Abstract

An experiment was conducted in Department of Poultry Science, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy to evaluate the influence of sardine fish oil on production performance of Athulya and native chicken. Two breeds of hen (Athulya and native 60 each) with three dietary treatments viz. 0, 1.5 and 3 per cent fish oil were tested in a randomized block design arrangement with four replicates of five birds each. The experiment was conducted from 29th-40th weeks of age comprising of three, 28 day periods. The breed effect and the interaction effect between fish oil level and breed were significant for overall mean hen day egg production per cent and for mean daily feed consumption. The egg production has remained optimal on inclusion of fish oil at the two levels whereas a negative impact was noticed in native hens on inclusion of fish oil. Lower egg production in native hen could be due to a significant reduction in total feed intake. Significant difference in feed intake might be due to the difference in genetic makeup of these two breeds.

Keywords : Sardine fish oil, Athulya chicken, native chicken