Morphological characterisation of indigenous chickens and its application to compare ecotypes from three districts in the Northern Region of Ghana

Abstract

This study was to characterize the qualitative and quantitative morphometric traits of indigenous chicken populations reared in three districts in the northern region of Ghana. Data on both qualitative and quantitative traits of the indigenous chicken populations were collected from 200 randomly selected households of the three districts. Visual appraisals, body weight and linear body measurements were taken from 600 adult indigenous chickens of both sexes in the selected households. The results indicated that the average chicken flock size, clutch size and annual egg number per hen per year were 8.68, 3.6 and 44, respectively. In males, yellow shank colour (61%), red earlobe colour (80.7%) and yellow skin colour (56%) were the dominant phenotypic traits. However, female chickens were characterized by white shank colour (33.3%), white earlobe colour (44.2%) and white skin colour (75%). The overall mean values of body weight, body length, wingspan, back length, keel bone length, chest width, shank length, and shank circumference were 1.31 kg, 38.6 cm, 38.8 cm, 18.4 cm, 10.3 cm, 26.1 cm, 7.49 cm and 3.59 cm, respectively. The values of all linear body measurement traits deferred significantly (P < 0.01) across the study districts. Body weight and linear body measurements showed strong associations. The present finding suggests that indigenous chickens in the study area possess unique genetic potentials that would be used for further breeding programs for optimum utilization of these genetic resources by the rural communities.