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Naro introduces new improved local chicken
Scientists at Naro have been able to succesfully breed improved indigenous chicken. Photo/Lominda Afedraru
What you need to know:
- The aim of the initiative is to select quality cocks and hens that are able to produce superior breeds and able to grow within six months weighing the required quantity.
Small-scale poultry farmers are fast embracing the rearing of indigenous poultry also known as local chicken as it turns out it is one of the highly profitable farming activities in Uganda.
Most farmers in the rural parts of the country have been rearing poultry on subsistence basis and under free range.
The good prices local chicken fetches on the market is attracting large number of farmers in the trade meaning the method of rearing must improve.
Experts contend local poultry rearing is the most enterprising project because it is quite simple as long as certain guidelines are followed and does not require sophisticated structures. As such scientists at National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) have been doing selective breeding to come up with quality local breeds.
Seeds of Gold reached out to the scientists to find out the progress and below are the details.
Breeding
Scientists at Naro in 2020 began a collection of local chicken breeds in northern and eastern Uganda which they began breeding at Mukono Zonal Agricultural and Development Research Institute (MZARDI).
The collection were done from the districts of Oyam, Lira, Apac, Gulu and Soroti were small farmers tend to breed the chicken on free range system. The aim of the initiative is to select quality cocks and hens that are able to produce superior breeds and able to grow within six months weighing the required quantity.
Screening process
Dr Henry Mulindwa who is heading the project explained that the selection has been from the parent stock where the hens from one district were to mate with cocks from other districts and the chicks left to grow.
Those quality breeds were selected for another development process where the team obtained the first generation.
The selection process has continued and the team has now obtained the third generation.
They intend to breed up to the sixth generation were quality breeds will be maintained for onward multiplication until a breed dubbed Naro chicken is released for farmer adoption.
The selection is done by isolating inferior chicks from the fast growing chicks at six weeks.
By the time the chicken have grown for five months the hens should be weighing 1.5 kilogrammes while the cocks weigh between two and three kilogrammes each. The target is to reduce the long growing period of one and half years to six months.
At the moment the team is concentrating on weight target, the next stage is to target egg production quantity where they expect the hens to produce eggs at least once a day.
The last stage will be targeting same colour of chicken which will be identified as Naro chicken.
The sixth generation will be looking at the quantitative trait of its weight height and egg laying characteristics.
Feed
Mohammed Kiggundu who is handling the feeding aspect explained that at the moment his team is experimenting the feed ration where they want to come up with the right ratio.
Apparently there is no feed ratio in the market for local chicken. The team has developed start feed for day-old where they have reduced the protein rate by two percent compared to highbred chicken feed.
The same feed ratio applies to the growing chicken. The recommended protein ratio for local chicken is 20 percent.
The feed ratio is to ensure the birds go on market in five months weighing two kilogrammes. This therefore means the birds must be kept in simple constructed houses at the same time ensure they are left to free range in a surrounding where there is greenery of grass and recommended plants.
Scientists feed the birds with Russian Comfrey vegetable. By consuming vegetables and grass, they obtain vitamin nutrients which are responsible for the yellow pigment in the egg yolk.
The Russian Comfrey contains beta carotene which keep the egg yolk and chicken muscles yellow. It is drought resistant and easy to grow.
Maintenance
Maintaining the birds is easy because it simply requires vaccination against the common diseases.
About 500 birds can be vaccinated with vaccine costing Shs7,000 and vaccinating them against new cattle disease is a requirement because it is deadly.
As opposed to antibiotic resistance in improved chicken, it is not the same with local chicken because the farmer is not obliged to give them antibiotics.
If they are confined, the farmer must ensure they are regularly exposed to sunlight and feed on green vegetables and grass.
Farmer engagement
Currently there are farmer groups mainly in Mukono and surrounding areas which were given parent stock of selected superior breeds. They are multiplying the birds for egg production which they bring for hatching at the institute.
The scientists acquired an incubator with capacity to hatch 4,000 eggs per week although at the moment they are able to hatch 1,000 eggs per week because the egg turnover is low.
The team is also hatching eggs collected at the institute and they keep the chicks up to one month for uptake by interested farmers.
Farmers who are able to keep one-day- old chicks purchase them at Shs1,500 while one month old chicks cost Shs5,000.
The way forward
The scientists are looking for a way of partnering with the private sector to take up feed processing for local chicken on commercial basis as well as to multiply chicks for farmer uptake.
The team at Naro will continue to breed parent stock to maintain the high quality breed.
The breeding process will be finalised by the end of next year ready for massive farmer uptake.
Breeding
Dr Henry Mulindwa who is heading the project explained that the selection has been from the parent stock where the hens from one district were to mate with cocks from other districts and the chicks left to grow. Those quality breeds were selected for another development process where the team obtained the first generation.
