Response to Divergent Selection for 35-Day Bodyweight and Realized Heritabilities over Two Generations in Japanese Quails

Selection for high (H) and low (L) body weight (BW) at 35 days of age in Japanese quail was practiced for 2 generations. The base population was a random bred population obtained from the National Veterinary Research Institute in Jos, Nigeria. Realized heritability for BW at 35 day of age for H and L males in the 2nd generation was 0.43 and 0.35 respectively, while they were 0.50 and 0.55 (respectively) for the H and L females. Body weight of the 2nd generation H and L females were 118.64 and 45.44g respectively, and that of control is 82.96g. Similar weights for the males were 120.2, 47.43 and 78.64g for the H, L and C line respectively in the 2nd generation. The H and L lines diverged significantly (P< 0.05) in body weight at 35- days of age through the two generations of selection, while the control line was intermediate to the selected lines for bodyweight. The results indicate that the base population is amenable to improvement through selection.Key words: body weight, high line, low line, control line, Japanese quails

Effects of Noug seed cake (Guizotia Abyssinica) on the performance of growing White Bovan Cockerel in Ethiopian Highland

An on-station feeding trial was carried out in the Department of Animal, Rangeland and Wildlife Sciences, Mekelle University, Tigray region, Ethiopia to evaluate the effects of inclusion of graded levels of Noug seed cake (NSC) at 0, 10, 15, 20 and 25 % to replace soyabean cake (SBC) on the performance of 8-week old white Bovan cockerels. This study was conducted for 8 weeks. Data on feed intake, body weight gain, carcass, economic analyses and mortality were collected for the different levels of NSC. Results of the study indicated that the average total body weight  recorded for growing cockerel did not significantly differ (p > 0.05) except in diets containing 20 and 25% inclusion levels of NSC which were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those of treatments with 0, 10, 15% inclusion). However, levels of NSC influenced (p > 0.05) body weight gain. The trend of observation on weight gain was similar to that of the average total body weight. Per cent reduction in body weight during the period of the study from control to treatment groups 3, 4 and 5 were 0.00, 2.13 and 6.91 %, respectively. Feed intake values recorded for growing cockerel did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) respectively. In the same vein, dressing percentage observed on various treatments did not show any significant difference (p > 0.05). Partial budget analysis revealed that the level of the inclusion of NSC in the diets affected the net benefit. Increasing levels of NSC tended to reduce the cost of feed per kilogram and consequently increased the net benefit (birr/bird). For economic gains, noug seed cake can be included up to 25% in cockerel rations.Key words: Noug Seed Cake, Soybean cake, Bovan White Growing Cockerel, Performanc

Changes in metabolic nutrients utilization and alterations in biochemical and haematological indices in broilers fed graded levels of dietary Moringa oleifera

Graded levels of full-fat undecorticated Moringa oleifera seed meal (MOSM) were evaluated in diets of 96-day old broilers at 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5% while a maize-soybean diet was used as a reference diet. Nutrients utilization by the broilers and effects of the virgin dietary MOSM on serum chemistry, haematology and some bio-data- protein efficiency ratio (PER) and nitrogen metabolism (NM) were used as response criteria for the evaluation. The metabolic utilization of nutrients, most of the serum chemistry and haematological parameters decreased in response to increasing dietary levels of MOSM except values on products of metabolism like creatinine, uric acid, bilirubin and conjugated bilirubin that tended to elevate with increasing levels of dietary unprocessed MOSM. Since no mortality was recorded in this experiment even at 7.5% MOSM inclusion, further research is on-going to determine the lethal level to poultry including other monogastric animals.Keywords: MOSM, broilers, nutrient utilization, serum and haematological indice