Growth Performance Analysis of Two Italian Slow-Growing Chicken Breeds: Bianca di Saluzzo and Bionda Piemontese

Abstract

Bianca di Saluzzo (BS) and Bionda Piemontese (BP) are two Italian chicken breeds, mainly reared for meat production, primarily in antibiotic-free farming. However, technical information on their growth pattern is still missing. At hatching, 150 unsexed chicks of each breed were weighed, labeled, and reared in indoor pens up to 8 w of age. At 8 w of age, the chicks were separated by sex and randomly transferred to growing pens with access to an external paddock (15 birds/pen; 4 pens/sex for each breed). The body weight (BW) was recorded biweekly for each bird, from hatching to 32 w of age. In order to identify an improvement strategy, the objectives of our study were to analyze the growth pattern of these birds using the Gompertz mathematical model and compare results with other chicken breeds. Polymorphism of the PAX7 gene was also analyzed to test its association with growth traits. Both BS and BP are close to unselected native breeds and, among the Italian local poultry, they are confirmed to be slow-growing birds with an intermediate size between heavy and light chicken breeds. Regarding the PAX7 gene, two alleles were found, F and G, and showed an association with the actual BW in the BP females from 14 w of age onwards. The G allele always exhibited a more favorable effect than the F allele. In small size poultry population, a delicate balance between preservation of biodiversity and performance improvement should be considered. Consequently, the most proper way could be an approach based on a mating scheme to keep inbreeding under control, increase growth rate, and improve commercial maturity.

Biometric Characterization of the Portuguese Autochthonous Hens Breeds

“…The morphometric measurements show highly significant sexual dimorphism, due to hormonal growth effects [ 39 ], in accordance with several authors [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 22 , 24 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Breed had significant effect ( p ≤ 0.05) in males, with the superiority of the “Branca” roosters, being the heaviest, largest and with the highest shank diameter and the “Preta Lusitânica” roosters, the lightest, shortest and with the smallest chest circumference.…”

“…The sustainability of production is becoming an increasingly strong consumer argument for the choice of products and producers that are part of their diet [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. The breeding system for indigenous species is balanced by the use of natural resources, land and water, making it environmentally “friendlier”, and particularly adjusted in less favored regions where these resources are scarce [ 16 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ].…”

Distribution and consistency of Ancona and Livorno poultry breed in Central Italy

“…However, the strong selection for productive traits led to the loss of genetic variability (Tixier-Boichard 2020) and a consequent lower response of animals to climatic change and diseases. Poultry biodiversity is seriously threatened (Wimmers et al 2000), and its safeguard is a clear objective in developed and undeveloped countries (Sirri et al 2018;Soglia et al 2020).…”

Overview of Native Chicken Breeds in Italy: Conservation Status and Rearing Systems in Use

“…The most common breed reported in the F breeder category was the Bionda Piemontese (n = 3319), a medium-sized breed [ 35 ] formerly considered as dual-purpose, but nowadays mainly used for meat production [ 17 , 35 ]. This result was not unexpected since its geographical place of origin is the Italian region with the third highest concentration of poultry meat farms [ 63 ].…”

“…Studies on breeding, productive performance, product quality, rearing management, welfare, and physiological traits are also available on the following breeds: Ancona [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], Bianca di Saluzzo [ 35 ], Bionda Piemontese [ 35 , 36 , 37 ], Ermellinata di Rovigo [ 6 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], Livorno [ 43 , 44 , 45 ], Mericanel della Brianza [ 46 , 47 , 48 ], Milanino [ 5 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ], Modenese [ 9 , 11 , 53 ], Mugellese [ 54 ], Padovana [ 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ], Polverara [ 55 , 57 , 60 ], Robusta Lionata [ 39 , 61 ], Robusta Maculata [ 6 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], Romagnola [ 9 , 53 , 62 ], Siciliana [ 44 ], and Valdarnese Bianca […”