XN000022-1986-04-30 — Page 22

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1986

SHE SAID THE LOCAL SHEK KI COCKERELS ONLY REACH MARKETABLE SIZE AT ABOUT 16 WEEKS OF AGE. BUT BY THEN THEIR SEXUAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE VERY PROMINENT WITH LARGE, RED COMBS AND ANGULAR BODY CONFORMATION WITH LITTLE FAT DEPOSITION. THEIR MUSCLES ARE TOUGH, DARK IN COLOUR AND MAY HAVE A FISHY TASTE,

+ALL THESE RENDER THE CARCASS LESS FAVOURABLE TO LOCAL CONSUMERS,+ SHE SAID.

+TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM,+ MISS LAM SAID, +MUCH WORK HAS BEEN DONE BY THE DEPARTMENT TO INITIATE CROSS-BREEDING PROGRAMMES TO ACHIEVE GENETIC IMPROVEMENTS OF THE BIRDS IN TERM OF GROWTH PERFORMANCE, AND TO DEVISE A SUITABLE RATION FOR BOOSTING THE GROWTH OF THE IMPROVED BREEDS SO AS TO ACQUIRE THE DESIRED CARCASS QUALITY WITH SUBCUTANEOUS FAT DEPOSITION.+

SHE SAID THAT OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, SIX EXPERIMENTS HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT TO STUDY THE GROWTH PERFORMANCES OF 4 500 BIRDS OF THE SHEK KI BREED AND ITS CROSSES WITH EXOTIC VARIETIES, USING RATIONS OF DIFFERENT DENSITIES.

THE FINDINGS SHOWED COCKERELS DERIVED FROM SHEK KI-SHAVER OFFSPRING BACKCROSSED WITH SHEK KI, FED WITH THE HIGH DENSITY DIET, REACHED 1.96 KG IN ONLY 78 DAYS. THIS COMPARED FAVOURABLY WITH THE MALE SHEK KI BIRDS FED WITH ORDINARY RATIONS, WHICH TOOK 112 DAYS TO REACH 1.87 KG UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

+COMPARED WITH THE LOCAL SHEK KI MALES, THE CROSS FED WITH THE NEW DIET IS MORE SUITABLE FOR USE AS BROILER CHICKEN AS THEY HAVE SMALLER COMBS, ROUNDER BODY CONFORMATION, SOFTER MEAT TEXTURE, LIGHTER FLESH COLOUR AND A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF SUBCUTANEOUS FAT DEPOSITION, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, ARE WITHOUT THE FISHY TASTE, MISS LAM SAID.

SHE ADDED THAT THE RESULTS HAD BEEN OBTAINED UNDER MODERATE WEATHER CONDITIONS WITH TEMPERATURES RANGING FROM 11 DEGREES CELSIUS TO 27 DEGREES CELSIUS AND WITH AVERAGE RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 70 PER CENT.

+AS HOT AND HUMID WEATHER CONDITIONS IN SUMMER MONTHS AFFECT THE GROWTH PERFORMANCES OF CHICKEN GENERALLY, COCKERELS OF THE SPECIAL CROSS ARE NO EXCEPTION,

+FURTHER EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO STUDY POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS IN GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF THESE BIRDS UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS, MISS LAM SAID.

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