Table 5.
Effect of different fostering methods on growth performance of squabs during brooding period.
| Parameters | Groups | SEM | F-Value | p-Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parents-Reared | Foster Pigeons-Reared | Human-Reared | ||||
| Initial body weight (g) | 49.05 | 49.11 | 49.31 | 0.06 | 1.67 | 0.197 |
| Final body weight (g) | 469.55 a | 277.35 c | 302.70 b | 11.12 | 7047.83 | 0.00 |
| Body weight gain (g) | 420.51 a | 228.24 c | 253.39 b | 11.13 | 6715.51 | 0.00 |
| Total feed intake (g) | 1617.30 a | 536.20 c | 852.85 b | 59.15 | 11838.63 | 0.00 |
| Feed conversion ratio | 3.85 a | 2.35 c | 3.37 b | 0.08 | 1341.16 | 0.00 |
| Relative growth rate | 162.17 a | 139.82 c | 143.94 b | 1.27 | 2628.48 | 0.00 |
| Protein efficiency ratio | 1.63 c | 2.67 a | 1.86 b | 0.06 | 1132.34 | 0.00 |
| Survival rate % | 100.00 a | 65.00 b | 85.00 ab | 5.54 | 4.06 | 0.029 |
a–c Means bearing different superscript letters within the same row are significantly different (p <0.05). SEM: Standard error of the means.