Growth Performance and Blood Profiles of Indigenous Venda Chickens Under Intensive and Semi-Intensive Rearing Systems

A 91-day trial examined the impact of two production systems on crop content, growth performance, hematology, and blood chemistry of indigenous Venda chickens. One-day-old Venda chickens (n = 100) were randomly assigned to two treatments (T1 and T2) and replicated five times with 10 birds per replication. Venda chickens in each group were placed in five replicate pens, each having 10 chicks arranged in a completely randomized design. Birds in the T1 (intensive) and T2 (semi-intensive) groups received a starter diet (19.52% CP, 3141.48 kcal/kg ME) from 1-49 days and a grower diet (18.03% CP, 3155.58 kcal/kg ME) from 50-91 days. The proximate analysis indicated that the crop content of semi-intensively reared birds had higher phosphorus and ME values than those of intensively reared birds. During the starter and grower phases, birds managed semi-intensively had significantly better (p<0.05) growth indices in all production phases than the intensive group. Hematological values revealed that T2 birds had significantly increased (p<0.05) Hemoglobin (Hb) level and red cell indices compared with the T1 birds. Heterophil counts were statistically (p<0.05) lower in T1 birds than in T2 birds. Blood chemistry results demonstrated that birds on T1 treatment had their serum Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) reduced by 4% compared to those on T2 treatment. In conclusion, these results indicate that Venda chickens raised in a semi-intensive production system had higher phosphorus and ME values in their crop content and better ADG and blood indicators than birds raised in an intensive production system. This study generates baseline data that help clarify how rearing systems influence the productivity of indigenous Venda chickens.