The study was conducted to investigate the
body dimension, morphometric features and inheritance pattern of indigenous
dwarf chicken (IDC) of Bangladesh under intensive management condition. The experiment
was conducted at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) poultry farm for a
period of 28 months from March 2013 to June 2015 including a total of 979
birds. Body weight, shank length and circumference, chest girth, length of
trunk, wing, keel and body, and body conformation indices were recorded at 8,
24 and 52 weeks of age. The average shank length, shank circumference and live
weight at 24th week in adult dwarf males and females were 7.38 and
4.37 cm, 6.20 and 3.63 cm, and 1650 and 1067 g, respectively. The reduction of
live weight for dwarf male and female chickens relative to their normal shank
counterpart (NSC) at same age was 14.06 and 16.05%, respectively. Length of
body, trunk, wing, shank and keel of IDC were also significantly shorter than
NSC at all ages. The indices of shape, massiveness and long leggedness of NSC
were significantly greater than IDC almost all ages. Shank lengths of day old
chicks were measured within 1.4-1.6 cm. The ratio of non-dwarf and dwarf in
indigenous chicken populations was found 9:7 for 1st generation
where significant deviation observed in subsequent generations. Among the dwarf progeny, the male and female
ratio was close to 1:1. Current hypothesis is in favor of autosomal dwarfism
control by at least 2 pairs of genes where duplicate recessive gene interaction
also known as complementary gene effect has probably been exerted between two
pairs of genes. In conclusion, the present estimates give some insight
information on morphometry and body conformational aspects between normal
shanked and dwarf chickens which relate with lowered motoric activity, reduced
metabolic rate and their body surface-mass makes the dwarf birds suitable for
hot-humid climate like Bangladesh.
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Zootechny (Other) |
Journal Section | Research Article |
Authors | |
Publication Date | December 31, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 16 Issue: 2 |
204x63
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Print ISSN:1302-3209 - Online ISSN:2147-9003
Journal of Poultry Research is indexed by the following national and international scientific indexing services