A review of the nutritive value and utilisation of quality protein maize in indigenous chicken production

Indigenous chickens play an important role in African rural households particularly in improving their livelihoods. However, indigenous chicken production is characterised by low productivity due to poor management practises, particularly poor nutrition among other factors. Nutritional research into conventional, locally available and cheap feed stuffs is an imperative in enhancing the productivity of Indigenous chickens among smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. One such ingredient with potential is Quality Protein Maize. It is generally observed that Quality Protein Maize contains opaque-2 gene resulting in maize with elevated levels of tryptophan and lysine. Research into the interactions of Quality Protein Maize and growth performance and carcass characteristics of Indigenous chickens has become inevitable as preconditions for increasing chicken productivity particularly among small holder farmers. Addressing these preconditions is a precursor to sustainable indigenous chicken production among rural farmers. These issues are discussed in this paper.