The productive performance of local chickens in three ecological zones of Ghana

Abstract

A survey was carried out in three agro-ecological zones (coastal savannah, rain forest and guinea savannah) of Ghana to find out the productive performance of local chickens. A total of 180 local chicken keepers (60 each from the three zones) were randomly selected with the help of the Agricultural Extension Agents in the zones. Data were collected through the administration of pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires, direct observations and measurements of productivity indices. Data collected included clutch sizes, number of clutches per year, egg production per year with and without hatching, age at sexual maturity, flock size and composition, hatchability and chick survival rates. Egg and body weights of birds were measured. Results obtained showed an average flock size per household of 17.5, 24.3 and 11.7 for the coastal, forest and savannah zones respectively, with an estimated inbreeding coefficient of 0.04. The mean clutch number was 3.0 with a clutch size of 12.8 eggs. The local birds were found to reach sexual maturity at 5.7 and 6.4 months for cocks and hens respectively. The annual egg production with hatching was 38 eggs with an egg size of 41.3g and 84.5% hatchability rate. The birds were found to be reared under the traditional extensive system with little or no care. Diseases (Newcastle), predation and theft were found to be the main causes of loss of bird or reduction in flock size. It is advocated that extra effort in the management and improvement of local chickens in the areas of housing, breeding, feeding and health care can go a long way to improve the productive performance of local chickens in Ghana