Abstract:
Indigenous chicken contribute significantly as a source of animal protein but productivity in Kenya is low due to inadequate feed supply and high cost of commercial feed. Prosopis juliflora pods is an alternative local and nutritive feed resource that can be used as a feed ingredient in poultry to increase productivity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess performance of laying improved Indigenous Chicken (IC) fed on diets containing ground mature Prosopis juliflora pods (GPJP) for a period of eight weeks. Samples of pods were collected from Baringo, Kajiado and Garissa Counties. Proximate analysis showed high CP and CF in samples from Garissa, 148.7 and 339.1 g/kg respectively while samples from Baringo County had higher gross energy, 17.31 MJ/kg. Experiment I assessed metabolizable energy (ME) of pods from Baringo in vivo using improved IC roosters force-fed with 40 g of GPJP and 40 ml glucose as the trial and control treatments respectively. The result showed that the pods had 7.6 MJ/Kg ME. In experiment II a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four (4) dietary treatments including GPJP in total ration at T1-0%, T2- 10%, T3- 20% and T4- 30% were used. Sixteen hens per treatment weighing 1.87±0.49 kg live weight were each allocated to battery cages. The diets were iso -nitrogenous, 16 % CP and iso-caloric, 12.8 KJ/Kg ME. Data on feed Intake (FI), Egg Production (EP) were recorded daily and egg quality parameters were analyzed (P<0.05) twice per week on 6 eggs randomly picked per treatment. Inclusion of prosopis pods had no effect on feed intake but depressed body weight. Egg production was similar (P >0.05) for hens offered T1, 74.55%, and T2, 75.22% but was higher (P <0.05) than in hens offered T3, 62.72%, and T4, 68.30%. Egg weight was similar (P >0.05) for hens offered T1, 63.54 and T4, 63.00 g but was higher (P <0.05) than for hens offered T2, 61.72 g, and T3, 61.08 g. All parameters of egg quality were not influenced (P >0.05) by inclusion of GPJP in all the treatments except shell thickness which was greater in hen on T4. Yolk colour was deep yellow in hens on T4, graded at 10.92 on the yolk fan followed by hens on T3, 10.25 while hens on T1 and T2 graded at 9.23 and 9.25 respectively. The Cost Benefit Ratio and Return on Investment analyses were 1.27 and 26.71% respectively for T2 which was higher than all other treatments. It was concluded that the inclusion of GPJP at 10% of the diet improved egg production without affecting egg quality and increased the profit margin of egg production. However, further research is recommended with the inclusion of feed additives that enhance digestibility and bind tannins to assess their effect on the utilization of the GPJP pods.
