VANARAJA:   THE BIRD FOR RURAL / TRIBAL POOR

Vanaraja is a choice bird for backyard farming in rural and tribal areas developed by the Project Directorate on Poultry (ICAR), Hydereabad. It is a multi-colored dual purpose bird with attractive plumage. The male parent is a colored cornish strain and the female parent is a synthetic multi-colored meat population. The male parent has been developed for moderate juvenile body weight, long shanks and good immune competence. The female parent has been developed for high egg production, better egg size, high hatchability and immune competence.

The plumage pattern and colour of Vanaraja bird is very attractive and closely resembles that of the desi fowl. It has better immune status against common poultry diseases and is adaptable to the free range rearing. Vanaraja males attain moderate body weight at 8 weeks of age under regular feeding system and the pullets produce around 160-180 eggs in a laying cycle with minimum supplementation of locally available feed ingredients and other managemental inputs. The general resistance  to common poultry diseases and the ability to withstand adverse climatic conditions makes Vanaraja perform well in rural areas. Due to their relatively light weight and long shanks, these birds are capable to protect themselves from predators which is otherwise a major problem observed in birds reared in backyards.

 Text Box: Performance of Vanaraja in comparison to desi bird Economic traits Vanaraja Desi fowl Day old chick weight, g 35 – 40 25 – 28 Six week chick weight, g 800 – 900 250 – 400 28 weeks egg weight, g 42 – 44 28 – 35 40 weeks egg weight, g 52 – 58 32 – 40 Age at sexual Maturity, days 160 – 180 220 280 days egg production, No 75 – 90 12 – 20 Annual egg production, No 150 – 160 45 – 60 Survivability, % (till 6 weeks) 98 90

Further, the genetic potential of Desi hens can be improved by crossing them with Vanaraja males and the upgraded progeny of such a cross performs better than Desi bird for body weight and egg production.

Managemental care

Day old Vanaraja chicks need brooding up to 4-6 weeks of age. They should be protected against Ranikhet disease through proper vaccination programme. During brooding period, they can be fed with layer starter diet. After brooding, these chicks need initial acclimatization to backyard environment before they are let free. Once they get adapted to the backyard farming conditions, they can perform better by scavenging for feed in the backyards. Additional feed need to be offered to the birds depending upon the extent of vegetation in the backyard and open area  available for scavenging.

Germplasm

The germplasm of Vanaraja can be available in the form of fertile eggs, day old chicks or grown up chicks.  The germplasm supplied so far within and outside Andhra Pradesh region was well accepted by the rural population. Details on Vanaraja’s performance and the rearing practices can be obtained from the Project Directorate on Poultry, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500030.