Performance of local breed hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in two agro-ecological zones of Madagascar (High plateaus-south and south-east)

Introduction

Village poultry farming occupies an important place in the household economy in the world in general and in Africa in particular [1][2][3] . In Madagascar as in several African countries, it constitutes a financial and food security shield for vulnerable households and would constitute a significant part of domestic poultry [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] . The domestic poultry population would represent in size, a little more than 70% of the total livestock of livestock in Madagascar [12,13] . Madagascar is experiencing a decline in performance among local breed chickens commonly called " Akoho Gasy ", although they are recognized for their adaptability and hardiness [14] . This decline could be due to factors such as breeding management, pathologies, feeding and zoogenetic resources. Multiple voluntary and/or involuntary crosses are observed in traditional poultry farming practices aimed at improving poultry performance [8,15,16] . These constant and uncontrolled crosses over the years would manifest themselves by genetic erosions that could constitute a brake for this sector [17] . It is therefore important and as recommended by the FAO, to take stock of the phenotypic characteristics of local breed chickens in Madagascar. Indeed, the problem here is the lack of knowledge on the zootechnical characteristics (production performance) of poultry in village poultry farming in Madagascar. Work on phenotypic characterization was carried out between September and November 2018, on 117 chickens from livestock households in two agroecological regions (Analamanga and Atsimo Andrefana). It allowed us to identify two ecotypes significantly different in their weight, wingspan and tarsi length. On the other hand, no significant difference in the morphological characters of poultry from the two regions despite the diversity was observed [18] . Given these diversities observed between poultry from Madagascar and those from the African continent on the one hand, between poultry from agro-ecological zones (Analamanga and Atsimo Andrefana) on the other hand, it is important to see if there are also diversities in the zootechnical performances of local breed poultry from Madagascar for secondary phenotypic characterization.

Materials and Methods

Study area and period

This study was conducted between May 2021 and October 2023 in the regions of Analamanga, Itasy, Vakinankaratra (Southern Highlands agro-ecological zone) and the Atsimowww.extensionjournal.com Atsinanana region (South-East agro-ecological zone). Located in the High Plateaus, the population of the Analamanga region represents 12.7% of the total population of Madagascar. With a high agricultural potential, food crops are widely grown with crops such as cassava, corn, rice, sweet potatoes and potatoes to name a few. The practice of livestock farming, for the poultry, beekeeping, fish farming and dairy sectors, is a source of wealth [19] . Located almost in the center of the Big Island, the Itasy region has many lakes, hence its reputation in aquaculture, tourism and eco-tourism. More than 80% of the population of Itasy is involved in agriculture for a cultivable area of 84,3%. Rice cultivation is predominant there with an average yield of around 3.8 tons per hectare. Livestock farming is also practiced in the region with significant poultry and pig herds [20] . The Vakinankaratra region is distinguished by a higher altitude and is dominated by volcanic soils. The cultivation of cereals, fruits, tubers and vegetables is equally important. In 2009, the number of livestock farmers in the region was estimated at around 78.000, with a pig herd estimated at 125.000 heads corresponding to just under 10% of the national herd. of the poultry herd currently represents 5.3% of the national herd [21] . The Atsimo Atsinanana region, found in the South-East of the big island, is made up of a coastal area of hills and plains, an area of medium and small hills and an area of cliffs and forests. Cash crops such as coffee, cloves and pepper are widely grown there as well as rice and cassava. Livestock farming, although practiced, is complementary to agriculture for sectors such as poultry farming, pig farming and cattle breeding. Fishing is widely practiced, both in the sea or river [22] . criteria being the household's acceptance to take part in the study, a flock size in the farm of at least 4 hens and one adult rooster, morphologically well-formed. After the survey of farmers on the practice of village poultry farming, at least 4 adult hens per farm were selected per farmer for evaluation of their reproductive performance over 6 months.

Quantitative and qualitative variables

During the 6 months, the birds were monitored by collecting data on the number, color, shape, length, width, and weight of eggs laid. Data on hatchability, chick weight, and chick mortality rate were collected. Several equipment were used, including a 1g precision portable electronic scale (Wei Heng) with a capacity of 10 kg, a 5g precision scale for eggs and chicks, and an aluminum caliper with a 1/10 dial and 15 cm long. All statistical analyses were performed using R 4.3.2 software and following FAO guidelines.

Results

The study involved 503 adult hens distributed in 136 livestock households. Table 1 shows a distribution of poultry monitored in the two agroecological zones.

Morpho-biometric characteristics of eggs Egg color and shape

During the six months of monitoring the hens, a total of 4728 eggs were counted. Among these eggs, 77.2% had a brown shell and 22.8% had a white shell (Table 2). A predominance of white eggs was observed in the Itasy region (84.1%). On the other hand, a predominance of brown eggs was observed in the Atsimo Atsinanana region (41.6%). Furthermore, regarding the shape of the eggs counted, 89.6% had an oval shape and only 10.4% had a rounded shape. Of the 4238 oval-shaped eggs observed, 36.5% came from farms in the Atsimo Atsinanana region. Similarly, among the 490 round-shaped eggs inspected, 55.1% came from farms in the Vakinankaratra region. No round-shaped eggs were recorded in the Analamanga region. The table below shows the distribution of eggs according to their shape in the two agroecological zones.

Egg measurements

Of the eggs counted, the average weight in grams of an egg was 43.77±4.79 for an average length in centimeters of 4.92±0.25 and an average width in centimeters of 3.64±0.19. Eggs from the Vakinankaratra region showed a higher average length than eggs from the Itasy region and the Atsimo Atsinanana region. Eggs from the Itasy region showed an average width of 3.69±greater than those from the Analamanga, Vakinankaratra and Atsimo Atsinanana regions respectively. Bivariate analysis of egg length and width showed significant differences (p<0.001) between agroecological zones (Southern Highlands and South-East). Analyses by region of origin showed that there were significant differences in egg length and width from the Analamanga and Atsimo Atsinanana regions on the one hand, and only for the length of eggs from the regions of Vakinankaratra and Atsimo Atsinanana on the other hand, as presented in Table 4.

Performance of hens in reproduction

A total of 503 adult hens were monitored in four regions including 130 in Analamanga (period), 122 in Itasy (period), 89 in Vakinankaratra and 162 in Atsimo Atsinanana (period). The average number of eggs laid per hen per cycle was higher in the Vakinankaratra region (10 eggs) than in Analamanga (8.26 eggs), Itasy (9.47 eggs) and Atsimo Atsinanana (9.91 eggs) over the same period (Table 5). However, no significant difference in the average number of eggs laid was observed between the regions except that between Analamanga and Atsimo Atsinanana (p<0.001). The average per agroecological zone is 9.14 eggs for the Southern Highlands zone, and 9.91 eggs for the South-East zone, and this difference is significant (p <0.001). Similarly, the hatching rate for the 4 regions is respectively 82.61% for Vakinankaratra, 95.07% for Analamanaga and 84.27% for Itasy and 87.25% for Atsimo Atsinanana. This rate is 87.94% for the Southern Highlands zone and 87.25% for the South-East zone, and the difference is not significant (p=0.6). It appears that poultry from the Vakinankaratra and Atsimo Atsinanana regions are better layers than those of the Itasy and Analamanaga regions (Table 5). On the other hand, although poultry from the Vakinankaratra regions are better for laying than others, they are less so for brooding. Poultry from the Analamanga region appear to be better brooders than those from other regions.

Driving chicks Evolution of the average weight of chicks

Student t-test, the mean weight of the chicks evolves with a significant difference during the 6 weeks of growth except for the second week (p = 0.790). The mean weight of the chicks in the South-East agroecological zone is significantly higher than that of the Southern Highlands zone (p ≤ 0.001). This difference in mean weight intensifies more and more from the 4 th week of age (figure 2). [10,23,24] .

Shell color and shape

A total of 4728 eggs were counted and identified during our study. This number is respectively 7.3 and 1.6 times higher than the numbers reported respectively in the Keambou study and al. in the West Cameroon region and the Koko and al. study in the Ambohimangakely and Moramanga areas of Madagascar. Regardless of our agroecological zones, brown and white shell eggs were recorded. However, a predominance of brown shell eggs was observed at 77.2% in our study with 41.6% in the Atsimo Atsinanana region. This brown color of the egg shell was also predominant in the West Cameroon region with a higher proportion than ours (84.84%) and more precisely in the rural area of their study. On the other hand, our results differ from those obtained by Missohou and al. who observed in the local chicken of Senegal a predominance of white eggs (73%) [25] . Indeed, it should be noted that egg colors and the thickness of the white are linked to genetic characteristics in poultry [26] . It is thus possible that there are genes linked to the color of the shell, which is different between poultry from Madagascar and Senegal, yet similar between poultry from Madagascar and Cameroon [2,24] . The present study revealed that 89.6% of the eggs had an oval shape and only 10.4% had a rounded shape. These results are similar to those obtained by Keambou and al. in the study titled "Comparison of egg quality and growth performance of local chicks from urban and rural areas of West Cameroon" [24] .

Egg measurements

It was shown in our study that the average weight in grams of an egg was 43.75±4.79 with no significance between the egg weights of the two agroecological zones. These results are similar to those found in poultry by Keambou and al. in the West Cameroon region which were respectively 44.89±04.99 in rural areas and 45.94±05.73 in urban areas.

On the other hand, this weight average is higher than that obtained in the work of Missohou and al. carried out in Dakar where the average weight was 31.7±3.9 [24,25] . The results obtained by Keambou and al. in the same study were superior to ours in terms of egg length and width. Indeed, they reported an egg length of 5.42±0.26 cm in rural areas and 5.43±0.26 cm in urban areas, respectively, that is superior to ours which are respectively 4.93±0.27 cm in the Southern Highlands and 4.90±0.21 cm in the Southeast. Similarly, the egg width in their studies is respectively 3.94±0.15 cm in the rural area and 3.96±0.2.32 cm in the urban area and is superior to ours which is respectively 3.62±0.20 cm in the Southern Highlands and 3.67±0.17 cm in the Southeast [24] . These similarities and differences in weight, length and width of the measurements of eggs of local breed poultry observed in Madagascar and Cameroon could be explained by the difference in breed and agroecological zone.

Performance of hens in reproduction Number of eggs laid and hatching rate

Our study involved 503 poultry from 4 districts located in two agroecological zones of Madagascar. We obtained an average of 9.14 eggs laid per hen and per cycle in the Southern Highlands. This value is lower than that of hens in the South-East, which was 9.91 eggs. These averages are lower than those found in the work of Koko and al. (11.7 eggs per hen and per clutch) in other ecological zones of www.extensionjournal.com

Madagascar. In Niger, Moussa and al. had found an average of 12.5 eggs per hen and per cycle [23] , similar (12.4 eggs) to that of Missohou in Senegal [25] . Our averages are also lower than those found in the work of Akouango and al. in Congo Brazzaville, which were respectively 17 and 14 eggs in black and negro subjects and ermine tawny subjects [3] . These variations in the number of eggs laid per hen and per cycle could be explained on the one hand by the genetic variability of poultry and on the other hand by their ecosystem including the climate.

Our work also showed a hatching rate in the Southern Highlands of 87.31% and in the South-East of 87.25%. This difference is not significant and is interpreted as meaning that poultry from both agroecological zones would have the same performances in terms of incubation and egg hatching. However, our percentages are slightly lower than those found in Niger (higher than 87.98% for poultry aged over 25 weeks) and similar to those found by Nahimana [10,23] . However, they are higher than the 78.6% found by Koko and his colleagues in 2006.). The climate as well as the breeding conditions could influence the assiduity of the mother hen during incubation, and thus influence the hatching rate [3] . This lack of significance could also be explained by the strong presence of laying hen farming (table egg production) in the High Plateaus -South agroecological zone, resulting in a low consumption of eggs from local breeds of poultry, unlike in the South-East agroecological zone. Indeed, a better laying rate should result in a better hatching rate, which is not the case for the South-East agroecological zone.

It is also important to note that there is a correlation between the fertility rate and the hatching rate in birds. This correlation considers the male/female ratio in the farm. In this study, we only considered the presence of at least one rooster capable of breeding in the farm. In addition, in village poultry farming, the poultry are stray and the rooster/hen ratio varies from one farm to another and also, the presence of roosters in the neighborhood not included in the study and which can influence the fertility rate and therefore the hatching rate [27] .

Similarly, the availability of ranges or breeding areas, as well as their surface area and feed richness, would play an important role in poultry feeding. There is a correlation between range, feed and laying rate. In our study, these aspects were not addressed [28] .

Driving chicks

Our study showed a significant difference between the weight of chicks in the South-East agroecological zone and that of the Southern Highlands. The evolution of the average weight of chicks from the first week to hatching is similar to that of Moussa et al. in Niger (2010) and Keambou et al. in Cameroon (2009). On the other hand, the average weight of chicks from hatching to the 4 th week obtained in the work of Nahimana et al. in Senegal are lower than ours [10,23] . The chick mortality rates observed in our study in the two areas showed a significant difference from the first to the third week. These rates were, however, lower than those found by Akouango et al. in Congo Brazzaville (4.24 ± 0.20%). This difference could be explained by the breed of poultry, but also by food availability, livestock management and the characteristics of the areas regarding poultry diseases which should not be neglected.

Limitations of the study

This study involved 503 adult poultry of local breed. An increase in the number of chickens monitored could have improved the quality of our results. In addition, the duration of the poultry monitoring was 6 months, which is less than that found in the literature (which can go beyond a year and allow a better evaluation of the average number of eggs laid per cycle, and per hen (greater than or equal to 12 eggs in several studies), and the breeding management (weight of the chicks).

Conclusion

At the end of our study, which aimed to compare the zootechnical performances of local poultry from the agroecological zones of the Southern Highlands with those of the South-East in Madagascar, we can note that:

• With a production of about 10 eggs per cycle, poultry from the South-East Zone are better layers than those from the Southern Highlands Zone. The brown color and oval shape of the eggs are observed in both zones and are the most widespread. • Although there is no significant difference between the egg weights of the two zones, it appears that the eggs of the South-East zone are of better caliber than those of the Southern Highlands. This observation could suggest the existence of a correlation between the weights of the eggs and that of the hen on the one hand, and between those of the eggs and the chicks at hatching. • A significant difference was observed for the hatching and mortality rate between local poultry in the two zones. Thus, local poultry in the Southern Highlands zone would be less good at brooding and would have lower capacity in managing chicks than those in the South-East zone.

Although the genetic factor certainly plays an important role in the differences observed during the present study between the poultry of the two zones, like the breeding management, it would be interesting to conduct this study on a larger flock in order to improve the quality of the results on the one hand and to carry out molecular analyses to highlight the genetic diversities existing between the poultry of the two zones on the other hand.

Thanks

The authors would like to thank the Malagasy Institute of Veterinary Vaccines (IMVAVET), the FOFIFA/Department of Zootechnical, Veterinary and Piscicultural Research, the Department of Teaching of Veterinary Science and Medicine (DESMV), and all their teams for making this study possible. We would also like to thank the veterinarians and their collaborators, the village chicken farmers of the two study areas. Finally, we thank Nkombou Bob William for helping us with the English translation of this article

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