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On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in the Western Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia

Received: 21 March 2024     Accepted: 16 April 2024     Published: 23 July 2024
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Abstract

The study was conducted to characterize morphometric traits of indigenous chickens and determine the relationships among the traits in three agro-climatic regions of western zone of Tigray regional state of Ethiopia. Twenty- one morphometric traits from 770 local chickens (412 hens, 358 cocks) were measured and analyzed using the PROC GLM of SAS 2008. Tukey mean comparison was used to analyze significantly different traits. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships among the traits. Significant variations were found in most traits among ecotypes, with males showing higher values in many traits. Kolla chickens generally exhibited higher values, except for neck length, skull length, and wattle, earlobe, comb, and beak indices. Interactions between sex and ecotypes significantly affected the morphometric traits. The strength and direction of significant correlations among the quantitative traits varied across the chicken ecotypes and sexes. The variation in morphometric measurements among the chicken ecotypes is an indicator of genetic diversity in the study area, calling for a community-centered holistic genetic enhancement program.

Published in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12
Page(s) 37-60
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Quantitative Trait, Chicken Ecotypes, Kolla, Weynadega, Dega

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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Markos, S., Belay, B., Dessie, T. (2024). On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in the Western Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 9(2), 37-60. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12

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    ACS Style

    Markos, S.; Belay, B.; Dessie, T. On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in the Western Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia. Ecol. Evol. Biol. 2024, 9(2), 37-60. doi: 10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12

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    AMA Style

    Markos S, Belay B, Dessie T. On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in the Western Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia. Ecol Evol Biol. 2024;9(2):37-60. doi: 10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12,
      author = {Shishay Markos and Berhanu Belay and Tadelle Dessie},
      title = {On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in the Western Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia
    },
      journal = {Ecology and Evolutionary Biology},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {37-60},
      doi = {10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.eeb.20240902.12},
      abstract = {The study was conducted to characterize morphometric traits of indigenous chickens and determine the relationships among the traits in three agro-climatic regions of western zone of Tigray regional state of Ethiopia. Twenty- one morphometric traits from 770 local chickens (412 hens, 358 cocks) were measured and analyzed using the PROC GLM of SAS 2008. Tukey mean comparison was used to analyze significantly different traits. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships among the traits. Significant variations were found in most traits among ecotypes, with males showing higher values in many traits. Kolla chickens generally exhibited higher values, except for neck length, skull length, and wattle, earlobe, comb, and beak indices. Interactions between sex and ecotypes significantly affected the morphometric traits. The strength and direction of significant correlations among the quantitative traits varied across the chicken ecotypes and sexes. The variation in morphometric measurements among the chicken ecotypes is an indicator of genetic diversity in the study area, calling for a community-centered holistic genetic enhancement program.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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    T1  - On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Chicken Ecotypes in the Western Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia
    
    AU  - Shishay Markos
    AU  - Berhanu Belay
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.eeb.20240902.12
    T2  - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    JF  - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    JO  - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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    AB  - The study was conducted to characterize morphometric traits of indigenous chickens and determine the relationships among the traits in three agro-climatic regions of western zone of Tigray regional state of Ethiopia. Twenty- one morphometric traits from 770 local chickens (412 hens, 358 cocks) were measured and analyzed using the PROC GLM of SAS 2008. Tukey mean comparison was used to analyze significantly different traits. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships among the traits. Significant variations were found in most traits among ecotypes, with males showing higher values in many traits. Kolla chickens generally exhibited higher values, except for neck length, skull length, and wattle, earlobe, comb, and beak indices. Interactions between sex and ecotypes significantly affected the morphometric traits. The strength and direction of significant correlations among the quantitative traits varied across the chicken ecotypes and sexes. The variation in morphometric measurements among the chicken ecotypes is an indicator of genetic diversity in the study area, calling for a community-centered holistic genetic enhancement program.
    
    VL  - 9
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