Protein Intake of Growing Indigenous Chickens on Free-Range and Their Response to Supplementation

Abstract: Three experiments were conducted to determine protein intake and the response of growing indigenous chickens to protein supplementation under free-ranging conditions. In the first experiment, data were collected from which a model was designed to estimate daily feed intake of free-ranging indigenous chicken from the Crop Contents (CC). The second experiment applied the model under on-farm conditions to estimate feed intake of free-ranging growers. Crude Protein (CP) intake was calculated as the product of crude protein concentration and total intake of feed. Results indicated that the mean protein level of CC was 11.2%, Dry Matter Intake (DMI) of free-ranging growers was 78.3g/grower/day and the mean Crude Protein Intake (CPI) was about 8.5 g. In order to establish the response of the growers to protein supplementatio