Comparism of the Genetic makeup in Growth Parameters of Nigerian Indigenous Normal, Frizzle Feathers and Their Crossbreds Chicken Progenies

Abstract

This study evaluated the body parameters of some Nigerian indigenous chickens, ISA-Brown and their crossbreds. The experimental birds consisted of fifteen sires and sixty dams used as parent stocks and distributed in the ratio of 5 cocks to 20 hens. Five genotypes were generated from Pure and crossbreeding using Artificial Insemination in a Completely Randomized Design. The crosses include; Normal Feather x Normal Feather (NN), Frizzle Feather x Frizzle Feather (FF), ISA-Brown x ISA-Brown (IB), ISA-Brown x Normal Feather (INF) and ISA-Brown x Frizzle Feather (IFF). The experiment lasted for 20 weeks.Atotal of three hundred progenies were generated from all the crosses having 20 males and 40 females in each genotype. Data on Body Weight (BW), Body Length (BL), Chest Girth (CG), Keel Length (KL), Shank Length (SL), Thigh Length (TL), and Wing Length (WL) were collected on weekly basis till 20 weeks. Data generated from growth were analyzed using General Linear Model (P < 0.05) of SAS (2003). Genotype, sex and genotype × sex interactions significantly influenced (P<0.05) growth parameters of the progenies at all ages. The crossbreds of ISA-Brown × Frizzle Feather (IFF) had the highest body weight (1640 ± 13.50g) at 20 weeks. The
crossbreds of ISA-Brown × Normal Feather (INF) male chickens had the highest growth parameters when compared with other crossbred males. Conclusively, since IFF and INF males could be reared and selected as meat birds.