Backyard Poultry Rearing for Rural Women Empowerment in Tiruppur District of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

A field level study was undertaken to evaluate efficiency of production performance of TANUVAS Aseel and Desi birds in 20 farmers each of 30 birds under backyard system of rearing in Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu with respect to live weight at 4 months, age at first egg laying, annual egg production, fertility and hatchability percentage. The average live weight of TANUVAS Aseel birds at 4 months was 1.41 kg which was higher than that of Desi birds (1.23 kg). Age at first egg laying 159 days in TANUVAS Aseel birds; whereas the age at first egg laying in Desi birds was 172 days. The annual egg production was 134.6 eggs in TANUVAS Aseel and 92.5 eggs in Desi birds. Performance of TANUVAS Aseel under backyard system of rearing was found satisfactory and the birds are well adapted to local agro-climatic condition.