~ 1379 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2020; 8(4): 1379-1381 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 www.entomoljournal.com JEZS 2020; 8(4): 1379-1381 © 2020 JEZS Received: 12-05-2020 Accepted: 14-06-2020 T Vasanthakumar Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, TANUVAS, Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu, India GH Hudson Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, TANUVAS, Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu, India R Richard Churchil Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, TANUVAS, Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu, India Corresponding Author: T Vasanthakumar Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, TANUVAS, Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu, India Production performance of Nandanam chicken 4 in Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu T Vasanthakumar, GH Hudson and R Richard Churchil Abstract Production performance of Nandanam chicken 4 was evaluated at Poultry unit, Instructional Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Orathanadu, Thanjavur. At the end of 72 weeks of age the average egg weight (g), percent hen day egg production, percent hen housed egg production and percent mortality were 49.28±0.26, 53.14, 47.19 and 14.44 respectively. The present study revealed that the total hen day and hen housed egg production of Nandanam Chicken 4 is 193 and 172 eggs / hen / year. The better production performance of Nandanam Chicken 4 may favour the farmers in Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu to improve their livelihood and nutritional security. Keywords: Nandanam chicken 4, egg production, production performance Introduction Nandanam chicken 4 is a synthetic dual purpose chicken developed through the reciprocal crossing of White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red. The crosses were pooled together and improved upon sustained selection and breeding for five generations, is maintained at Poultry Research Station, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai. It is a dual purpose multi-colour plumage bird, lays brown shelled egg and non-broody in nature. This bird is well received by farming community because of its more egg production capability. This study was carried out to evaluate the production performance of Nandanam chicken 4 in Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu. Materials and Methods Ninety pullets were housed in Poultry unit, Instructional Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Orathanadu, Thanjavur. The birds were maintained in deep litter system using mash feed. The feed formulation was done based BIS (2007) [1] recommendation and nutrient composition is presented in table I. During the entire period of lay 16 hours of photoperiod was given. Throughout the study period all standard management practices were followed. The data on daily egg production, feed consumption and mortality were recorded from 21 to 72 weeks of age. Average egg weight, percent hen day egg production, percent hen housed egg production and percent mortality were calculated at 28 days interval. Results and Discussion The production performance of Nandanam Chicken 4 is presented in table II. The average egg weight (g) at the end of 40 and 72 weeks of age was 44.79±0.30 and 49.28±0.26 grams respectively. Premavalli et al. (2016) [2] and Chitra (2019) [3] reported that the egg weight of Nandanam Chicken 4 under intensive and free range systems as 53.55±0.76 and 52.0±0.62g respectively. Rajkumar et al. (2017) [4] reported that the mean egg weight at 40 and 72 wk of age in Aseel bird was 38.8± 0.6 and 47.5± 0.7 g respectively. The higher egg weight in Nandanam Chicken 4 when compared to Aseel chicken may be due to gene action of White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red. In addition to this the variations in egg size might be due to attributes like systems of rearing, climatic conditions, type of feed, feeding pattern etc. The mean hen day egg production of Nandanam Chicken 4 at the end of 40 and 72 week of age was 53.59 and 50.20 percent respectively, whereas the hen housed egg production was found to be 53.14 and 47.19 percent respectively. When compared to the results observed by Kanagaraju et al. (2016) [5] the birds reared in Cauvery delta region are performing better. The total hen day and hen housed egg production was 193 and 172 eggs / hen / year respectively which is closer to the findings of Chitra (2019) [3] , who reported 176 eggs/ hen / year. But in Aseel hen the mean egg production at 72 weeks of age was 64 numbers which