Phenotypic diversity, major genes and production potential of local chickens and guinea fowl in Tamale, northern Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: Our study provides information on phenotypes of local chickens and guinea fowl and their body measures as well as on major genes in local chickens in northern Ghana. METHODS: Qualitative and morphometric traits were recorded on 788 local chickens and 394 guinea fowl in urban households in Tamale, Ghana. RESULTS: The results showed considerable variation of color traits and numerous major genes in local chickens, while color variations and related genotypes in guinea fowl were limited. In local chickens, white was preferred for plumage, whereas dark colors were preferred for beak and shanks. More than half of the chickens carried at least one major gene, but the contributions of single gene carriers were low. All calculated allele frequencies were significantly lower than their expected Mendelian allele frequencies. We observed higher mean body weight and larger linear body measures in male as compared to female chickens. In female chickens, we detected a small effect of major genes on body weight and chest circumference. In addition, we found some association between feather type and plumage color. In guinea fowl, seven distinct plumage colors were observed, of which pearl grey pied and pearl grey were the most prevalent. Male pearl grey pied guinea fowl were inferior to pearl grey and white guinea fowl in terms of body weight, body length and chest circumference; their shank length was lower than that of pearl grey fowl. CONCLUSION: Considerable variation in qualitative traits of local chickens may be indicative of genetic diversity within local chicken populations, but major genes were rare. In contrast, phenotypic and genetic diversity in local guinea fowl is limited. Broader genetic diversity studies and evaluation of trait preferences of local poultry producers are required for the design of appropriate breeding programs.

Effects of dietary restriction followed by high dietary energy or protein on compensatory growth of Ashanti Black × Large White crossbred weaner pigs.

The study determined the effect of re-alimenting dietary protein or energy on compensatory growth. Eighteen Ashanti Black × Large White crossbred weaner pigs (7.5 ± 0.30 kg) were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments in a completely randomized design resulting in three replicate pens per treatment (n = 3) and two pigs per pen. In the first treatment, pigs were fed ad libitum a diet containing 12.0 MJ/kg of metabolizable energy (ME) and 14.4% crude protein (CP) (maintenance diet) for 56 days. In the second and third dietary treatments, pigs were fed the maintenance diet for the initial 28 days and then switched to a high protein (17.4% dry matter (DM) CP; protein) or high (14.0 MJ/kg DM; energy) diet for the rest of the 28-day period. Dry matter intake and growth performance were similar (P ≥ 0.52) among treatments during the first 28 days of restrictive feeding, but pigs re-alimented with the protein diet achieved superior (P = 0.004) DM intake, average daily gain (ADG), and feed efficiency than those fed the maintenance diet or re-alimented with the energy diet in the re-alimentation period. At the end of the entire 56-day period, pigs re-alimented with the protein diet had higher (P ≥ 0.01) live weight gains and ADG compared with those fed the maintenance diet or re-alimented with the energy diet, but DM intake was similar (P = 0.66) among treatments. It was concluded that re-alimentation with protein rather than energy can improve compensatory growth of Ashanti Black × Large White crossbred weaner pigs.