Abstract

Author:
Rajan Sah, Roshan Kumar Yadav

Doi: 10.26480/sfna.01.2021.21.24

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

There are three identified indigenous poultry breeds in Nepal; Sakini, Ghanti Khuile, Pwankh Ulte. They are reared for dual purpose i.e. meat & egg. To access various non-genetic factors affecting growth performance of indigenous chicken, different relevant research papers, review papers, annual progress reports, and statistical year book were reviewed & analyzed. Results revealed that local breeds are hardy & subject to be affected with environmental factors. They are reared on natural food than formulated feed which meant that they were hardy & rich in high quality protein. They had better weight as they found food continuously in free ranging system. It was found that chicken reared in cool climate had higher body weight than the ones grown in hot period due to less respiratory loss & low body maintenance required. Natural daylight supplemented light at night time was being deployed by farmers & had satisfactory performance. Due to well-developed thick feathers on their body, indigenous chicken were deployed for brooding than artificial methods. Body weight and feed intake was found higher when floor space of 0.279/m2 per bird and flock size of 30 chickens were maintained. Despite any vaccinations, the indigenous breeds still had minimum disease incidence which may be linked to their better adaptability.