Behaviour of Nigerian indigenous chickens

Abstract

Nigerian indigenous chickens (NICs) have undergone several years of natural selection and still maintain their natural behavioural repertoire close to that of the red jungle fowl. The three common genotypes of the NICs are normal, frizzle and naked neck, with the normal feather closest to the red jungle fowl and consisting of >90% of the population. Currently, there is scanty information on the behaviour of NIC. This review will focus on various behaviours of NICs such as feeding/foraging, sexual, nesting, egg-laying, brooding, maternal care, vocalization, and sleeping. Special behavioural cases such as cock-hen preference and mixed brooding are also discussed. We also present here for the first time some preliminary vocalization characteristics of NICs. Comparisons of the behaviours of NICs, their ancestor red jungle fowl, and other native chickens are also made. The information obtained from this review will help chicken farmers to manage their birds better. Also, information obtained from this review contributes to the field of chicken behavioural science, since behaviours are linked with welfare issues in chickens.