance and haematological traits of Nigerian local chickens (NLC) fed varied dietary protein levels. An eleven week feeding trial was done in a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement using six treatment groups comprising a combination of two genotypes of the NLC' identified as normal leather (na) and naked neck (Na) and three dietary protein levels - high protein: HP (22% and 20% CP chick mash and grower mash respectively), medium protein: MP (20% and 18% chick mash and grower mash respectively) and low protein: LP (18% and 16% chick mash and grower mash). Data were collected on growth performance traits (body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio). At the end of the feeding trial a haematological assay was done. Neither genotype nor interaction of genotype and dietary protein level influenced (p>0.05) any of the growth performance traits studied. Birds on HP ate 10.21% and 7.09% less feed than t...

Genetic evaluation and selection of a Nigerian local chicken ecotype was carried out over three generations. Heritabilities, genetic and phenotypic correlations in body weight at first egg, egg number and egg weight were estimated. The estimates were used to a construct selection index in each generation which was used to select the hens used as parents in the next generation. Pooled heritability estimates (over the three generations) of body weight at first egg, egg number and egg weight were 0.56, 0.44 and 0.28, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between body eight at first egg and egg weight were 0.41 and 0.70, respectively, with egg number: -0.18 and -0.28, respectively. They were estimated to be -.23 and -.39 for egg number and egg weight, respectively. Selected birds performed significantly (p<0.05) better than the base population in terms of egg production traits studied. The results of this study suggest that the egg production traits studied can be improve...

The experiment was carried out with a total of one hundred and fifty eggs, which were collected from a local chicken variety of southeastern Nigeria hens reared in a cage system. The objective of this study was to determine the phenotypic relationship between egg weight and the other egg quality traits. The mean values related to the external egg quality traits - egg weight (EW), egg length (EL), egg breadth (EB), egg shape index (ESI), shell weight (SW) and shell thickness (ST) were 38.99 g, 49.98 mm, 36.66 mm, 0.73, 4.05 g and 0.34 mm respectively. The internal egg quality traits albumen height (AH), albumen weight (AW), yolk height (YH), yolk weight (YW) and Haugh unit (HU) have the following mean values, 7.53 mm, 19.86 g, 16.80 mm, 12.62 g and 65.21 respectively. There were significant (P 0.01) negative correlation. Significant negative correlation was found between EW and ESI. It was concluded that it was feasible to assess some egg quality traits through the egg weight. This i...

Nigerian Indigenous Chickens (NIC) constitutes about 80 percent of the 166 million poultry birds in Nigeria (FAO, 2007). Indigenous chickens are those chickens that belong to an area where they have evolved; they are also called native or local chickens. FAO (2001) and Adene (2004) reported that indigenous chicken exhibit large variation in body size, plumage colours, feathering pattern, eggshell, earlobe and shank colour. NIC represent valuable resources for livestock development because of their extensive genetic diversity, which allows for the rearing of poultry under varied environmental conditions. Poultry is efficient in transforming feed into human food and interestingly, requires low capital investment in comparison with the larger animals; with no religious or social taboos and its products do not require storage and preservation facilities for family consumption .Their meat and eggs are preferred widely by consumers because of their taste, leanness, and suitability for spe...

Growth performance and haematological traits of Nigerian local chickens fed varied dietary protein levels This study was carried out to investigate the growth performance and haematological traits of Nigerian local chickens (NLC) fed varied dietary protein levels. An eleven week feeding trial was done in a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement using six treatment groups comprising a combination of two genotypes of the NLC identified as normal feather (na) and naked neck (Na) and three dietary protein levels-high protein: HP (22% and 20% CP chick mash and grower mash respectively), medium protein: MP (20% and 18% chick mash and grower mash respectively) and low protein: LP (18% and 16% chick mash and grower mash). Data were collected on growth performance traits (body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio). At the end of the feeding trial a haematological assay was done. Neither genotype nor interaction of genotype and dietary protein level influenced (p>0.05) any of the growth performance traits studied. Birds on HP ate 10.21% and 7.09% less feed than those on MP and LP respectively. A better (p<0.05) protein efficiency ratio (up to 3 20.79%) was observed in birds fed LP. Na birds had 4.55% and 17.50x10 L more packed cell volume and platelets respectively than na birds (p<0.05). All haematological traits studied, except white blood cell count, showed significant variations (p<0.05) due to varied dietary protein levels. Higher haemoglobin, red blood cell counts, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and platelets were observed in birds fed LP diet. Reducing the dietary protein level had no adverse effect on the NLC thus, the LP diet is recommended for raising the Nigerian local chicken.

A study was conducted to evaluate growth traits, including body weight, body length, chest girth, leg length, shank length and shank circumference, using data obtained from 150 mixed sex birds originating from improved Nigerian local chicken (75 normal feather and 75 naked neck genotypes) of 4 – 16 weeks of age. Body weight of each genotype and at various ages was regressed on other growth traits studied. During the early growth phase (4 – 8 weeks), there were significant variations (p<0.05) between the normal feather and naked neck birds in body weight, body length, leg length and shank circumference with the normal feather having higher values. No disparity (p>0.05) was observed in the two genotypes for all traits by the 16 th week of age. Strong and highly significant (p<0.001) correlation coefficients (r) were estimated between body weight and other growth traits in the normal feather (0.62 – 0.94) and naked neck (0.73 – 0.94). Apart from the 4 th week of age, strong and positive correlations were obtained between body weight and the other traits (p<0.001). Significant and high coefficient of determination R 2 was obtained when body weight was regressed on the other growth traits in the normal feather and naked neck population (0.89 and 0.90 respectively). The R 2 was also high (>0.77) for all ages except at 4 weeks of age (0.04), indicating that most of these traits could be used to forecast body weight precisely at various ages.

The aim of this study was to assess the growth performance, hematological and serological
assay of broiler chickens given banana (Musa paradisiaca) leaf supplementation. Ninety days-old
Marshal straight-run broiler chicks were randomly allocated in a completely randomized design
into three treatments, with three replicates per treatment. The treatment groups were denoted as
G1, G2 and G3. All chicks were fed ad libitum with same basal diet. Birds on G1 were fed basal diet
only (control) whereas, others were fed basal diet supplemented with banana leaf powder and
banana leaf infusion at the level of 50 g kgG1 feed (G2) and 50 mL LG1 of drinking water (G3)
respectively. Supplementation of banana leaf in the diets of broiler chickens significantly (p<0.05)
influenced the final live weight, daily feed intake, daily body weight gain and feed conversion ratio.
The banana leaf treated groups had a better performance in all the traits than the control. Mean
values of all hematological parameters evaluated (packed cell volume, hemoglobin and red blood
cell), except white blood cell, did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between the control and the
treated group. Birds in G2 had the highest WBC titre. Reduced glucose level was observed in the
treated group. Birds in G2 and G3 had significant (p<0.05) decreases of 54.82 and 46.41%,
respectively in serum total cholesterol when compared to the control. Supplementation with banana
leaf also significantly (p<0.05) reduced the concentration of low density lipoprotein in the chickens.
Though there was an increase in the alanine transaminase, the concentration 16.70 -21.70 IU LG1,
was within the normal range for broiler chickens. It was concluded that banana leaf could be safely
be used as a phytoadditive in broiler chickens, preferably in the feed.
Key words: Banana leaf, supplementation, growth performance, hematological, serological

This study aimed at estimating the genetic gain in egg production traits in a Nigerian local chicken ecotype (LE)
population subjected to short-term (first ninety days of lay) selection over three generations. A selected and control line
were established and monitored for the following egg production traits - Body Weight at First Egg (BWFE), Egg Weight
(EW) and Egg Number (EN). Hens were selected based on a selection index constructed in each generation using the three
traits as the selection criteria traits. A total number of 360, 769 and 1033 records were used in generations zero, one and
two respectively. Selection differential and genetic response due to selection were estimated. A cumulative selection
differential of 269.38g, 1.58g and 3.88 eggs were obtained for BWFE, EW and EN, respectively. Selection response for
each trait increased over the generations. Realized response per generation was estimated to be 94.22g, 0.84g and 4.85eggs
for BWFE, EW and EN, respectively. The simultaneous inclusion of BWFE, EW, and EN in a selection index generally
improved the performance of selected birds over the generations in the LE.

The experiment was carried out with a total of one hundred and fifty eggs, which were collected from a local chicken variety of southeastern Nigeria hens reared in a cage system. The objective of this study was to determine the phenotypic relationship between egg weight and the other egg quality traits.  The mean values related to the external egg quality traits - egg weight (EW), egg length (EL), egg breadth (EB), egg shape index (ESI), shell weight (SW) and shell thickness (ST) were 38.99g, 49.98mm, 36.66mm, 0.73, 4.05g and 0.34mm respectively. The internal egg quality traits – albumen height (AH), albumen weight (AW), yolk height (YH), yolk weight (YW) and Haugh unit (HU) had the following mean values, 7.53mm, 19.86g, 16.80mm, 12.62g and 65.21 respectively.  There were significant (P<0.01) positive phenotypic correlations between EW and EL, EW and EB, EW and SW, and between EW and all the internal quality traits except HU – which had a non significant (P>0.01) negative correlation.  Significant negative correlation was found between EW and ESI.  It was concluded that it was feasible to assess some egg quality traits through the egg weight.  This is important in view of integrating the Nigerian local chicken into egg laying breeding programs in Nigeria.

This study evaluated the effect of ground ginger and garlic on the growth performance, carcass quality and economics of
production of broiler chickens. 100 broiler chickens were randomly allotted to five treatments identified as T1, T2, T3, T4
and T5. Each treatment was replicated four times with five birds per replicate. Birds on T1 served as control, those on T2
and T3 received ground ginger and garlic in powder form at 14g/kg of the diet respectively, while those on T4 and T5 were
given ground ginger and garlic in water-based infusion at 50ml/liter of drinking water respectively. Significant variations
(p<0.05) existed between the control and other treatments in mean final body weight, daily body weight gain, daily feed
intake and feed conversion ratio (FBW, WBWG, DFI and FCR respectively). The birds fed with garlic had better FCR
(2.17) than those fed ginger (2.42) or control (2.53). The birds fed the powder form showed better performance (p<0.05) in
FBW, WBWG, DFI and FCR of 2493.75g, 340.00g, 105.96g and 2.19 respectively than those fed the water-based infusion.
The usage of the test ingredients had a significant effect (p<0.05) on abdominal fat weight and dressing percentage. A
better performance was observed when they were given in powder form. T3 had the highest revenue and net return, and
also gave the least cost-benefit ratio. The inclusion of the test ingredients in the diets of broiler chicks boosted the traits
monitored without any adverse effect and is recommended in the diets of broiler chicks.

Genetic evaluation and selection of a Nigerian local chicken ecotype was carried out over three generations.
Heritabilities, genetic and phenotypic correlations in body weight at first egg, egg number and egg weight were estimated.
The estimates were used to a construct selection index in each generation which was used to select the hens used as parents
in the next generation. Pooled heritability estimates (over the three generations) of body weight at first egg, egg number
and egg weight were 0.56, 0.44 and 0.28, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between body eight at first egg
and egg weight were 0.41 and 0.70, respectively, with egg number: -0.18 and -0.28, respectively. They were estimated to
be -.23 and -.39 for egg number and egg weight, respectively. Selected birds performed significantly (p<0.05) better than
the base population in terms of egg production traits studied. The results of this study suggest that the egg production traits
studied can be improved with selection in the Nigerian local chicken ecotype.