Comparative performance and nutrient utilization in pearl, white and lavender varieties of guinea fowl during cold season Mandal A.B.1, Singh Harpreet1, Bisht G.S.2, Pathak N.N.2 Division of Animal Nutrition, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar - 243 122 (UP). 1 Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar. 2 Division of Animal Statistics, IVRI, Izatnagar. Abstract An experiment was conducted to assess the comparative performance and nutrient utilization of three varieties of growing guinea fowls during cold season. Un-sexed day-old guinea keets (n=397) ofthree varieties, viz. Pearl, White and Lavender, were wing banded and randomly divided into 54 uniform batches i.e. every variety had 18 batches of at least 7 each. The birds were kept in battery cages from day-old to 12 weeks of age and provided similar feeding and reared under similar management. Metabolism trials were conducted at 4th, 8th and 12th weeks of age involving all the birds. The white variety had more (P<0.05) live weight at 8th and 12th weeks of age than other varieties. There was no significant difference in feed consumption among the 3 varieties. Feed conversion and protein efficiency was significantly higher in white variety than pearl and lavender. Metabolizable energy intake was lowest in white variety during 0–4 weeks of age. Dry matter and gross energy metabolizability and percent nitrogen retention did not differ among the three varieties of guinea keets. The apparent digestibility of lysine and methionine ranged from 70 to 75% and 67 to 72%, and remained similar in all the three varieties. It is concluded that white variety grows better and utilizes feed more efficiently than Pearl and Lavender varieties. Top Key words Guinea keets, pearl, white, lavender, growth, nutrient utilization. Top |