COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EGG PRODUCTION AND REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF INDIGENOUS CHICKENS AND THEIR NAPRI -X CROSSES

A comparative study was conducted on the egg production and reproductive performance of three Nigerian indigenous chickens and their crosses with NAPRI X. These include; Normal feathered (N) Naked neck (Na) and Frizzle feathered (F) and their respective crosses with NAPRI X to form crosses of Normal x NAPRI X (NNPX), Naked neck x NAPRI X (NaNPX), and Frizzle x NAPRI X (FNPX). 115 birds comprising of 30 hens and 5 cocks each of the indigenous chickens and 10 cocks of NAPRI X Broilers were used as parent stocks. The birds were divided into 6 genotypic groups. Mating among the indigenous groups was done while mating among crosses was done using artificial insemination. Data obtained was analyzed using one way ANOVA using SAS. Egg set number, Percentage fertility, hatchability and dead in shell significantly differed (P <0.001) among both the indigenous and crosses. NNPX recorded the highest dead in shell (47.49%)   among the indigenous chicken while the highest was in FNPX (31.86) among the crosses. Two Principal Components (PCs) were extracted for each genotype. PC1 was related to overall egg number while PC2 could be termed a measure of fertility measurements. In conclusion, the study revealed that the indigenous pure bred frizzle had better reproductive performance while frizzle and normal feather may have a better combining ability for egg production for commercial purposes.