Village chicken production in Turkey: Tokat province example.

The aim of this work was to reveal the current form of village chicken production in Tokat province of Turkey. A survey was applied to 153 randomly selected farmers of 5 subdistricts in Tokat province. The ratios of domestic fowls in the survey region were as follows: hen 98.83%, goose 0.65%, turkey 0.29% and duck 0.16% (P < 0.01). Feather colours of laying hens were white (2.76%), brown (8.63%) and mixed color (88.60%). The hen farms in this region consisted of native breeds (91.42%), commercial breeds (5.71%) and their crosses (2.85%). The mean egg weight of the village hens was between 30 and 40 g. Wheat (65.73%) and mixed (wheat, barley, maize and kitchen refuse) feed (34.22%) were used to supplement the hens (P < 0.01). For producing natural chicks, the hens were brooded between 1.10 and 1.46 times/year, 1.31 on average. For each brooding, the number of placed eggs under the broody hens was between 11.39 and 12.42 (P < 0.05).