Background and Objective: Local chickens in Burkina Faso play a crucial role in income generation and food security, especially to the rural community and the most vulnerable groups. Genetic and phenotypic characterization of these local chicken ecotypes is sketchy. The objective of this study was to determine the morpho-biometric characteristics of local chicken "Konde" from the Centre-East and local ecotypes in the Sahel, Centre-North and South-West regions of Burkina Faso. Materials and Methods: A total of 1179 adult local chickens at six months of age were used for the study and sampled as followed: 406, 352, 285 and 136 chickens respectively from South-West, Centre-North, Sahel and Centre-East region. Results: The mean body weight of chicken was 1204.80±344.9 g and significantly affected by region and sex (p<0.05). Konde Chickens (1651.85±378.57g) were heavier than those of the birds from the Centre-North (1163.66±259.39 g) and South-West regions (1217.92±322.31 g), which did not differ from each other but they were heavier than those of the birds from Sahel region (1023.59±250.99 g). For all ecotypes, males were significantly heavier (Konde = 2006.27±412.17 g; Centre-North = 1301.28±269.90 g; Sahel = 1123.82±294.22 g; South-West = 1470.35±349.62 g) compared to female (Konde = 1498.89±234.74 g; Centre-North = 1080.08±213.67 g; South-West = 1096,31±223,17 g; Sahel = 956.77±190.98 g). The multivariate analysis revealed three types of (03) populations: large heavy chickens (1976±273 g), medium chickens (1296±163 kg) and small light chicken (909±119 kg). Dominant plumages were white (15.86%), partridge (11.96%), multicolors (11.79%) and hermine (10.09%). Naked neck, curly plumage, yellow legs, crested and rose comb mutations were identified in the studied ecotypes. Conclusion: Data from this study shows sufficient phenotypic variability in moderately heritable traits supporting the possibility for genetic improvement of local chicken ecotypes in Burkina Faso.

The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of local chicken ecotypes from Burkina Faso using microsatellite markers. A total of 71 individuals representing local chicken populations from the Centre-East (18), Centre-North (17), Sahel (18) and South-West (18) were used to estimate genetic diversity indices, population structure and phylogenetic relationships using 20 selected polymorphic microsatellite markers. The number of alleles, mean number of alleles, mean of observed and expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content were 127, 6.35, 0.391, 0.521, 0.539 and 0.541, respectively. The estimated overall fixation index between loci (F), among populations (FIS) and inbreeding coefficient within chicken ecotypes were 0.239, 0.267 and 0.243, respectively. Analysis of the molecular variance revealed that 77% of the total genetic diversity was attributed to within-population variation and the remaining 1% and 22% were attributed to among-regions differentiation (FST) and among-individual differentiation (FIT), respectively. The highest pairwise genetic distance (0.026) was found between the local Konde ecotype and those from the Centre-North region while the lowest distance was observed between local chickens from the Sahel and the Centre-North regions (0.003). Neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree and principal component discriminant analyses confirmed the observed genetic distances between populations. The results show that local chickens in Burkina Faso have a rich genetic diversity with little differentiation between the studied populations. This study provides important information on measures of genetic diversity that could help in the design and implementation of future genetic improvement and conservation programs for local chickens in Burkina Faso.

Les perspectives d’une remise en reproduction après vêlage, prennent en compte la durée de l’anoestrus postpartum. Cette durée dépendrait du délai d’involution utérine et du fonctionnement de l’axe gonado-hypothalamo-hypophysaire. L’objectif de cette étude a été d’apprécier les caractéristiques de l’anoestrus postpartum, notamment l’involution utérine complète et la reprise de l’activité ovarienne après la parturition chez la vache zébu Peuhl. Elle a concerné dix femelles (n = 10) d’âge et de poids moyens compris respectivement dans les intervalles [4 – 13] ans et [190 – 250] kg. Elles ont été examinées à partir deJ7 jusqu’à J100 postpartum, au moyen d’un échographe portable muni d’une sonde linéaire de 7,5 Mhz. Les clichés les plus représentatifs des cornes utérines, du cervix et des organites ovariens ont été enregistrés et analysés. La courbe de résorption utérine a montré une phase de régression rapide entre J7 et J16 suivi d’une phase lente entre J17 et J45.Ledélai moyen pour l’involution utérine a été 26,6 ± 2,11jours. La reprise de l’activité ovarienne a été observée dans un délai de 68,5 ± 6,11 jours. Ce délai varie en fonction de la parité (p = 0,04).Mots clés : Involution utérine, activité ovarienne, postpartum, zébu. English Title: Dynamics of uterine involution and follicular growth during anoestrus postpartum in African zebu Peulh   The prospects for rebreeding after calving were strongly influenced by postpartum anestrus duration which depends on the time of complete uterine involution and ovarian activity resumption. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of postpartum anestrus, in particular complete uterine involution and resumption of ovarian activity in the Peuhl zebu. It carried out on ten females (n = 10) which mean age and weight were extended between [4 - 13] years and [190 - 250] kg respectively. They were examined from Day 7 to Day 100 after calving by using a portable ultrasound scanner equipped with a 7.5 Mhz linear probe. The most representative images of uterine horns, cervix and ovarian structures have been frozen, recorded and exported for analyzing. The uterine resorption curve showed a rapid regression phase between Day 7 to 16 followed by a slow phase between D17 and D45. The mean time for uterine involution was 26.6 ± 2.11 days. Resumption of ovarian activity was observed within 68.5 ± 6.11 days. This time varies with parity (p = 0.04). Keywords: Uterine involution, ovarian activity, postpartum, Zebu cows

Cette étude vise à estimer le poids du fœtus zébu Peuhl à partir des mesures échographiques des diamètres de l’abdomen (DA), du bipariétal (DBP), du cordon ombilical (DCO), de la corne utérine (DCU) et des longueurs du fémur (LF), du tibia (LT) et du dos (LD). Elle a concerné soixante et un (n=61) utérus gravides recueillis après abattage de femelles gestantes. Toutes les gestations étaient simples. Les examens ont été réalisés en bain d’eau au moyen d’une sonde convexe de 3,5 MHZ. Les utérus ont été ensuite disséqués afin de rapporté le poids des fœtus au moyen d’une balance. Les données ont été analysées au moyen du système de régression curvilinéaire. Les formules d’estimation du poids à partir des paramètres biométriques ont été de type y = axb, ou` y_paramètre biomètrique (millimètre), a et b_constantes et x_poids (gramme). Toutes les structures morphologiques étudiées ont présenté des corrélations positives et hautement significatives avec le poids du fœtus (p < 0,0001). Toutefois, les DA (R² =0,94), DBP (R²=0,80) et la LF (R² =0,81) semblent être les plus appropriés pour l’estimation du poids du fœtus. A défaut de ces paramètres, les autres structures étudiées peuvent servir de repère dans l’estimation du poids.