Comparative study of indigenous chickens on the basis of their health and performance.

Three hundred crossbred chickens (at age of 11 wk) were randomly housed in 15 open-sided deep litter pens with 20 chickens in each pen under completely randomized design for a period of 9 wk. Before evaluating their hematobiochemical and carcass characteristics, the birds were provided with grower mash ad libitum throughout the experimental period. Blood samples were taken from each genotypic group (nanaff, Nanaff, and NanaFf), when the birds were 18 and 20 wk old, respectively, for the evaluation of hematobiochemical parameters. At the end of the trial, 15 chickens from each of the 3 genotypic groups were randomly selected and slaughtered to determine the carcass parameters. The findings from the study revealed that except for total cholesterol, spleen, and neck weight, there was no significant genotypic effect (P > 0.05) on hematobiochemical and carcass parameters measured. The nanaff genotype birds had significantly higher (P < 0.05) cholesterol levels than both Nanaff and NanaFf genotype birds, both of which did not differ significantly. The Nanaff had significantly (P < 0.05) higher spleen and neck weight than both the nanaff and NanaFf. The latter 2 did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). Also, hematobiochemical assays of all the birds were within normal range. From a health point of view, the indigenous naked neck genotype seems superior because its fat and cholesterol contents were low. Thus, it is strongly recommended that there should be a conscious effort to develop and commercialize the naked-neck and frizzled birds especially in developing countries.

Consumers' acceptability of indigenous cockerel.

Commercial poultry production, although fairly well developed, continues to develop rapidly in Africa and other areas of the world. The local chickens, which may perhaps be harnessed and exploited for poverty alleviation, form part of the many local assets of underprivileged people living in the rural areas. In view of this, the study aims to investigate consumer acceptability of indigenous chicken meats using survey and sensory evaluation. The survey is comprised mainly of interviewing market women and supplying birds to them for sale in order to find answers to questions related to marketability or otherwise of the naked-neck, frizzled naked-neck, and normal-feathered cockerels. An experiment was carried out to evaluate consumers' preference of the 3 genotypes, namely NanaFf, Nanaff, and nanaff. The birds used were of the fourth generation (F4) offspring of crosses between local heterozygous naked neck (Nana) and heterozygous frizzled (Ff) males and hybrid commercial Lohmann females. Three hundred (300) cockerels that were 11 wk old crossbreds (100 of each of the 3 genotypic groups) were randomly housed in 15 open-sided, deep-litter pens with 20 cockerels in each pen in a completely randomized design for 9 wk. Burgers were prepared from the breast muscle of the carcass for sensory evaluation. The results from the survey indicated that a majority (91.7%) of the respondents admitted that they would readily accept to sell the naked-neck cockerels. Also, at almost all the sales points, the Nanaff was first to be sold out, followed by the nanaff feathered with the NanaFf being the last both before and during the major season's sales. The results from the sensory evaluation indicated that the burgers from nanaff and NanaFf birds had significantly (P < 0.05) lower acceptability levels than those from the Nanaff birds. The naked-neck gene cockerel had a positive effect on cockerel meat and marketability.