Morphological and Morphometric Characterization of Indigenous Chicken Populations in Sheka Zone, South Western Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in Sheka Zone to characterize phenotypic traits of indigenous chicken populations. Multi-stage purposive random sampling technique was used to collect the data. Visual appraisal was conducted to study morphological traits of indigenous chicken populations. Quantitative data were collected on body weight and other linear morphometric measurements. A total of 720 (240 male and 480 female) chickens were considered for qualitative and quantitative traits studies. The results showed Sheka local chicken possesses normal (93.5%) and silky (6.5%) feather morphology; 86.7% normal, 10.1% Naked-neck and 3.2% crest feather distribution. The dominant shank color was yellow (44.7%) followed by white (28.5%) and gray (16.0%). With regard to earlobe colors, red (60.8%) was the dominant color followed by white (15.6%) and yellow (14.5%). The yellow (44.8%), pink (26.4%) and white (25.4%) skin colors were observed. Single comb type (63.2%) was dominant followed by rose (26.3%) and pea (8.8%). Kokima (13.5%), Kei/red (12.9%), Brown (10.3%), and Netch (8.9%) were the dominant plumage colors. The highest (1.75 kg) adult body weight was obtained from Naked-neck cocks. The average weight of adult chickens in the study zone was 1.55 kg. The overall mean of chest circumference, wingspan and body length were 27.3, 47.6 and 37.9 respectively. Accordingly keel length, shank length, shank circumference, and neck length were, 12.1, 8.5, 4.3 and 16.3 cm respectively. Therefore, the present study suggests that indigenous chicken populations might possess useful genetic potentials for improved productivity under scavenging feed resource-based production systems. Similarly morphological and phonotypical variations have been observed among the indigenous chicken populations; hence an in-depth molecular evaluation is needed to prove the level of genetic differentiation and relationship among them. Keywords: