Effects of egg weight on hatchability, chick hatch-weight and subsequent productivity of indigenous Venda chickens in Polokwane, South Africa

Abstract

Indigenous chickens are widely distributed in rural areas of Southern Africa and the world as a whole. They are nutritionally, economically, and culturally very important to rural households (King’ori et al., 2007; Mtileni et al., 2010). Indigenous Venda chickens are very common in rural areas of Southern Africa. However, productivity of these chickens is generally low and mortality is high, implying that appropriate genetic, nutritional and management interventions are needed to realize their optimal production potential (Okitoi et al., 2006; Mbajiorgu et al., 2011). Some work on improving productivity of Venda chickens through genetic and nutritional strategies has been done at the University of Limpopo (Mbajiorgu et al., 2011; Adesola et al., 2012). The influence of egg weight on hatchability, chick hatch-weight and subsequent growth rate and mortality of these chickens is of practical interest to Venda chicken farmers. However, there is evidence that egg weight affects subsequent productivity of layer and broiler chickens (Alders & Spradbrow, 2001; Swatson et al., 2001; Rashid et al., 2005; King’ori et al., 2007). Alabi et al. (2012a) reported that hatchability and chick hatch-weight were higher in larger Venda chicken eggs. However, the effect of egg weight on productivity of the progenies was not determined. Alabi et al. (2012b), also reported that hatchability and post-hatch performance of Potchefstroom Koekoek chickens were higher in larger eggs. There is, thus, lack of information on the effect of egg weight on subsequent performance of indigenous Venda chickens. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of egg weight on hatchability, chick hatch-weight and subsequent productivity of indigenous Venda chickens.