Evaluation of the Productive and Reproductive Performance of Pigeon in Selected Districts of Bangladesh

Abstract

1. Abstract The experiment was conducted to determine the productive and reproductive performance of pigeon which are available in the northern Bangladesh. During this study 45 farms were selected which have >20 pair of pigeon for commercial and >10 pair pigeon for traditional farm in the three-study area namely Rajshahi, Natore and Pabna district of Bangladesh. The data were collected from different farm within the study area through a questionnaire and interview schedule with the farm owner's Reproductive performance determined by the observation of age of sexual maturity, age of first laying, incubation period, hatchability (%), no. of clutch, interclutch period and fledgling period. Productive performance determined by the observation of-no. of egg per year and no. of squab per year. The average body weight of pigeon 519.22±15.26, age of sexual maturity 177±2, number of eggs 2.00, incubation period 17.60±0.04, hatchability 80.63±0.31, laying interval 16.22±0.15, squab production per year 7.87±0.08 and average productive life 8.29±0.09. The reproductive and productive performance of pigeon are better in Rajshahi district than other two districts. During study period body weight (gm) recorded maximum 1012.17±143.51 in rain breed, minimum 274.17±29.34 in helmet. Age of sexual maturity (days) maximum 226±26 in rain and less time required 138±20 day in nun breed. Hatchability (%) maximum 90.00±3.54 in gola breed and minimum 76.43±4.97 in pout-er. Laying Interval (days) maximum 22.44±3.81 in gola and minimum 13.11±0.93 in nun. Squab production (per year) maximum 9.22±0.83 in nun and minimum 6.33±0.65 in rain. Productive live (year) maximum 10.11±1.62 in nun and minimum 6.54±0.57 in pouter breed. In case of number of egg production there is no statistically significant difference among the breed of pigeon. The ex-periment's result may contribute to breed up gradation, helps as genetic resource and also helps to formulate the conservation and improvement strategies for the breed of pigeon.