Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 12 (1), January 2013, pp. 31-35 Determination of amount of charcoal used in pot charcoal chicken by evaluating heat generation capacity and survival of chickens Mulugeta Ayalew* *Department of Animal production and Extension, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Gondar, P O Box, 196, Gondar, Ethiopia E-mail: mulugetaae@yahoo.com Received 13.09.12; revised 28.09.12 Experimental study was carried out to determine amount of charcoal required for pot charcoal chicken by evaluating heat generation capacity and survival of chickens at the University of Gondar teaching and research poultry farm, Ethiopia. One hundred seventy commercial B102 strain day-old chickens were randomly assigned into five groups (n=34); three groups brooded by using pots containing 500, 750, and 1000 gm charcoal, the fourth group brooded in electrical (positive control), and the fifth group was left in guard for negative control. Death/survival of chickens was strictly followed throughout 24 hrs for 15 days in each group. Heat produced was measured at three points (25, 75, and 125 cm) away from the source of heat within intervals. The 500, 750 and 1000 gm pot charcoal s maintain average maximum and minimum temperature of 41.33, 44.33, 50 C, and 20.3, 21.33, 23.67 C when the temperature was measured on the liter at 25 and 125 cm from the edge of the pot, respectively. Almost equal (4-5) number of deaths of chickens was recorded in all the pot charcoal chicken s tested compared to that of the conventional electrical, and to that of the negative control (100% death was recorded). Therefore, even though the amount of charcoal varies depending on number of chickens, farmers can reduce cost and effect on forest by using 500 gm charcoal and brood up to 50 or some more chickens. Further experimental study determining number of chickens which can be brooded per unit volume of charcoal, and factors affecting under Ethiopian condition would be suggested. Keywords: Brooder, Charcoal, Chicken, Gondar, Temperature IPC Int. Cl. 8 : A61D, A61K, A01K 31/00, A01K 31/18, A01K 31/19, A01K 41/02, G05D 23/00 Poultry is attractive in the context of poverty alleviation. It has a high reproduction rate per unit time, requires a very low capital investment and space, can be kept even by landless families 1. Poultry plays a considerable role in household-level producers various livelihoods outcomes, such as cash income, wealth, food and nutrition security, gender equality, and insurance against shocks 2-6. Smallholder poultry production is practiced by most rural households throughout the developing world. Poultry are widely acknowledged as the livestock of the poor, and poultry production is part of most smallholder farming systems. While income and consumption have been considered the main rationale for keeping village poultry, it has played, and still plays, important social and cultural roles in the life of rural people, not least for building social relations with other villagers 7. According to Guèye 8 85 % of rural households in sub-saharan Africa keep chickens or other types of poultry. Relative low cost in comparison to other meat, acceptability of poultry meat to all religion, and versatility, poultry meat consumption is increasing throughout the world. In Ethiopia, chickens play an important role in the diet and economy of the country 9. Currently, there is substantial increase in the demand for milk and meat 10, and keeping improved breeds of chicken is increasing 11 and a number of small scale poultry farms have been established and kept high-grade exotic breeds 12 which is managed by supplying day-old chickens. It is known that maintaining the proper house temperature is essential in order to keep birds healthy as well as to maximize weight gain and minimize feed conversion, and it is at no time more important than during the first few weeks of a bird s life. Lack of temperature regulation facilities together with other problems impacts the poultry extension activity. According to Tadelle and Ogle 13, about 60 % of the chickens hatched in the rural area of Ethiopia die during the first eight weeks of life. This indicates the need of chicken applicable to remote areas where poultry farming is
32 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL. 12 (1), JANUARY 2013 significantly increasing at present and in the years to come. To solve this problem Ayalew et al. 14 introduced pot charcoal chicken, which was the genesis of Hassanuzzaman 17, applicable to remote and rural areas using charcoal as heat source and found higher level of chickens survival comparable to conventional electrical. However, to reduce the impact on the environment and to reduce the cost of charcoal, the quantity of charcoal required to generate heat should be determined without compromising chickens survival. Therefore, this experimental study was carried out to determine amount of charcoal required for pot charcoal chicken by evaluating heat generation capacity and survival of chickens. Materials and methods Study area Experimental study was conducted from 14 to 28 February, 2012 at the University of Gondar teaching and research poultry farm, Ethiopia. In the area where the teaching and research poultry farm is found, mean annual rainfall and mean average temperature of 1172 mm and 19.7 C was recorded, respectively; the area has altitude of 2220 m above sea level 15. However, range of temperature of 10 to 27 C was recorded during the experiment. Pot charcoal chicken The pot charcoal chicken used in the present experiment was made of mud and purchased from local pottery people (Fig. 1). The inner cylinder of the pot had 28 cm length and 25 cm diameter. It had been built in a way to have 35 to 45 holes on the sides to allow oxygen entrance and heat exit. Another similar empty pot was overlapped mouth-to-mouth on each of the pots for the purpose of retaining heat and flames of fire, before it had been put at the center of guard where test chickens were controlled. In the pot charcoal chicken, wood charcoal is used as source of heat to warm the pots. The heat that radiates from the pot makes the environment in the guard warm. Experimental protocol One hundred seventy commercial B102 strain day-old chickens were randomly assigned into five groups (n=34); three groups brooded around a pot containing 500, 750, and 1000 gm charcoal, fourth group brooded in electrical (C.EE-EU ID06-2010/388, CALDO BELLO CB, RAEE ITALY) (positive control), and fifth group was left in guard without for negative control. Each of the pot charcoal s was constantly filled with charcoal in an hour interval to keep the respective volume of charcoal in the pot. The electrical and all pot charcoal s were kept at the center of guard used to control chickens. Rice bran with depth of 5-7 cm was used as litter in each group. Feeding, watering and other management conditions were equal for each of the five groups. The room temperature was measured at five times per day: at 7:00 Am (morning), at 2:00 PM (after noon), at 7:00 PM (evening), at 1:00 AM (mid night), and at 5:00 AM (early in the morning). Had the room temperature been beyond 26 C, the charcoal wouldn t have been ignited. Finally, death/survival of chickens was strictly followed throughout 24 hrs for 15 days in each group. Heat produced from each pot was measured at three points (25, 75, and 125 cm) away from the source of heat within 10-15 and within 40-45 minutes after burning of the charcoal started, and 5minutes before adding charcoal for the next round; which was repeated three times and average temperature produced by the different amount of charcoal was calculated. Results In this study of determining the amount of charcoal required to brood chickens by evaluating heat generation capacity, the highest temperature (50 C) was measured in the pot charcoal chicken Fig. 1 Pot charcoal chicken set mouth to mouth after filling the bottom one with charcoal
AYALEW: DETERMINATION OF CHARCOAL AMOUNT USED IN POT CHARCOAL CHICKEN BROODER 33 Table 1 Heat measured from pot charcoal chicken by using 500, 750 and 1000 gm charcoal at 25, 75 and 125 cm from the pot containing the burning charcoal Amount of charcoal in the within 10-15 minutes after burning of the charcoal started within 40-45 minutes after burning of the charcoal started 5 minutes before adding charcoal for the next round 25cm 75cm 125cm 25cm 75cm 125cm 25cm 75cm 125cm 500gm 41.33 C 33.67 C 30 C 39.33 C 32.33 C 29.67 C 28 C 24.33 C 20.33 C 750gm 44.33 C 37 C 31 C 42.33 C 35 C 30 C 31.66 C 24.67 C 21.33 C 1000gm 50 C 42.67 C 32 C 49 C 40.33 C 31 C 36.67 C 28.67 C 23.67 C Table 2 Number of test chickens dead during the 15 days of the experiment under control s, and pot charcoal s used different amount of charcoal Pot charcoal and controls No. of test chickens Follow up days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 500gm charcoal 34 - - - - 1 - - - - 1 1 1-1 - 5 750gm charcoal 34 - - - - 1 - - - - 2-1 - - - 4 1000gm charcoal 34 - - - - - 1-1 - - 1-1 1-5 Positive control 34 - - - 1 1 1 6 3 2 1 2 - - - - 17 Negative control 34-2 1 4 6 2 3 4 7 4 1 - - - - 34 Total 170-2 1 5 9 4 9 8 9 8 5 2 1 2-65 Total death which used 1000 gm of charcoal followed by the one which used 750 gm, while the least temperature was measured in the which used 500 gm charcoal. In all the pot charcoal chicken s tested with different amount of charcoal, the highest level of temperature was measured within 10-15 minutes after burning of the charcoal started while the least was measured 5 minutes before adding charcoal for the next round (Table 1). The least number of chicken deaths was observed in the pot charcoal chicken which used 750 gm charcoal while the highest death was observed in the negative control left without heat source. Half of chickens were died in the positive control chicken. Higher chickens death, 5 to 9 chickens, was observed within 4-11 days of the experiment (Table 2). Discussion The 500 gm, 750 gm and 1000 gm pot charcoal s maintain average maximum temperature of 41.33, 44.33 and 50 C, respectively when the temperature was measured on the liter at 25 cm from the edge of the pot; each of them maintains average minimum temperature of 20.3, 21.33 and 23.67 C, respectively when the temperature was measured on the liter at 125 cm from the edge of the pot. The result observed in the current study was in agreement with the work of Awudu et al. 16 who measured minimum average temperature of 37 and 35 C at distance of 3 and 6 cm, respectively in Awudu heater (heater made of ordinary clay and pebbles which runs by wood charcoal). In each case, highest temperature measured at 25 cm in each case, followed by the temperature measured at 75 cm, while the lowest was measured at 125 cm from each pot containing the burning charcoal. In all the three tested pot charcoal chicken s, maximum temperature was measured within 10-15 minutes after the start of burning of the charcoal, followed by the temperature measured within 40-45 minutes after the start of burning of the charcoal while the lowest temperature was measured 5 minutes before the end the burning charcoal or before adding charcoal for next round. This result of the current study was in agreement with the work of Hassanuzzaman et al. 17 who observed better performance of charcoal s to maintain heat during initial stage (when the was started). According to Bolla 18, brooding temperature for day-old chicks should be 33 C at the level of the chickens backs; that is, about 50 mm above the litter. It has also been mentioned that for first week chickens, temperature on the floor, at the edge of the heat source, should be 32 to 35 C. Almost equal (4-5) number of deaths of chickens was recorded in all the pot charcoal chicken s
34 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL. 12 (1), JANUARY 2013 tested compared to that of the conventional electrical, and to that of the negative control (100% death was recorded). The result in this study was not in line with the work of Chaurasia et al. 19 who observed Bukhari (an apparatus which uses charcoal as burning material and indigenously used as room heaters, cooking mantles, etc.) equally efficient to conventional and Ayalew et al. 14 who observed higher level of chickens survival by the pot charcoal comparable to conventional electrical. Similarly Awudu et al. reported that the Awudu heater (a simple indigenous heater runs on wood charcoal) equally efficient to electric heaters 16. The 50% death recorded in chickens brooded by the positive control electrical is associated with the power interruptions occurred during the experiment and the number of chickens brooded. The experiment showed that it is possible to maintain the required temperature for brooding chickens in all the three cases. Use of 500 gm charcoal reduce cost by half than use of 1000 gm charcoal; even though more than the 500 gm can be used depending on the number of chickens, farmers can reduce their cost and the impact on forest by using 500 gm charcoal. Adding charcoal 5 minutes before the next round may not maintain the required brooding temperature; therefore, charcoal should be added for the next round by using the temperature in the brooding environment as a reference. As the chicken grows, its downy coat is replaced by feathers 18 and require less external heat; therefore, the brooding temperature can be gradually reduced, until supplementary heat is discontinued at about 3 4 weeks by reducing the amount of charcoal; adjusting the diameter of the guard also help to give chance for chickens to be closer to the heat source when feel cold or to go away from the heat source when they feel too warm. Further experimental study determining number of chickens which can be brooded per unit volume of charcoal, and factors affecting under Ethiopian condition would be suggested. Acknowledgment The Amhara national Regional state livestock agency should be acknowledged for facilitating and selling chickens, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Gondar, for allowing the poultry house and other equipments and facilities. I feel shame to acknowledge Dr. Sefinew Alemu with my ordinary words; his contribution is really unforgettable. Animal attendants who helped in feeding and managing chickens, and recording data need special appreciation. 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