Comparison of vent sexing and polymerase chain reaction for reliable sex determination in guinea fowls

The guinea fowl is an important poultry species with great economic potential in Africa. It is a monomorphic bird with less conspicuous sexual dimorphism. Inability to sex birds accurately early in their life imposes multiple challenges on breeding, conservation and production of these birds. Several methods have been employed for sexing monomorphic birds each with specific advantages and disadvantages. In the present study, sexes of 215 guinea fowls were determined by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Vent Sexing and determination of gonads. PCR was used to amplify a sequence homologous to Chicken EcoR1 fragment of 0.6 kb (EE0.6) using Universal Sex Primer (USP) 1 and USP3 and internal control primers. Vent sexing could only diagnose 48.7 % of males accurately while it was able to diagnose females with an accuracy of 81%. Results from PCR was in complete agreement with sex indicated by gonads. Differences in results between PCR and vent sexing were significant (p < 0.05). Vent Sexing alone is not reliable for sexing guinea fowls prior to breeding decisions. Molecular sexing using the method described is recommended for accurate sex determination for breeders and researchers while future research is necessary to develop farmer friendly guidelines for reliable sex determination of guinea fowls

In vivo digestibility of six selected fodder species by goats in northern Ghana

An in vivo digestibility trial was conducted to evaluate the digestibility of six forages. These were selected indigenous browse species and groundnut haulms in Lawra and Jirapa Districts of the UpperWest Region of Ghana. Groundnut haulms served as a control due to its known good digestibility in small ruminants. Thirty West African Dwarf (WAD) young castrated billy goats with a mean age of 8 months were used. The average live body weight was 8.9 ± 0.1 kg. The animals were randomly assigned to the six treatments and replicated five times in a completely randomized design. They were confined in metabolism cages. The adaptation period was 3 weeks after which data was taken for 10 days. The treatments were the leaves and tiny twigs of T1 Annona senegalensis, T2 Ficus gnaphalocarpa, T3 Pericopsis laxiflora, T4 Pterocarpus erinaceus, T5 Afzelia africana, and T6 (control) Arachis hypogaea. Feed intake, faecal matter and urine output were measured. The results indicated that dry matter (DM) contents of the feedstuffs were less than 50% but crude protein (CP) contents were higher than the minimum required for sustaining ruminants. Neutral and acid detergent fibre contents were high, and F. gnaphalocarpa, in particular, contained a higher level of phosphorus (P). The amounts of feed intakes were typical of most fodder species with the exception of P. laxiflora and P. erinaceus, which were lower (P < 0.05). The apparent digestibility values were also typical of most fodder species but the digestibility of A. africana fibre appeared to be lower. Nitrogen retention was positive for all test species with the exception of P. laxiflora, which was negative. Mortality was recorded in animals on P. laxiflora, and the rate was high. Pericopsis laxiflora leaves, even though morphologically similar to the leaves of P. erinaceus, were not a suitable fodder. Ficus gnaphalocarpa appeared to be the overall best fodder species in terms of nutrient uptake

AGRICULTURE AND BIOLOGY JOURNAL OF NORTH AMERICA Comparative study of growth and laying performance of indigenous layer guinea fowls (Numida meleagris) from Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of Ghana

ABSTRACT An eleven-week experiment to compare the performance of 45 weeks old local layer guinea fowls from Upper East (UER), Upper West (UWR) and Northern (NR) regions of Ghana was conducted at the Animal Science Department farm of the University for Development Studies, Tamale. 243 birds, 86 from UER, 79 from UWR and 78 from NR were used. Birds from each region were divided into four groups and put into four cages each. The diet was made up of 25% layer concentrate, 55% maize and 20% wheat bran. Water was provided ad libitum. Parameters measured were feed intake (FI), body weight, and weight gain, feed conversion efficiency (FCE), mortality, rate of egg laying and fertility. There were no significant differences (P&gt;0.05) in FI and FCE of birds from the three regions. UWR birds were more efficient in feed conversion than birds from UER and NR. Mortality was generally low. Birds from UWR laid more eggs (631) while UER birds recorded the lowest (352 eggs). Egg fertility was high (74%) with NR birds but low in UER (53.6%) and UWR birds (43%). UWR birds exhibited high potential for egg production and FCE than those from the UER and NR. NR birds performed fairly well in egg production and body weight gain. UER birds laid fewer eggs though they had large body size indicating they possess meat production tendencies

A preliminary study on growth response of broiler finishers fed processed mottle Mucuna beans (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis)

Mottle “Mucuna” beans (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis) were processed to improve the value for broiler chickens. The beans obtained from local farmers were soaked in water for 48 hours, dehulled by hand and cooked for on hours to eliminate or reduce the adverse effects of the anti-nutritional factors. One hundred and thirty five (135) chicks (Lohman strain), at 28 days of age, were randomly divided into 9 groups (10 males, 5 females per group) and fed up to 49 days of age. They were fed diets (20% CP, 13 MJME/kg) incorporating 0%, 5% and 10% processed mottle “Mucuna” beans. A completely randomized design was used. Feed and water were supplied and libitum. The parameters measured included feed intake, live weight gain, feed/gain ratio, mortality, feed cost and dressing percentage. The data were subjected to analysis of variance using the general linear model. No significant difference (P>0.05) were observed in mean daily feed intake (100.0, 102.5, 97.5 g/bird), total live weight gain (1,250.0, 1,262.3, 1,136.3 g/bird) and feed cost per kg gain (3,239.00, 3,223.00, 3,273.00 ¢/bird). There was no mortality. Feed cost (4,084.00, 4,064.00, 3,785.00 ¢/bird) was significantly reduced (