Genotypic effects on growth and survival performance of Burkina Faso local chickens and their crossbreds with ISA Brown and Harco cocks in an intensive production system

Context Because of the growth in demand for poultry products in recent decades and the poor performances of local chicken, new producers have set up in and around Burkina Faso cities and crossbreed local chicken with exotic breeds such as Harco and ISA Brown. Their aim is to have genotypes that are better suited to their realities for meat production. However, there is little information on the actual performances (growth and survival) of these crossbreds. Aim The aim of this study was therefore to produce information on the growth and survival performances of the Harco and ISA Brown crossbreds and to compare them with that of the local breed under the same conditions. Methods Two batches of chicks, produced by crossing Harco and ISA Brown cocks with local hens and a batch of pure local chicks were reared under the same conditions from hatching to 20 weeks. They were weighed individually each week and mortalities were recorded. Results The results showed that the average liveweights at hatching did not differ significantly for both the genotype and the sex. The average liveweights of Harco crossbreds were significantly higher than that of the local breed from the 8th week, whereas ISA Brown crossbreds showed their significant superiority at 20 weeks of age. At 12 weeks, average liveweights were 564 g, 738 g, and 551 g and at 20 weeks they were 1173 g, 1357 g, and 1012 g for ISA Brown crossbreds, Harco crossbreds and local breed respectively. The average daily gain for the 20 weeks differed significantly and was 8.21 g, 9.51 g and 7.05 g for ISA Brown crossbreds, Harco crossbreds and local breed respectively. Gompertz growth curve maturation rates were 0.014, 0.018 and 0.020 for ISA Brown crossbreds, Harco crossbreds and local breed respectively. Mortalities rates did not show significant differences. Conclusion The crossbreeding with Harco led to better results, whereas crossbreeding with ISA Brown led to a late improvement in weight. Implications The crossbreeding with Harco could present a commercial advantage for meat production.