Performance of commercial layer strain (BV-300) chicken under backyard system of rearing

A total of 400 day old chicks (BV-300) were distributed equally among 20 adopted farmers in order to study their production and reproduction performances under backyard production system. The body weight, age at first egg, weekly hen day, annual egg production, egg weight, shell colour, yolk colour and mortality pattern were recorded. The mean body weights at 4, 8, 12, 20, 40 and 52 weeks of age were found to be 285.13±5.12g, 654.29±8.23g, 874.21±11.07g, 1365.24±12.17g, 1429.18±15.73g and 1509.27±15.98g, respectively. The mean age at first egg was 166.07±2.04 days. The birds under study reached peak production at 36.04±1.02 weeks and the production period continued up to 48.78±1.34 weeks of age. The annual egg production was found to be 183.73±6.05 numbers per bird. The mean egg weights at 25, 32, 40 and 52 weeks of age were found to be 42.36±0.11g, 45.67±0.21g, 48.87±0.45g and 52.83±0.67g, respectively. The mortality rate during 0 to 5, 6 to 30 and 31 to 52 weeks of age was 15.43±1.75%, 5.05±0.09% and 3.13±0.08%, respectively. Thus, the BV-300 birds can be reared in small scale suitably for egg production under backyard system, however the survivability of the birds is a cause of concern.