Comparative study of antibody titres in layers boosted with inactivated Newcastle disease vaccine and the thermostable ND I-2 vaccine

Despite effective vaccination schedules employed in the control of Newcastle disease (ND) in Ghana, the preponderance of ND outbreaks is still high. This study was therefore carried out to compare booster effects of inactivated ND vaccine and thermostable ND I-2 vaccine in layers and its impact on egg production at a private farm in Kumasi, Ghana. Thirty thousand layers (10,000 per group) of 36 weeks old were used for the study. Group C was vaccinated with inactivated ND vaccine (Nobilis Newcavac, South Africa), Group D with ND I-2 vaccine and Group F was the control group, which was not vaccinated. Antibody titres of the birds were determined 10 days and a day before vaccination and from day 4 to day 28 after vaccination using haemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test and the mean titres were calculated. Both inactivated ND vaccine and thermostable ND I-2 vaccine produced booster responses. The inactivated ND vaccine produced a higher average titre increase of 37.20 % compared to ND I-2 vaccine, 33.33 %. Average titres of the control population reduced by 24.26 %. Egg production reduced by 8 % and 3 % in populations vaccinated with inactivated ND vaccine and ND I-2 vaccine respectively. In conclusion, inactivated ND vaccine and the thermostable ND I-2 vaccine produced booster effect with ND I-2 causing minimal reduction in egg production, indicating that the use of easily applicable ND I-2 vaccine should be encouraged

Guinea fowl fertility, hatchability and embryonic mortality in an intensively managed farm in Ashanti Region of Ghana

A study was conducted to investigate the reproductive performance of Guinea fowls on a commercial farm in the Ashanti region of Ghana. This study reported for the first time in Ghana, the reproductive performance of Guinea fowls reared under an intensive production system. The birds were intensively reared on deep litter with a mating ratio of one male to ten females for the production of day-old keets. Eggs were collected dailyand stored for seven days at temperatures between 16 – 20º Celsius and selected for incubation in an automated Petersime incubator. Data on incubated Guinea fowl eggs for the period 2011 – 2018 were obtained from the hatchery unit records and analyzed using Graph Pad Prism version 5.00 for Windows. The percentage overall fertility, total hatchability, fertile hatchability, embryonic mortality, viable keets and non-viable keets were 50.7 ± 13, 30.5 ± 14, 50.4 ± 15, 22 ± 10, 91.7 ± 5.4 and 8.3 ± 6.3 % respectively. Fertility and fertility hatchability were low on this farm, while embryonic mortality was high. The study recommends a change in the mating ratio to one male Guinea fowl to four females, improvement of hygienic  conditions in egg processing, regular fumigation of the farm and improved incubator management. Keywords: Guinea fowl, Fertility, Hatchability, Embryonic mortality, Ghan

Influence of palm kernel cake on the growth performance, gut health and hematochemical indices of slow-growing broilers

ABSTRACTFour hundred and fifty (450) 3-week-old male and female broiler chicks were randomly allocated to a control diet and four dietary treatments with six replicates in a completely randomized design (CRD) with 15 birds per replicate arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design to evaluate the effect of palm kernel cake (PKC) diet and multi-blend enzymes on the performance of Sasso broilers. The five dietary treatments were T0 = (control, standard diet), T1 = PKC1*0% (10% PKC with no enzyme), T2 = PKC1*0.05% (10% PKC with enzyme), T3 = PKC2*0% (20% PKC with no enzyme) and T4 = PKC2*0.05% (20% PKC with enzyme). The interactive effect of PKC and enzyme showed improved (p < 0.05) FCR in T1 and T2. Higher counts (p < 0.05) of Lactobacillus spp. were found in PKC2 than in PKC1 and lower Clostridium perfringens counts in T3 compared to T2 at 8 weeks. At week 12, the PKC-enzyme effect resulted in higher (p < 0.05) platelets in the T2 and T4 groups than in the other treatments. The incorporation of 10% PKC with enzyme into the diets of Sasso broilers could maintain bacteria balance in their gut and enhance growth performance