Article Sidebar
Published:
May 30, 2025Keywords:
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All opinions and articles published in the journal reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Journal. Submission of a paper implies that it has not been submitted or published elsewhere, and that the authors accept the conditions for publication outlined in the journal. Once accepted for publication, authors transfer copyright of their articles to GSAP unless expressly exempted in writing by the copyright holders. Those wishing to use illustrations or data from the journal in other publications should obtain permission from the publisher, and include a line acknowledging the journal as the source of material.
Main Article Content
Egg quality and hatchability of Kuroiler and local Ghanaian chickens
Abstract
Chicken production provides animal protein and income for farmers and could thus be considered a livelihood empowerment strategy. In a bid to improve upon local chicken production, Kuroiler – a tropically-adapted improved chicken has been introduced in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. As part of the process of accessing the adaptive and productive potential of Kuroiler chickens in Ghana it is important to characterize their reproductive performance in terms of hatchability and egg quality. In the egg quality test, some Kuroiler and local chicken eggs from chickens of similar age were randomly sampled from farmers in the Forest zone (FZ) and Coastal Savanna zone (CSZ) of Ghana. Participating farmers were selected purposively based on consent and supplied with pre-brooded Kuroiler chickens. The collected eggs were weighed and examined to avoid cracked or damaged and small or oversized ones before incubation. The egg quality of Kuroiler, and those of Forest and Coastal Savannah local chickens were assessed with an electronic vernier caliper and egg analyzer. In the egg hatchability test, only Kuroiler eggs were used. The mean egg weight, albumen height, and Haugh Unit of the Kuroiler eggs were found to be significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of the local chickens except for shell thickness and yolk colour. The total percentage fertility of the Kuroiler eggs was 79 with 67 hatch percentage. Egg fertility of Kuroiler chickens raised in the coastal savannah zone (CSZ), was higher (81%) than those from the forest zone (FZ, 76%) but the hatch percentage was similar (FZ=67.2%; CSZ=66.8%). We concluded that, the introduced Kuroiler chickens could thus be used to enhance egg production among small holder backyard farmers in Ghana and recommend that, they should be made available to chicken farmers.
