Influence of housing types and sex on the growth performance, haematological and serum biochemical parameter of broiler chickens

Abstract

This experiment was carried out to determine the effects of housing types and sex on growth and blood parameters of Arbor Acre broiler chickens. Three hundred (300) chicks, at two weeks of age were divided into two groups (male and female) each containing 150 birds. Each group was randomly sub-divided into two housing systems (deep litter and deep litter with run) consisting of three replicates with 25 birds per replicate and were fed ad libitum. Data collected were subjected to one-way analysis of variance in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement. The housing type had no significant effect on the growth parameters measured. However, weight gain, feed intake and protein intake were influenced (p<0.05) by sex. The effect of interaction between housing type and sex on the growth performances showed that male in the two housing systems had better (p<0.05) performances than female. However, the female chickens in deep litter performed better (p<0.05) than their female counterpart in deep litter with run. Haematological and biochemical parameters were not influenced by the main effect of housing type and sex. The interaction effect between the housing types and sex on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters had effect (p<0.05) only on basophil and aspartate transferase. It was concluded that Arbor acre male broiler chickens can be raised on any of the housing types while female should be raised only on deep litter for better performance.

Keywords: Housing, sex, broiler, growth performance, haematology