Nutritional evaluation of locally available feed resources and their impact on growth performance of indigenous chicken breeds under smallholder farming systems

Abstract:

How effectively can smallholder poultry keepers harness their surrounding crop residues and grain by-products to match or even rival the performance of costly commercial rations? This research set out to answer that question by comparing three dietary treatments in indigenous Kenyan chicken breeds raised on smallholder farms in Kiambu County, Kenya, from September 2023 through January 2024. A total of 180 birds were randomly allocated to three groups of 60 each: Treatment 1 received a locally formulated maize-sorghum-based diet, Treatment 2 received a millet-cassava-based diet, and Treatment 3 (control) received a standard commercial broiler-grower feed. Growth parameters weekly body weight, total weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded over a 12-week trial. Proximate analysis of the experimental feeds confirmed crude protein levels of 17.8%, 15.3%, and 20.1% for Treatments 1, 2, and 3, respectively, while metabolizable energy ranged from 11.4 to 12.7 MJ/kg. Birds on the commercial ration achieved the highest overall weight gain (653.7 g), followed by the maize-sorghum group (610.3 g) and the millet-cassava group (567.6 g). FCR values were 3.21, 3.58, and 2.94 for the three treatments, with significant differences between groups (P<0.05). However, an economic analysis revealed that feed cost per kilogram of weight gain was lowest for Treatment 1 (KES 187.40) compared with KES 209.60 for Treatment 2 and KES 246.80 for the commercial feed. A cost-benefit appraisal showed that the maize-sorghum diet delivered the best return on investment under smallholder conditions. These findings point to viable, low-cost feeding strategies that narrow the performance gap with commercial rations while keeping production economically accessible for resource-limited farmers.