Frequencies of different phenotypes and body parameters of mature indigenous chicken in deciduous rainforest zone of Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted using 800 adult local chickens comprising 355 males and 445 females, which were obtained from 2 major markets in Ado Ekiti, the capital city of Ekiti state, Nigeria. Convenience sampling technique was employed in selecting animals for observation. The birds were individually observed for phenotypic expression of shank colour, feather morphology, feather structure, polydactyly, ptylopody and comb types. The number in each group was expressed as a percentage of the total number of birds. The body size parameters measured include body weight, body girth, body length, shank length, wing length, toe length, keel length and shank diameter. The result revealed that the phenotypic frequencies of birds with dominant genes for feather morphology (FF, Ff), feather structure (NaNa + Nana), poly dactyl (PoPo + Popo) and ptylopods (FshFsh + Fshfsh) were 0.033, 0.037, 0.042 and 0.046 respectively, while that of the recessive gene carriers were 0.967, 0.963, 0.958 and 0.954 respectively. The calculated gene frequencies for frizzled (F), Naked neck (Na), Polydactyly (Po) and ptylopods (Fsh) were 0.035, 0.024, 0.034 and 0.035 respectively. The local chicken showed different plumage coloration with black, brown and pink predominating. The male birds were superior to their female counterparts with significant differences (P<0.05) in all the parameters measured except weight.