The egg production performance of three layer strains kept under intensive system in the hot and humid tropics

Abstract

The egg production industry in Ghana is bereft with many challenges; prominent among them is the appropriate layer strain to use to achieve optimum production. It was against this background that a study was carried out to determine the egg production performance of the common layer strains kept in the country. A total of three hundred (300), eighteen week old layers, 100 each of Lohmann Brown (brown feathered), Lohmann Classic (white feathered) and Black Bovan (black feathered) strains were randomly allocated to a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) experiment with five replicate with 20 birds in each replicate group and kept up to 72 weeks. The birds were kept in an open-sided partitioned deep litter pens with a bird density of 0.39m² per bird. Feeding and watering were provided ad lib. They were provided with layer mash of 17% crude protein and 3000kcal ME. Data on egg production, growth characteristics and egg quality were taken. Data obtained showed a significant (P<0.05) strain effects on egg production performance with Black Bovan strains laying their first egg significantly earlier (135 days) than their Lohmann counterparts (140 and 142 days). The Bovan layers also produced on hen-day basis, significantly at a higher rate (80.1%) than the Lohmann Brown (76.2%), which also produced significantly more eggs than its white feathered counterparts (72.4%). There were also significant differences (P<0.05) in terms of feed conversion ratio with the Bovan strains being significantly more efficient in converting feed to eggs than their Lohmann counterparts. Feed consumption was significantly affected by the strain of layers. It was also realized that the major determinants of egg quality were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the strain of layer.