Significant increase in live body weight gain among desi backyard poultry through natural feeding practices of Adivasi communities of AP- A Pilot Study

Abstract

As per the 20th livestock breed census, a total of 214.9 million of Indigenous birds have been recorded in India. Andhra Pradesh state has been placed in third position in Indigenous birds with the population of 20.4million. West Bengal and Assam states having Indigenous birds 35million and 31.9millions respectively. There are 18 registered poultry breeds like Ankaleswar, Aseel, Bursa,Chittagon, Danki,Daothigir, Gagus, Haringata black, Hasli, Kadaknath,Kalahasti, Kasmir favorolla, Kaunayen, Mewari, Mini, Nicobari, Punjab brown and Telichery found under registered birds in India and remaining called as Other Desi poultry.  Desi poultry rearing is a quite common practice under the free-range system. In Andhra Pradesh particularly in the tribal area 60% of families own backyard indigenous birds (baseline report 2023). In General, the marketable body weight of Desi birds takes much higher time due to a lack of sufficient nutritious supplementary feed and management practices, particularly for chicks and growers. This paper reveals that with systematic feeding practices, there is a high potential to increase desi poultry live body weight under natural feeding conditions. Feeding trial results show the body weight of a desi bird weight gained from 165g to 1000g in a period of 60 days than the normal growth of 280g to 350g in the same period.