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The behavioural response and overall performance of poultry chickens to seasonal fluctuations differ distinctly in outdoor and free-range production systems. This study investigated seasonal effects on growth performance, carcass characteristics and breast meat quality of two strains of broiler chickens reared in outdoor run.A total of two hundred and forty day-old broiler chicks from two strains (Arbor acre and Marshall) were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial layout for this study. The birds were brooded for 3 weeks and acclimatized in outdoor run for a week before the commencement of the experiment. Sixty birds each of Arbor acre and Marshall strains were reared in outdoor run during the dry and rainy seasons, these were further sub-divided into three replicates of twenty birds each using numbered rings for identification. At the last day of the experiment (56-day old broilers) for dry and rainy seasons, two birds per replicate were selected and slaughtered to determine carcass yield and breast meat quality. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance in a Completely Randomized Design. Feed intake, Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), protein intake, Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER).
About the author
Mr. Safiyu Kamorudeen Kolawole is a First Class (Honours) graduate of the Department of Animal Production and Health, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria in the year 2012. He thereafter opted for a Master of Agriculture degree in Non-Ruminant Production which he obtained in 2016 with a PhD qualification.
