Manish Kr. Singh

Modern commercial broiler chickens achieve a market weight of 2.0 to 2.5 kg within 5 weeks, primarily due to advancements in genetic selection and nutritional management (Johnson et al. 2020; Quint...

A feeding trial was carried out for 120 days to determine the effect of the plane of nutrition on crossbred calves performance. Twelve crossbred calves were randomly divided into two groups of six each with similar body weight. Growth study was conducted on the basis of feeding high and low energy ration containing 60% concentrate and 40% sorghum stover in group 1 and 40% concentrate and 60% sorghum stover in group 2. Mean dry matter intake was (P<0.05/0.01) higher in calves fed high level of concentrate. The average daily intake of total digestible nutrients and digestible crude protein and feed conversion ratio were higher (P<0.05/0.01) in group 1 compared to group 2. A high phenotypic correlation was observed amongst all the body measurements. Body condition score was higher in group 1 as compared to group 2. The results of the present study reveal that higher proportion of concentrate in the complete ration improved nutrient digestibility and higher energy availability possibly resulting in improved growth performance of the crossbred calves. Feeding of the diet comprised of 60% concentrate and 40% roughage would be beneficial in calves/heifers for attaining early maturity.

The present study was aimed to evaluate comparative carcass traits and egg quality parameters of Uttara, RIR, Kadakanath and Australorp breed of chickens. For carcass components calculation at the age of 20 weeks, 16 numbers of birds and egg quality measurements at 32 weeks, 40 numbers eggs were chosen from different breeds. Carcass traits of all the chicken breeds are comparable to each other. Proximate analysis revealed that the protein content of Uttara fowl meat is similar to Kadaknath and higher than the meat of other chicken breeds, whereas ether extract values are lower in the meat of Kadaknath and Uttara in comparison with other chicken breeds. The average egg weight was significantly (P<0.05) higher in Uttara and lower in Kadaknath. The egg weight (51.11g) which as on the higher side and suggests the Uttara laid more saleable eggs as compared to well-established breeds giving more profit to farmers. The Uttara is similar to Kadaknath in average shell thickness in comparison with other chicken breeds and suggests that it is an important bio-economic trait for breeding to reduce egg breakage. The present study is suggestive of the fact that Uttara eggs have all the attributes of the bird of choice for rural as well as industrial sectors.

The present study was carried out on 120 randomly selected broiler farms in the foothills of the Kumaon region, Uttarakhand. The socio-economic profile of the farmers was evaluated based on flock size and education status into different categories. Farmers were interviewed personally using a well-prepared questionnaire to analyze the effect of socio-economic factors and to identify various problems faced in broiler farming and suggestions given by the farmers to overcome those problems. The majority of the farmers were young, male, non-vegetarian, untrained, and marginal. The Hindus preferred chicken meat and had no taboos in adopting broiler farming. More than half of the farmers practiced broiler farming as a subsidiary occupation and had large flock size. Flock size, landholding, and experience had no significant effect on communication sources for adopting broiler farming except education. High cost of feed, day-old chicks and more fluctuation in price followed by less organized marketing system were major problems at the production and marketing level, respectively. Most of the farmers suggested that feed, day-old chicks should be provided at subsidized rates, and a well-organized marketing system should be available in broiler farming.

Background: The present study evaluated the effect of dietary inclusion of various feed supplements and their combination on the performance index, glucose and serum cholesterol for 6 weeks. Methods: Day-old broiler chicks (n=252) were randomly assigned to seven treatment groups, each with 3 replicates. The first treatment was designated as control (T0) in which no supplement was added to the feed, while in treatments T1; organic mineral mixture (Organomin forte), T2; organic mineral mixture (Vannamin), T3; probiotics (Microguard), T4; enzyme (Brozyme -XPR) and probiotics, T5; emulsifier (Lipigon) were provided through feed. In the T6 group, 3 percent less energy was given through feed. Result: Significant improvement (p less than 0.05) was observed in performance index and HDL cholesterol and significant (P less than 0.05) decline in the glucose, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride in broilers under supplementary groups as compared to control groups. The results of the present study indicated that it is possible to produce lean meat to an extent by manipulating diets which lead to better performance index of broilers during the overall period, which led to the release of more nutrients which helped in absorption, assimilation and utilization.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of various feed supplements on minerals status and kidney health of broiler chickens. Two hundred fifty two, day-old Cobb-400 broiler chicks were randomly distributed into seven groups with 3 replicates of 12 chicks each. The first treatment was designated as control (T0) in which no supplement was added to the feed, while in treatments T1; organic mineral mixture (Organomin forte), T2; organic mineral mixture (Vannamin), T3; probiotics (Microguard), T4; enzyme (Brozyme -XPR) and probiotics, T5; emulsifier (Lipigon) were provided through feed. In T6 group, 3 per cent less energy was given through feed. The serum calcium levels were significantly (P less than 0.05) increased in supplemented groups as compared to T0 (control) group in both the periods while phosphorus values were significantly (P less than 0.05) increased in supplemented groups during starter period. Urea, Uric acid, BUN and creatinine values were significantly (P less than 0.05) decreased in supplemented groups as compared to T0 group in both the periods. B/C ratios were significantly (P less than 0.05) decreased in all supplemented groups except T3 and T4 in both the periods. Therefore, it could be concluded that dietary supplementation maintained the mineral homeostasis and did not have adverse effect on kidney function.

The present study evaluated the effect of dietary inclusion of various feed supplements and their combination on the antibody titer, faecal pathogens and NPK contents of broilers for 6 weeks. Day-old broiler chicks (n=252) were randomly assigned to seven treatment groups consisted of 3 replicates per treatment. The first treatment was designated as control (T₀) in which no supplement was added to the feed, while in treatments T₁; organic mineral mixture, T₂; organic mineral mixture, T₃; probiotics, T₄; enzyme and probiotics, T₅; emulsifier were provided through the feed. In the T₆ group, 3 percent less energy was given through feed. Immunoglobin G were significantly (P0 (control) group. The pathogens viz., E. coli and Salmonella enteritidis were found absent in the faeces of birds of all the experimental groups. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium values were significantly (P0 (control) group. The increase in IgG levels in supplemented groups indicated the better immune status of the birds whereas decreased levels of cortisol in the treated groups showed lower levels of stress.