Assessing meat production of 3 Hungarian Landrace Guinea Fowl ecotypes reserved for in vivo conservation

作者：Szalay I T; Phuong T N Lan^*; Ferencz T R; Xuan K D T Dong; Kustos K; Gaal K Kovacsne

来源：Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 2016, 25(2): 139-144.

DOI：10.3382/japr/pfv071

• conservation
• free range
• local guinea fowl
• production

Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) has existed in the Carpathian Basin for centuries and now is becoming an important genetic resource for low-input production. This study aimed to compare production traits, such as livability, BW, and feed conversion, of 3 Hungarian Landrace Guinea Fowl (HLGF) ecotypes, 2 from Hungarian gene banks (Godollo (G) and Hortobagy (H)) and one local type from Central Hungary (C). Beyond 5 wk of age, birds were kept in enclosures of either 15 m(2) or 50 m(2) free-range area per bird. The highest average BW and lowest feed conversion at 14 wk of age (1329.38 +/- 101.47 g and 2.916 +/- 0.253 kg feed/kg BW gain, respectively) were recorded for the G ecotype of HLGF, which was kept in 50m(2) free-range area/bird. An ANOVA test showed that the ecotype of guinea fowl influenced BW and feed conversion, and the size of the free-range area was found to be a determining factor for feed conversion rate at 14 wk of age (P < 0.001). Our study results indicate that use of the G ecotype of HLGF is preferred for meat production and that the size of the free-range area is essential for keeping any types of HLGF after 5 wk of age. Different HLGF ecotypes also were shown to exist in rural Hungary, which should be of interest to future conservation programs.

• 出版日期2016-6