COMPARISON OF GASTRO-INTESTINAL TRACT MORPHOMETRY AND PROPORTIONS OF LEAN, FAT, AND BONE OF DARAG NATIVE CHICKEN AND SLOW-GROWING COMMERCIAL BROILER

Abstract

One hundred Darag Philippine native and 100 slow-growing commercial broiler day-old chicks were used to compare the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) measurements, percent lean, fat, and bone, and their allometric growth up to 15 weeks of age. Using Completely Randomized Design, 10 replicates per group with 10 birds each were housed in a complete confinement system following standard management practice for slow-growing commercial broiler. Data were analyzed using t-test. Results showed that slow-growing commercial broiler had higher body weight and longer and heavier segments of GIT (P<0.05) all throughout the study. However, the normalized gizzard mass was higher in Darag (P<0.05). Normalized mass of the small intestine segments were also higher in Darag from 5 to 7 weeks and 15 weeks of age (P<0.05). Slow-growing commercial broiler had higher percentage lean, while Darag had higher proportion of bone particularly from 14 to 15 weeks of age (P<0.05). Both Darag native and slow-growing chicken have negative allometric GIT growth, while lean and bone growths have positive allometries (P<0.05). This study provides baseline information on the morphometry of GIT and proportions of lean, fat, and bone in Darag native chicken which provides valuable insights into their digestive capacity and nutrient utilization for growth.