AGES AND BODY WEIGHTS AT PUBERTY OF FOUR STRAINS OF TURKEYS REARED IN NIGERIA

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the ages and body weights at puberty of four strains of turkeys reared in Nigeria. The four strains comprised 1 exotic strain (White Nicholas, WN) and 3 local strains (White, black and silver plumage colours). A total of eighty (80) turkeys were used comprising 10 toms and 10 hens each of White Nicholas turkeys, White Local turkeys, Silver Local turkeys and Black Local turkeys. All the animals were fed 5% of their live body weights and water was given ad libitum. The age at puberty for the toms was determined as when first ejaculate containing viable sperm cells while that for hens was the age at first lay of egg. The trial was done in a completely randomized design (CRD). Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance. The results of the study showed that there were significant (P<0.05) strain effect on average daily weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and ages at puberty in both toms and hens. It was concluded that strain differences with respect to growth performance and age at puberty exist. It was concluded that strain differences affected age and body weights of toms and hens at puberty.