Growth of Creole Chickens Raised Under Tropical Conditions of Mexico

Tropical Animal Health and Production, 37 (2005) 327^332

# 2005Springer. Printed in the NetherlandsShort CommunicationGrowth of Creole Chickens Raised Under Tropical

Conditions of MexicoJ.C. Segura-Correa*1, A. Juarez-Caratachea2, L. Sarmiento-Franco1 andR. Santos-Ricalde11Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan.

Apdo. postal 4-116, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico;2Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria yZootecnia, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, Morelia, Michoacan,

Mexico*Correspondence: E-mail: [email protected], J.C., Juarez-Caratachea, A., Sarmiento-Franco, L. and Santos-Ricalde, R., 2005. Growth

of Creole chickens raised under tropical conditions of Mexico. Tropical Animal Health and Production,

37(4), 327^332Keywords: Creole chickens, genotype, growth ratesAbbreviations: ME, metabolizable energyINTRODUCTIONCreole chickens (Gallus domesticus) in Mexico originated from European birds brought

to Mexico by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. They are the result of crosses among

dierent breeds and have been under natural selection for almost 500 years; hence they

probably are adapted to the prevalent environmental conditions and some enzootic

diseases in the region. Rodriguez and colleagues (1997) observed a lower mortality in

Creole6Rhode Island chickens compared with pure Rhode Island chickens, under

scavenging conditions in Yucatan, Mexico. It is also known that scavenging chickens

are poor producers of both meat and eggs. They weigh 469^539 g at 8 weeks of age,

start laying at 38 weeks of age and produce approximately 66 eggs per year (Rodriguez

et al., 1996).In order to improve Creole chicken production, knowledge of their growth is

required. Little information is available concerning the growth pattern of Creole

chickens in Mexico (Jerez-Salas et al., 1994; Izquierdo et al., 1995; Segura, 1998).

Unlike their exotic counterparts whose live-weight growth curves have been ascertained, the live-weight growth patterns of the Mexican Creole chicken have not been

determined. The establishment of growth models for the Creole chickens would enable

researchers to compare more readily their growth rates with those of commercial

chickens or with those of native chickens in other regions, as well as giving the ability327328to formulate nutrient requirements for dierent growth phases. The aim of this study

was to determine growth patterns of male and female birds of three genotypes of

Creole chickens up to 18 weeks of age under tropical conditions in Mexico.MATERIALS AND METHODSStudy populationThe study was carried out at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science

of the University of Yucatan,...