Introduction:
This project was supposed to analyze the changes that would take place in the weight of two categories of chicken, for instance, the broilers and the layers. The broiler chicken are the chicken that are grown for meat whereas the layer chicken are the chicken that are raised for the main purpose of laying eggs. In the project, the Buff Orpington chicken were included in the experiment to represent the category of the egg laying chicken or the layers as explained above.
Similarly, the Cornish Cross chicken were considered as the broiler chicken in this analysis. To eliminate bias and variations in this experiment, differences in the ages of the chicken were eliminated by considering the chicken that are of the same age in the experiment. The chicken to be considered in this research the same number of chicken of each type were included in the analysis.
All the other variables like the food given to the chicken were maintained putting into consideration the type of food that is supposed to be fed to either of these chicken categories. A track of the weights of these chicken weights was registered over a given period of time and was coded in Excel sheets. The changes in the weight of the chicken are attributed to a chicken growth hormone ( Feng ) known as cGH with differential secretion between the broilers and layers. However, research shows that the chickens usually grow their weight, not because of hormones but according to the way they are nourished (Havenstein et al).
The experiment was done in two separate labs, but precautionary measures were taken to ensure that these different laboratories have similar conditions as possible. The primary objective of this research was to find out whether the two kinds of chicken would register different increases in the weights over the experiment. To further answer this purpose, the following hypotheses were identified.
Ho: There was no significant difference in the weights gained by the tow different chicken types
H1: There was a significant difference in the weights gained by the two categories of chicken over the course of the experiment.
Materials and Methods:
The experiment was done at the laboratories located at the Lincoln High school. The different categories of the chicken were kept in the laboratory during the course of the research. Data on the chicken in this experiment was periodically collected from the laboratory at predefined time periods. The all experiment was done between February and March 2015.Within that time frame; data on these chickens was collected five time and was properly coded in Excel spreadsheets. The data was collected by the students at the Lincoln High School. During the data collection, the students also performed other duties like filling the water and food troughs of the chicken with water.
The student would gather all the chicken that is needed for weighing. For ease of identification of the right chicken to weigh, the different specimen of the chicken were tagged using colored tags with, and identification tags number during the course of the experiment. Precaution was taken to ensure that the chicken is fed with the right feeds that they are supposed to be fed on in the course of the research. This was necessary because it would help to eliminate the variations that would occur due to differences in the feeds given to the chicken. The major materials that were used in this experiment were the two categories of chicken, for instance, the broiler Cornish Cross chicken and the layer Buff Orpington chickens.
The other materials and accessories that were used in the experiment include the water troughs that were used to administer water to the chicken. The Purina Chick starter packs were also used in this analysis to provide feed for the chicken in this experiment. All the weights of the chicken in the experiment were measured in Ounces (OZ).However for ease of computation; these values were converted to kilograms and fed into Excel for analysis. The data regarding the weight of the chicken continuous in nature as it contained values including the decimal figures. The ages and breeds of the chicken were identified using the colors on the legs of these chickens. The data was then collected preliminary using a pen and paper and later on fed into the computer for analysis.
Results:
Chicken type: Buff Orpinton
Chicken type: CornishCross
Discussion:
Similarly, the weights of the other category of chicken (layers) were also tested to find out whether they showed any significance difference amongst themselves. AS in the previous explanation, a significant difference obtained between these values would imply that the chicken were fed well and carrying forward with a test to determine the difference between the two chicken categories. The test was carried out at 0.05 level of significance as in the previous test. From table (2), the degrees of freedom for carrying out the analysis was 58, and it also assumed equality of mean in the computations of the results.
Finally to test the hypothesis (Wilcox) that was stated earlier, the difference between the weights of the two categories of the chicken, for instance, the layers and the broilers were carried out. The initial graphical plot indicated that broiler chicken (CornishCross) had a greater mean change in their weight compared their egg laying counterparts (Buff Orpinton) in the experiment. In order to test for the significance of the results indicated by the graphical plot, a paired t-test for the difference between the means of the two chicken categories was carried out. In the t-test, an assumption of equality of means was assumed during the computation of the results.
The results contained table (3) above indicated that there was a significant difference between the weight of the two categories of chicken as indicated by the results of the experiment. The tests were conducted at 0.05 level of significance. The test produced a p-value less than 0.05, the stated level of significance. Since the p-value obtained was less than the level of significance, we the results imply that we reject the null hypothesis. The results indicate that there was a significant difference in the weights gained by the two different chicken categories.
There seems to exist a growth hormone with differential secretion between the broiler chicken and the layer kind of chicken. In the present of this growth hormone, even if the two kinds of chicken are fed under the same conditions with the same chicken mash, the expected weight gain will have to vary. These two categories of chicken are genetically set to produce this hormone (cGH) in varying amounts. The broiler chicken seems to produce this hormone in amounts greater than those produced by the layer chicken (Mao). This is the major reason why the weights of the two Chicken types were varying even when the experiment was carried out under the same conditions.
Works cited
Feng, Xiaopeng. Chicken Growth Hormone Receptor and Growth Hormone: Search for Genetic Variants Which Affect Commercially Important Traits. 1996. Print.
Havenstein, Ferket, Qureshi, Carcass composition and yield of 1957 vesus 2001 broilers when fed representative 1957 and 2001 broiler diets, Poultry science. 2003
Mao, Jean N. C. Regulation of Growth Hormone Receptor Gene Expression in Hepatic and Extrahepatic Tissues of the Broiler Chicken (Gallus Domesticus). 1997. Print
Wilcox, Rand R. Introduction to Robust Estimation and Hypothesis Testing. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic, 2005. Print
