The study conducted at the College of Veterinary Sciences, Lahore was aimed to compare the Desi fowl (Rural breed) and Fayoumi (Egyptain breed) for the selection of breed best suited for meat production. The basis of the selection were body weight, feed consumption, feed efficiency, production cost, slaughter analysis and chemical composition of the carcass.
120 eggs of the Desi breed were collected from the deep rural areas of Punjab and the same number of eggs of Fayoumi breed was obtained from Government Poultry Farm Lahore. These Eggs were hatched in the Animal Husbandry section, College of Veterinary Sciences, Lahore. Sixty birds each of Desi and Fayoumi breed were divided into three replicates and reared under controlled managemental conditions upto 16 weeks of age. Broiler starter ration was fed ad.libitum during the first 8 weeks of age and broiler finisher ration during the last 8 weeks of age.At the 8th, 12th, and 16th week of age 3 birds from each group were taken randomly and slaughtered. The slaughter analysis and chemical composition of the meat was studied (Richard, 1984). The data wa subjected to two way analysis of variance and 2*2*3 factorial. There was no significant difference in body weight upto 10 weeks of age but Desi breed gained significantly more body weight from 11th to 16th week of age. Feed consumption and feed efficiency of Desi breed was highly significantly better as compared to Fayoumi birds. Mortality was found to be more in Desi birds and production cost was more in Fayoumi. Non significant differences were found between the breeds in Dressing percentage, Giblet, Liver, Gizzard, and Heart weight. Breast meat percentage, Shank and Keel lengths were also non significant between the breeds. However there were highly significant between the breeds during 8th. , 12th, and 16th week of age. Bone meat ratio was highly significantly more in Fayoumi breed. Breast width was more in Desi and the difference between the breeds was significant. Correlations of breast meat,shank and keel length with body weight were found higher in Desi breed.
Chemical analysis indicated non significant differences between the breeds in moisture and crude protein contents; although apparently moisture percentage was higher in Fayoumi and protein were notices more in Desi Breed. Lipid percentage was higher in Fayoumi fowl at 8th week of age whereas it increased at the 12th and 16th week of age in local fowl and significant difference between the breeds was observed. The Percentage of ash was significantly more in Fayoumi breed. On the whole the results of the study indicate better overall performance by Desi birds.