Phenotypic characterization of indigenous chicken ecotypes in the north Gondar zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

An exploratory field survey was conducted in north Gondar zone, Ethiopia to identify and characterize the local chicken ecotypes. Seven qualitative and twelve quantitative traits from 450 chickens were considered. Chicken ecotypes such as necked neck, Gasgie and Gugut from Quara, Alefa and Tache Armacheho districts were identified, respectively. Morphometric measurements indicated that the body weight and body length of necked neck and Gasgie ecotypes were significantly (p < 0.01) higher than Gugut ecotypes except in shank circumstances. Sex and ecotype were the significant (p < 0.01) sources of variation for both body weights and linear body measurements. The relationship of body weight with other body measurements for all ecotypes in both sexes were highly significant (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). Some traits like wingspan, body length and super length (r = 0.64, P < 0.01) for males and for females (r = 0.59, P < 0.01) of necked neck chickens are significantly correlated with body weight. Therefore, highly correlated traits are the basic indicators for estimation of the continuous prediction of body weight of chicken. Identification and characterization of new genetic resources should be employed routinely to validate and investigate the resources in the country.

Phenotypic and morphological characterizations of indigenous chicken populations in Kaffa Zone, South-Western Ethiopia

“…In the current study, males (92%) and females (78.3%) had snakehead shape across all the study districts, which is in good agreement with the reports of [11,14,23]. The results of shank color in the present study indicated that male (61%) and female (32%) chickens possessed yellow shank, which was in line with the findings of [7,10] who reported that majority of chicken populations (52.5%) in southern and eastern parts of Ethiopia were characterized by yellow shank.…”

Genetic diversity and population structure of indigenous chicken in Rwanda using microsatellite markers

“…The IC populations in Rwanda had a similar level of diversity as their Ethiopian [45], Egyptian [38] and Cameroonian [8] counterparts, but had lower and higher diversity than those observed in southern China [19], European and Asian IC breeds [35], respectively. Among Rwanda IC, all populations showed a significantly high degree of inbreeding, which could have an impact on trait fixation in the populations.…”

Biosecurity Strategies for Backyard Poultry: A Controlled Way for Safe Food Production

“…Three types of duck breeds are reared in Thailand-namely, egg-laying ducks (Khaki Campbell), crossbreed of khaki Campbell and native laying ducks, and a small number of meat type ducks (Pekin, White Cherry Valley) (Gilbert et al, 2007). In Sudan and Ethiopia (Africa), large Beladi (LB), bare neck (BN), Betwil (BT) dwarf, naked neck, and Gasgie and Gugut breeds of chickens are kept in backyard farms (Getu et al, 2014;Wani et al, 2014).…”