Phenotypic Characterisation of Indigenous Chickens in Rushinga District

Abstract

Study sought to phenotypically characterise indigenous chickens in Rushinga district. Samples were drawn from three wards with the highest number of chickens. Purposive sampling was initially carried to select indigenous chicken farmers followed by snowball sampling to identify more farmers with at least ten adult chickens. A total of 65 questionnaires were administered randomly to assess on production environment. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16 for frequencies, descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance to differentiate chicken populations in wards on quantitative traits. The study showed that more females (67.7%) where involved in indigenous chicken production compared to males (32.3%). Mean flock size was 23.07 and flock composition was mainly characterized by chicks, pullets and cockerels. Neck lengths, shank length, comb height, wattle length and wing span were significantly different amongst all wards (p < 0.05). Pelvic width; back length; body circumference, body weight and body length, were similar in all the wards investigated. Production environment in Rushinga is characterized by resource poor farmers who rely on erratic rain fed farming for income. Phenotypically, chickens exert adaptive characteristics to harsh climatic and production environment. There is need to design and implement a national research program to collect, conserve and improve indigenous chicken breeds. Indigenous chickens (Gallus domestica) accounts for about 80% of the world's poultry population and 90% are in developing countries [1]. Generally kept under scavenging production systems, with limited resources [2]. Most of the breeds are well adapted to the local climatic conditions, scarce feed resources, and are highly disease tolerant [3]. Indigenous chickens play an integral role in smallholder farming systems [4] as they are used to meet the multiple household, socio cultural and economic needs

Chicken Authentication and Discrimination via Live Weight, Body Size, Carcass Traits, and Breast Muscle Fat Content Clustering as Affected by Breed and Sex Varieties in Malaysia

“…Even though chest circumference in APVC had a higher value and was significantly different from UCBS, there was no significant difference among chest circumference value in NMVC, APVC, and UCBH. It was obvious that both village chicken breeds (NMVC, APVC) had longer shank length compared to colored broilers, in which shank length is regarded as a good indicator of skeletal development and can be associated with chicken active walking potential to cover long distances in search of feed [ 51 ] ( Table 5 ).…”