Performance Evaluation of Kuroiler and Sasso Chicken Breeds Reared under On-farm and On-station Management Conditions in Tanzania

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of management, breed, and their interaction on growth performance, egg production, and survivability under on-station and on-farm management conditions in Tanzania. A total of 1200 chicks, 600 for each breed, Kuroiler, and Sasso of mixed sexes were used. Birds under on-station management were confined and fed commercial ration throughout the experiment while those under on-farm management were allowed to semi-scavenge and supplemented with available feeds in the household. Brooding was carried out on-station for six weeks. Thereafter, birds were sub-divided for on-station and on-farm evaluation where data on body weight, egg production traits, and survival rate were taken at different ages from week 6 up to 52. The General Linear Models procedure fitting management, breed, and interaction between management and breed was used to analyze the data. Results show that management conditions had a significant influence on the performance of the breeds. Birds reared on-station performed better in all traits measured than those reared on-farm. The general effect of the breed was significant only for hen-day egg production (HDEP %) and hen-housed egg production (HHEP) in favour of Sasso chickens. Similarly, Sasso was more efficient at converting feed to live body weight. Interactions between management and breed were observed for all traits except peak egg production rate and mortality rate. While Sasso performance was better than that of Kuroiler on body weight, age at first egg, HDEP, age at peak egg production, and HHEP under the on-station management system, their performance in these traits were similar under the on-farm management except for body weight and age at first egg where Kuroiler was superior to Sasso. The survivability was also higher for Kuroiler than for Sasso under both management systems. It is concluded that genotype by environment (GxE) interaction had significant effects on the performance of the two breeds thus, a need to consider such effect when promoting them for either on-station or on-farm rearing.