Crecimiento y alimentación: aspectos para la productividad de Aves Criollas Mexicanas

Abstract

In rural Mexican communities, poultry farming plays an important role in food security and family economics by providing highly nutritious foods. Furthermore, poultry farming presents favorable characteristics for its exploitation. However, the diet of native birds is deficient, and they fail to meet their nutritional requirements. This causes stunted growth, prolonging the time required to reach adequate weight and delaying sexual maturity. The study of growth curves of Mexican Creole birds allows us to characterize this process; its importance lies in considering weight as a key productive indicator for predicting performance. Growth curves are a useful tool for providing reference values, which allows assessing whether growth is adequate. In Mexican Creole birds, weight differences are observed between sexes, with males being slightly heavier than females at birth, and averages vary between roosters and hens as they grow. Improving nutrition is essential to optimize growth; to achieve this, higher-quality, low-cost raw materials from rural areas can be used.