TY - JOUR ID - 4316 TI - Evaluation of Morphometric Differences among Indigenous Chicken Populations in Bale Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia JO - Poultry Science Journal JA - PSJ LA - en SN - 2345-6604 AU - Tareke, M AU - Assefa, B AU - Abate, T AU - Tekletsadik, E AD - Madda Walabu University, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, Department of Animal and Range Sciences, Bale Robe, Ethiopia Y1 - 2018 PY - 2018 VL - 6 IS - 2 SP - 181 EP - 190 KW - Trait KW - Evaluation KW - Indigenous chicken KW - Morphometric difference DO - 10.22069/psj.2018.14974.1329 N2 - The study was conducted in five selected districts in Bale zone South East, Ethiopia to evaluate the morphometric difference among indigenous chicken populations. Simple random sampling method was used to select 400 households who owned indigenous chicken population. From these households, a total of 840 adult (more than 6 months of age) indigenous chickens (225 males and 615 females) were used for morphometric traits measurements. Linear measurements were taken to the nearest of 0.5 cm and body weight was recorded at a precision scale of 100 g. Multivariate variance analysis was used to determine major traits that differentiate chicken population. Canonical discriminant multivariate statistical analysis was conducted for more powerful traits comparisons. Stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to check the discriminating power of the traits. Pairwise Mahalanobis analysis was carried out to see the distance between indigenous chicken in the study districts. The study revealed that there were significant variations in morphometric traits across the study districts except shank circumference and wing span in hens and shank length, comb height, comb length, beak length and wattle length in cocks. There were significant variations in linear body measurements between sexes. Pairwise Mahalanobis distances between indigenous chicken between most of study districts were significant. Generally, there were morphological traits variations observed among the indigenous chicken populations across the study districts and between sexes, which suggest that there is an opportunity for genetic improvement through selection. Thus, farmers should get technical supports how to select best indigenous chicken for breeding purpose and formulation of breeding plan should be implemented to conserve indigenous chicken genetic resources for genetic improvement strategies. UR - https://psj.gau.ac.ir/article_4316.html L1 - https://psj.gau.ac.ir/article_4316_75bd942c454aa7179177809d1933f216.pdf ER -