Hagan Julius K, Adomako Kwaku, Olympio Simon Oscar
Department of Animal Science, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana,
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2014 Jan;46(1):107-11. doi: 10.1007/s11250-013-0457-5. Epub 2013 Aug 17.
A breed development strategy aimed at making exotic layers (Lohmann Brown) more productive under tropical environment using thermo-regulatory genes is underway at Akate Farms in Kumasi, Ghana. The present experiment was carried out to find out the effect of the genes on egg production in hot and humid environments. Three genetic groups comprising naked-neck, frizzle and their normally feathered sibs were obtained after successive generations of crossing between naked-neck and frizzle cocks and Lohmann brown hens. A total of 270 18-week-old pullets, 90 each of the 3 groups, were selected randomly and assigned to a completely randomized design experiment with 3 replicates, with 30 birds in each replicate group and kept up to a period of 72 weeks. The birds were kept in a partitioned open-sided deep-litter house constructed with sandcrete blocks with 30 pullets in each compartment. They were fed ad libitum with layer diets containing 18 % crude protein and 2,800 kcal ME/kg. Results obtained showed that the crossbred naked-neck and frizzle phenotypes produced eggs at a significantly (P < 0.05) higher rates than their normally feathered sibs and also out-performed their normally feathered sibs in other egg production parameters measured, even though they all segregated from similar parents. This is an indication of the favourable effect of the genes on egg production under hot and humid environments.
加纳库马西的阿卡泰农场正在实施一项品种培育战略，旨在利用温度调节基因，使外来蛋鸡品种（罗曼褐）在热带环境下提高生产性能。本实验旨在探究这些基因在炎热潮湿环境下对产蛋量的影响。通过裸颈鸡和卷羽鸡公鸡与罗曼褐母鸡连续几代杂交，获得了三个遗传组，分别为裸颈鸡、卷羽鸡及其正常羽毛的同胞。总共随机选取270只18周龄的小母鸡，每组90只，分为3个重复的完全随机设计实验，每个重复组30只鸡，饲养72周。这些鸡饲养在一个用沙石砌块建造的有隔断的开放式厚垫料鸡舍中，每个隔间饲养30只小母鸡。它们自由采食含18%粗蛋白和2800千卡代谢能/千克的蛋鸡日粮。结果表明，杂交的裸颈鸡和卷羽鸡表型产蛋率显著高于其正常羽毛的同胞（P<0.05），在其他测量的产蛋参数方面也优于其正常羽毛的同胞，尽管它们都来自相同的亲本。这表明这些基因在炎热潮湿环境下对产蛋有有利影响。
