Dr. Lily Ngullie
ACTO, Animal Science, KVK. Longleng
ICAR-RC for NEH Region Nagaland Centre
Introduction: Rearing of chicken at backyard under free range system is practised in Nagaland since time immemorial. Indigenous poultry birds are reared with low input or no input venture. Birds mostly depend on the natural resources available at the backyard through scavenging and kitchen waste. The indigenous birds reared for backyard poultry production is very low, around 600 to 700 g at 5 months on an average and 55 to 60 eggs per year, which creates a wide gap in the demand and availability of poultry meat and egg in the rural areas. Taking into consideration of this, KVK Longleng introduced Vanaraja, a dual purpose bird in the year 2013-2017 covering almost all the villages of Longleng district under On Farm Testing (OFT) and Front Line Demonstration (FLD).
General management of Vanaraja birds:
Housing : Low cost poultry house with locally available materials like bamboo, thatch grass, wooden planks can be used for construction materials. Deep litter system of rearing with paddy husk or saw dust were found to be the most suitable system of rearing Vanaraja birds in Longleng climate conditions. However the birds can be reared in wooden plank or wire mesh cages.
• Orientation: East West direction.
• Site selection- should be away from residence, elevated area, plenty of sunlight and open space. Air flow from residence to the poultry house and not vice versa.
• Space requirement: 1- 1.5 sq. feet per bird
Feeding: Feeding accounts for 70-75 per cent of poultry rearing so only good quality feeds should be given. Commercially available Starter feed can be fed to the chicks up to one month of age and thereafter the birds can be let loose to scavenge themselves in the backyard during the day time and shelter during the night time. The birds can be supplemented with feeds like rice, maize grains, kitchen waste etc. The birds can also be reared in complete intensive system of rearing depending solely on commercial feed materials available in the market. Liquid vitamin and mineral should also be supplemented regularly in drinking water for healthy growth.
Economic Feeding for layers-
Starter ( 0- 8 weeks): 50 g/bird/day
Grower (8-20 weeks):60-100g/bird/day
Finisher (20 weeks and above):120-125g/bird/day
Disease management:
Occurrence of most of the poultry diseases can be prevented by carrying out proper vaccination schedule as given in the table below:
Sanitation :
Proper sanitation is a must for poultry rearing. Regular cleaning of sheds, water drinkers, removal of soiled feeds from feeder etc. can prevent the outbreak of common poultry diseases.
Observations:
Body weight gain: The average body weight gain at 5 months recorded as 2864 ± 472.03 g.
Survivability percentage:
The survivability percentage was found to be around 87 per cent up to 20 weeks of rearing. Mortality accounts more during the first 4 weeks thereafter it gradually reduces.
Egg production:
The average age at first laying was recorded as 178± 2.0 days with average egg production of 158 eggs per hen per year.
Tips for profitable rearing :
1. The birds can be reared up to 5 months thereafter obese and lean birds should be culled off. 2. Male and Female birds should be maintained at 1:8 ratio for egg production. 3. Non layers should be identified and culled off immediately to avoid feed wastage. 4. For layers it is economical to rear up to 72 weeks of age. 5. The net profit is usually from the sale of live birds and eggs. 6. Maintenance of record is a must for profitable rearing.
Conclusion: The present study evaluated the performance of Vanaraja- a dual purpose bird under low input semi intensive farming system. The average body weight gain of Vanaraja at 5 months was recorded 2864 ± 472.03 g against 670 g in indigenous local birds. The average egg production per hen per year of Vanaraja and indigenous local bird was recorded as 158 and 57 eggs respectively. The B:C ratio of body weight gain of Vanaraja and local was 1.30:1 and 1.026:1 respectively. After analysing the performance of Vanaraja bird, it can be concluded that Vanaraja is the most suitable strain of poultry bird and is well adapted to the climatic condition of Longleng district compared to other commercial poultry strain for alternative backyard poultry farming.
(For purchase of chicks contact Sr.Sc & Head, KVK Longleng. Longleng Nagaland)
