EVALUATION OF GROWTH RATES OF F1 NIGERIAN LOCALLY-ADAPTED TURKEYS

Abstract

A total of 78 day-old random-bred Nigerian local turkey poults were used to generate another 232 day-old poults in two planned experiments to determine the rate of growth of Locally-adapted turkey of Nigeria. Three phenotypic classes (black, white and spotted) were obtained as base population and used to generate F1, progeny in Experiments I and 2, respectively.. Linear body measurements (LBMs), namely body length (BDL), shank length (SHL), keel length (KLL), breast width (BW), wing length (WGL) and drumstick length (DSL) were measured. Growth rates of linear body parameters range from 0.24 to 1.05 in black, 0.25 to 1.08 in white and 0.30 to 1.11 in spotted varieties. The growthrates based on body weight of the various phenotypes have shown that for any unit advancement in age (A) there would be 132.23g, 126.74g and 123. 12g increases per week in body weight (W) for black, white and spoited phenotypes, respectively. Growth rates of linear body parameters range from 0.24 to 1.05 in black, 0.25 to 1.08 in white and 0.30 to 1.11 in spotted varieties. However, the linear body parameters in spotted phenotype were significanily (p<0.05) higher than those of black and white phenotypes, except the body weight. Itwas therefore, concluded that for rapid improvement of these traits, the black variety could be used to enhance growth of Nigerian local turkeys in the study area while the spotted variety could be useful as a fast-growing variety