Carcass Characteristics, Meat Quality and Nutritional Composition of Kadaknath, a Native Chicken Breed of India.

The study was carried out to investigate the carcass and meat quality traits and nutritional profile of the meat of the Kadaknath, a unique native chicken breed in comparison with commercial broilers. The yield of the carcass, breast and giblets of the Kadaknath was lesser (p < 0.01), while that of the legs, wings, back, and neck was higher (p < 0.01) than broilers. The meat of the Kadaknath was significantly (p < 0.0001) darker (42.44, 50.92) and more yellow (6.23, 8.99) than broilers. The decline in pH of the meat was lower (p < 0.001) in the Kadaknath compared to broilers. Kadaknath meat had more protein and less fat, moisture and ash content than broilers (p < 0.01). Furthermore, it was richer (p < 0.01) in 11 amino acids, including those which are known to impart a sweet and umami taste, than the meat of broilers (3 amino acids). Both genotypes were almost similar in meeting the daily requirements of indispensable amino acids of adult human. The study concluded that the Kadaknath differed in carcass and meat quality characteristics from the broilers, and the nutritional quality of Kadaknath meat in terms of high protein and less fat and higher content of amino acids (tasty type) was better in Kadaknath meat as compared to broiler meat.

Genetic parameters of growth traits, trend of production and reproduction traits, and meat quality status of Ghagus, an indigenous chicken of India.

Indigenous chickens play a vital role in providing nutritional security and economic support for the rural and tribal people in tropical countries like India. Ghagus, an indigenous chicken breed of India, was characterized for growth, production, and reproduction (fertility and hatchability) traits over different generations and for carcass and meat quality traits. Heritability, and genetic and phenotypic correlations among growth traits were estimated using mixed model least squares and maximum likelihood methods. Estimates of heritability of growth traits such as bodyweights at different age and 8-week shank length were high (0.32 to 0.39) in initial generation and moderate to high during latest generation (0.20 to 0.42). The correlations of growth traits with 40-week egg production were positive and significant (P < 0.001). There was improvement in 8-week bodyweight (559.3 ± 4.40 g) by 177 g over the generations. The average egg production up to 40 weeks over the generations was 35.66 eggs. There was also a significant (P < 0.001) increase in egg weights over the generations. The fertility (mean 89.3%) ranged from 85.2 to 92.3%. The hatchability on fertile egg set (mean 90.8%) ranged from 86.5 to 94.1% and it was improved by 3.9% over the generations. The carcass and meat quality study revealed that this breed has the lean meat, high protein, and attractive meat color with desirable meat quality characteristics. The study concluded that the Ghagus breed with self-propagation capacity has the potential to be improved as an indigenous meat-type breed to meet the ever-increasing demand for indigenous chickens' meat in the country.

Simultaneous detection and differentiation of three oncogenic viral diseases of chicken by use of multiplex PCR.

Avian oncogenic or tumor diseases are common in poultry industry causing significant economic loss. Marek's disease (MD), avian leukosis (AL) and Reticuloendotheliosis (RE) are the three major viral oncogenic infections that are difficult to differentiate with gross lesions. Multiplex PCR for simultaneous detection and differentiation of these three viruses was developed and validated. The primers targeting the genes of pp38, pol and LTR for MDV, ALV and REV were designed to yield 206, 429, and 128 bp, respectively. The sensitivity of the PCR primers was checked with serial dilution of positive template DNA for each virus and found to be in the range of 10-5 to 10-7 of 1 µg/µl of initial template DNA. Out of 114 suspected tumor samples screened, 8 samples were positive for MDV, 13 samples were positive for ALV and 31 samples positive for REV. Five samples were positive for both MD and ALV; 3 samples were positive for MD and REV and 25 samples were positive for ALV and REV. Eight samples were positive for all three viruses. Multiplex PCR demonstrated to be a useful technique for simultaneous, rapid detection and differentiation of major tumor causing and immunosuppressive viral diseases of chicken.

Molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of Marek's disease virus virulence-associated genes from vaccinated flocks in southern India reveals circulation of virulent MDV genotype.

Marek's disease (MD) is a re-emerging viral disease of chickens and a serious economic threat to the poultry industry worldwide. Continuous surveillance with molecular investigation is essential to monitor the emergence of virulent Marek's disease virus (MDV) strains and to devise any appropriate vaccination strategy and implement bio-security programmes. In the present study, we investigated the cases of MD outbreaks in vaccinated poultry flocks. The MD outbreak was confirmed through necropsy (mainly visceral tumours), histopathology and viral gene specific PCR. The pathotypes of the field MDV strains were assessed by molecular analysis of three virulence-associated genes, meq, pp38 and vIL-8. The Meq sequence of the field strains analyzed in this study lacked the 59 aa unique to mild strains, indicating that they are potentially virulent strains. Mutation at position 71 and the presence of five proline rich repeats in the transactivation domain, both associated with virulence were observed in these strains; however, the signature sequences specific to very virulent plus strains were absent. Phylogenetic analysis of meq oncogene sequences revealed clustering of the field strains with North Indian strains and with a very virulent plus ATE 2539 strain from Hungary. Analyses of pp38 protein at positions 107 and 109 and vIL-8 protein at positions 4 and 31 showed signatures of virulence. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of oncogene and virulence-associated genes of field MDVs from vaccinated flock indicated that these strains possessed molecular features of virulent strains.

Development and validation of high throughput real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for quantitative detection of chicken infectious anemia virus.

A real time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) assay was developed to detect and quantify the chicken infectious anemia virus (CIAV). The two sets of primers specific to VP1 region of CIAV were designed and their sensitivity and efficacy were studied. Both the primers designed in this study were highly sensitive and were able to detect upto 0.01 fg/µl or 82 × 102 copy number of plasmid DNA. The efficiency of the real time PCR was 100.9%. The results have also shown that the present qPCR assay is 100 times more sensitive than regular qualitative PCR. Both primer sets were validated using 28 field poultry samples and showed good results. The optimized real-time quantitative PCR will be useful in quick detection of field outbreaks, sub-clinical infection in poultry flocks, virus pathogenesis studies and for detecting vaccine contamination.

Co-administration of toll-like receptor (TLR)-3 agonist Poly I:C with different infectious bursal disease (IBD) vaccines improves IBD specific immune response in chicken.

Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists are emerging as promising vaccine adjuvants and immunomodulators in poultry against many diseases. Infectious bursa disease (IBD) still remains as a major threat to poultry industry. Improving the vaccine mediated immune response would help in better protection against IBD virus infection. Adjuvant potential of TLR3 agonist, Polinosinic polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C) with different IBD vaccines has been analyzed in chicken in the present study. Intermediate, intermediate plus IBD vaccine, bursaplex vaccine and their respective poly I:C combinations were used for immunization of chicken. IBD specific antibody titers, bursa to body weight ratio, body weight gain and bursal lesion scores were evaluated at weekly interval in different immunization groups. Fold changes in cytokines IL-1ß and IFN-γ mRNA expression levels in spleen were also analyzed in different groups. Intermediate plus IBD vaccine induced significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher IBD specific antibody response at 35 days of age than other groups with comparatively lower body weight gain and moderate bursal lesion score. Poly I:C co-administration with intermediate IBD vaccine and bursaplex vaccine improved the IBD specific antibody titers, better body weight gain and moderately less bursal lesion score. However, Poly I:C combination with intermediate plus IBD vaccine did not improve the specific immune response. IL-1ß levels were up-regulated in intermediate plus and bursaplex group, whereas IFN-γ m RNA expression levels were upregulated in intermediate IBD with Poly I:C group. In conclusion, poly I:C co-administration with intermediate IBD and bursaplex vaccine was beneficial and improved the specific immune response with least immunosuppression and bursal damage.

Research Note: Disease tolerance/resistance and host immune response to experimental infection with Pasteurella multocida A:1 isolate in Indian native Nicobari chicken breed.

Indigenous chicken breeds are considered to be more disease tolerant than exotic chicken breeds especially for the bacterial diseases. Nicobari and Vanaraja chicken were evaluated for the survivability/mortality patterns and host immune response after experimental infection with P. multocida A1 isolate. The birds were inoculated with 1.9 × 105 CFU/mL through intraperitoneal (I/P) and intranasal (I/N) routes at 2 different age groups viz., 12 wk and 18 wk. Symptoms, mortality rates, lesions in dead birds were observed; Serum from surviving birds of different groups from both breeds were collected at 5, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42nd d and specific antibody titers were measured by indirect ELISA. At 12 wk of age, the mortality rates were 100% and 16% in birds inoculated by I/P and I/N routes respectively in Vanaraja birds; whereas the mortality rates were 50% and 16% I/P and I/N routes respectively in Nicobari birds. At 18 wk of age the mortality rates were 16% and 50% for I/P routes in Nicobari and Vanaraja birds respectively. The mortality rates were 16% for I/N route in both Nicobari and Vanaraja birds. Lesions such as necrotic foci on liver, congestion in the liver were observed in dead birds. Serum titers were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in surviving Nicobari birds inoculated through I/P route followed by I/N route. The peak titers were reached on 14th d postinfection and declined thereafter. However, no significant difference was found in I/N route of inoculation between 2 breeds. Nicobari chicken breed showed significantly higher survivability and longer mean death time than Vanaraja germplasm to experimental Pasteuralla infection at both the ages however the survivability rate in both breeds improved at later ages.

Inheritance of growth traits and impact of selection on carcass and egg quality traits in Vanashree, an improved indigenous chicken.

The present study was carried out to assess the inheritance of growth traits and to study the effect of selection on carcass characteristics and egg quality traits in Vanashree, an improved indigenous chicken. Estimates of heritability were high for body weights recorded at 4, 5 and 6 weeks of age and 8th week shank length, while it was moderate for 8th week body weight. Estimates of heritability on sire component of variance declined as age increased from 4 to 8 weeks of age. The genetic and phenotypic correlations among various growth traits were positive and high in magnitude. The body weight continued to increase up to 40 weeks of age particularly in male birds, while there was little increase in shank length from 20 to 40 weeks of age particularly in hens. There was no significant change in carcass characteristics and egg quality traits except that there was some improvement in dressing percentage over the generations. Sex effect was significant on relative weights of the breast, legs, gizzard, liver and heart and abdominal fat percentage. There was increase in Haugh unit and albumen index, yolk percentage, yolk to albumen ratio and yolk colour in the present generation. The results suggest that there is adequate additive genetic variation for growth traits in the population and that Vanashree chicken could continue to be improved so as to make it a promising dual purpose purebred indigenous chicken for increasing the productivity of free range or semi-intensive systems of production.

Variance component analysis of growth and production traits in Vanaraja male line chickens using animal model.

OBJECTIVE: A comprehensive study was conducted to study the effects of partition of variance on accuracy of genetic parameters and genetic trends of economic traits in Vanaraja male line/project directorate-1 (PD-1) chicken. METHODS: Variance component analysis utilizing restricted maximum likelihood animal model was carried out with five generations data to delineate the population status, direct additive, maternal genetic, permanent environmental effects, besides genetic trends and performance of economic traits in PD-1 chickens. Genetic trend was estimated by regression of the estimated average breeding values (BV) on generations. RESULTS: The body weight (BW) and shank length (SL) varied significantly (p≤0.01) among the generations, hatches and sexes. The least squares mean of SL at six weeks, the primary trait was 77.44±0.05 mm. All the production traits, viz., BWs, age at sexual maturity, egg production (EP) and egg weight were significantly influenced by generation. Model four with additive, maternal permanent environmental and residual effects was the best model for juvenile growth traits, except for zero-day BW. The heritability estimates for BW and SL at six weeks (SL6) were 0.20±0.03 and 0.17±0.03, respectively. The BV of SL6 in the population increased linearly from 0.03 to 3.62 mm due to selection. Genetic trend was significant (p≤0.05) for SL6, BW6, and production traits. The average genetic gain of EP40 for each generation was significant (p≤0.05) with an average increase of 0.38 eggs per generation. The average inbreeding coefficient was 0.02 in PD-1 line. CONCLUSION: The population was in ideal condition with negligible inbreeding and the selection was quite effective with significant genetic gains in each generation for primary trait of selection. The animal model minimized the over-estimation of genetic parameters and improved the accuracy of the BV, thus enabling the breeder to select the suitable breeding strategy for genetic improvement.

Estimation of breeding value, genetic parameters and maternal effects of economic traits in rural male parent line chicken using pedigree relationships in an animal model.

Breeding value (BV), genetic parameters and additive genetic, and maternal effects were evaluated on growth and production traits utilizing data from eight generations employing animal model in a rural male parent line (PD-6) chicken at ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad, India. The least squares means (LSM) for body weight (BW) and shank length (SL) up to 6 weeks of age varied significantly (p ≤ .01) among the generations and hatches. BW increased significantly (p ≤ .01) over the generations and decreased with the hatches. Sex also had a significant effect on BW and shank length except for BW at 0 day (BW0). LSM for BW (BW6) and Shank length (SL6) at 6 weeks of age were 598.84 ± 0.79 g and 74.57 ± 0.04 mm, respectively. Males recorded significantly (p ≤ .01) higher BWs and shank length. All the production traits were significantly (p ≤ .01) influenced by the generation effect. The overall LSM for age at sexual maturity (ASM), egg production at 40 weeks (EP40) and egg weight at 40 weeks (EW40) were 164.93 ± 0.23 days, 74.66 ± 0.40 eggs and 54.79 ± 0.08 g, respectively. Model 3 with additive, maternal permanent environmental and residual effects was the appropriate model for BW2, BW4, BW6, SL4 and SL6, whereas Model 4 with maternal effects was the best for BW0. The heritability estimates for BW6 and SL6 were 0.22 ± 0.02 and 0.18 ± 0.02, respectively. Model 1 with additive direct and residual effects was the best appropriate model for all the production traits. The heritability estimates of EP40 and EW40 were 0.16 ± 0.04 and 0.34 ± 0.05, respectively. BW and shank length were highly correlated with significant (p ≤ .05) positive association from different components. The correlation coefficient from direct additive component between egg production and BW40 was negative, while it was positive with less magnitude between egg production and BW20. The egg production and egg weights had a negative association at different ages. BV of SL6, the primary trait of selection, was significant (p ≤ .05) across the generations and increased linearly with an average genetic gain of 1.05 mm per generation. BV of BW6 was also significant (p ≤ .05) and increased linearly as correlated response with an average genetic response of 22.34 g per generation. BV of EP40 showed an increasing trend with a genetic gain of 0.02 eggs per generation. The EW 40 also increased linearly with an average genetic gain of 0.06 g. The average inbreeding coefficient of the population was 0.015. The study concluded that the population was in ideal status with a linearly increasing trend of average BV with negligible inbreeding over the eight generations of selection.

Genetic diversity at major histocompatibility complex and its effect on production and immune traits in indigenous chicken breeds of India.

The genetic diversity at major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in indigenous chicken breeds of India (Ghagus and Nicobari) in comparison with the White Leghorn (WLH) breed was investigated by genotyping the MHC-linked LEI0258 marker. Altogether 38 alleles and 96 genotypes were observed among three breeds. The observed and effective alleles were highest in Ghagus (23, 8.3) followed by Nicobari (14, 3.2) and WLH (10 and 2.2) breeds. The size of alleles ranged from 193 to 489 bp in Ghagus, 193 to 552 bp in Nicobari and 241 to 565 bp in the WLH breed. The number of private alleles was also highest in Ghagus (18) followed by Nicobari (8) and WLH (5) breeds. The most frequent allele was 261 bp in WLH (66 %), 343 bp in Nicobari (50.4 %) and 309 bp in the Ghagus (28.15 %) breed. Observed and expected heterozygosities were highest in Ghagus (0.83, 0.88) followed by Nicobari (0.58, 0.68) and WLH (0.53, 0.54). The genetic distance (Nei) between Ghagus and Nicobari breeds (2.24) was higher as compared to that of Ghagus and WLH (1.23) and that between Nicobari and WLH breeds (0.89). Association analysis revealed significant influence of MHC alleles on body weight, egg production in Ghagus and WLH breeds and antibody titres to Newcastle disease vaccine in the Nicobari breed.

Polymorphisms in pattern recognition receptor genes of indigenous and White Leghorn breeds of chicken.

Functional polymorphisms in pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) modulate innate immunity and play a crucial role in resistance or susceptibility to diseases. The present study was carried out to explore polymorphic patterns in the coding sequences of PRR genes TLR3, TLR1LA (TLRs), MDA5, LGP2 (RLRs) and NOD1 (NLR) in chicken breeds of India, namely Ghagus (GH), Nicobari (NB) and the exotic White Leghorn (WLH) breed. Out of 209 SNPs observed in five genes among three breeds, 117 were synonymous (Syn) and 92 were non-synonymous (NS) SNPs. In TLR genes the highest polymorphism was observed in NB (16, 28) compared to GH (14, 16) and WLH (13, 19) breeds. In the MDA5 gene the highest polymorphism was observed in GH (12) compared to NB (eight) and WLH (four) breeds. However, an almost similar level of polymorphism was observed in the LGP2 gene among the three breeds. In the NOD1 gene, the highest polymorphism was observed in NB (27), followed by WLH (11) and GH (10) breeds. The overall highest number of SNPs was observed in NB (90), followed by GH (62) and the WLH (57) breed. With regard to variation in polymorphism among different classes of PRRs, the study revealed the highest polymorphism in TLRs compared to NOD1 and the RLR class of PRRs. Further, the domain locations of various Syn and NS SNPs in each PRR among the three breeds were identified. In silico analysis of NS SNPs revealed that most of them had a neutral effect on protein function. However, two each in TLR1LA and LGP2 and one in the MDA5 gene were predicted to be deleterious to protein function. The present study unravelled extensive polymorphism in the coding sequences of the TLR and NLR class of PRR genes, and the polymorphism was higher in indigenous chicken breeds.

Differential expression of Toll-like receptor pathway genes in chicken embryo fibroblasts from chickens resistant and susceptible to Marek's disease.

The Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathway is one of the innate immune defense mechanisms against pathogens in vertebrates and invertebrates. However, the role of TLR in non-MHC genetic resistance or susceptibility to Marek's disease (MD) in the chicken is yet to be elucidated. Chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cells from MD susceptible and resistant lines were infected either with Marek's disease virus (MDV) or treated with polyionosinic-polycytidylic acid, a synthetic analog of dsRNA, and the expression of TLR and pro-inflammatory cytokines was studied at 8 and 36 h posttreatment by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Findings of the present study reveal that MDV infection and polyionosinic-polycytidylic acid treatment significantly elevated the mRNA expression of TLR3, IL6, and IL8 in both susceptible and resistant lines. Furthermore, basal expression levels in uninfected CEF for TLR3, TLR7, and IL8 genes were significantly higher in resistant chickens compared with those of susceptible chickens. Our results suggest that TLR3 together with pro-inflammatory cytokines may play a significant role in genetic resistance to MD.

Effect of feeding different levels of energy and protein on performance of Aseel breed of chicken during juvenile phase.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding different metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) levels on performance of Aseel chicken during 0 to 8 weeks of age (Juvenile phase). At 1 day old, 432 chicks were randomly distributed into nine groups. Each group had 48 chicks distributed into eight replicates with six birds in each. Maize-soybean meal-based diets with three ME levels (2,400, 2,600 and 2,800 kcal/kg) and three CP levels (16%, 18% and 20%) were fed to birds in a 3 × 3 factorial design. Different ME levels had significant effect on body weight gain (BWG), feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Birds fed diet with 2,400 kcal/kg ME had significantly lower BWG (P < 0.004), lower shank length (P < 0.0007), higher feed intake (P < 0.0001) and poor FCR (P < 0.0001) than those fed diet with either 2,600 or 2,800 kcal/kg ME. Energy efficiency ratio was not influenced by ME, CP or their interaction. However, protein efficiency ratio was significantly higher at higher ME levels and lower at higher CP levels. There was significant effect of ME, CP and their interaction on serum protein and cholesterol levels. However, they made no significant effect on antibody titre against New Castle disease vaccine. The study concluded that provision of 2,600 kcal/kg ME and 16% CP would be ideal for optimum growth of Aseel birds during juvenile phase. However, to obtain better FCR, feeding Aseel birds with diet having 2,800 kcal/kg ME and 16% CP would be ideal.

Evaluation of two Indian native chicken breeds for reproduction traits and heritability of juvenile growth traits.

The present study was conducted to evaluate two Indian native chicken breeds, namely, Aseel and Kadaknath for fertility, hatchability, genetic parameters of juvenile growth traits, and semen quality traits at the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility was similar in Aseel (86.96%) and Kadaknath (85.15%); however, a relatively higher hatchability was observed in Kadaknath (77.94%) than Aseel (70.74%). Heritability estimates of body weights at 4 weeks of age were almost similar in Aseel (0.37) and Kadaknath (0.39), while the estimate of body weight at 6 weeks of age was higher in Aseel (0.42) than Kadaknath (0.31). The heritability estimate of shank length at 6 weeks of age was lower in Aseel (0.16) compared to Kadaknath (0.35). The age at first egg in the flock was comparable in Aseel (148 days) and Kadaknath (150 days). Aseel breed with significantly (P ≤ 0.001) higher body weight, absolute and relative testes weights had significantly higher semen volume (P ≤ 0.05) and sperm motility (P ≤ 0.01) but had lower seminal plasma cholesterol level (P ≤ 0.05) as compared to Kadaknath. It can be concluded that there is a scope for genetic improvement of these two native breeds for juvenile growth traits since heritability estimates of these traits were relatively high.

Differential expression of Toll-like receptor mRNA in White Leghorn and indigenous chicken of India.

In the present experiment, the expression profile of Toll-like receptor mRNA in indigenous and pure line chickens was studied. The expression of TLR3, TLR4, TLR5 and TLR7 were quantified in heterophils of Aseel, Kadaknath, Naked neck, Dwarf and White Leghorn lines by Quantitative Real-time PCR. White Leghorns expressed significantly (P < 0.01) higher levels of TLR3 mRNA compared to other lines. TLR4 and TLR5 mRNA were significantly highly expressed in Kadaknath line. Among the TLRs investigated TLR5 was more expressed in all lines studied. TLR7 was highly expressed in indigenous chicken Aseel and Kadaknath than other lines. Dwarf chicken expressed significantly (P < 0.01) lower levels of all TLRs investigated. On the basis of the present study we conclude that the differential expression of TLR mRNA in the heterophils of indigenous and other chicken breeds might contribute to their variable disease resistance/susceptibility.

Comparative studies on egg, meat, and semen qualities of native and improved chicken varieties developed for backyard poultry production.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate/compare the sensory attributes of eggs and meat, egg qualities, proximate composition of eggs, and semen qualities of slow growing native (Miri and Mizo-local) and fast growing improved chicken varieties (Gramapriya and Vanaraja) under hill ecosystem of northeastern India. Significantly higher egg weight, egg volume, and albumen volume were observed in Gramapriya followed by Vanaraja, Mizo-local, and Miri chickens. However, yolk volume was significantly higher in Vanaraja and Gramapriya varieties as compared to native chickens. Yolk to albumen ratio was significantly lower in Gramapriya as compared to Vanaraja and Miri chicken. Consumer liking of eggs for aroma, flavor, and overall acceptability of Miri, Mizo-local, and Vanaraja were significantly higher than that of Gramapriya. Genetic groups did not differ significantly in appearance and proximate composition of eggs. No significant differences were observed between various genetic groups for sensory attributes of meat samples. Semen volume was significantly (p < or = 0.01) lower while sperm concentration was significantly (p < or = 0.01) higher in native chicken as compared to the improved chicken varieties. However, pH, mass activity, sperm motility, and livability did not differ significantly among genetic groups although Mizo-local had significantly higher abnormal sperm count. The study concluded that the genetic groups with different growth rate differed significantly for various egg quality parameters and semen characteristics but not for sensory attributes of meat and proximate composition of eggs.

Identification of chicken, duck, pigeon and pig meat by species-specific markers of mitochondrial origin.

In the present study, PCR based method for meat species identification of chicken, duck, pigeon and pig was achieved by developing species-specific markers. Using mitochondrial sequences species-specific primers were designed and the sizes of them were 256bp, 292bp, 401bp and 835bp for chicken, duck, pigeon and pig, respectively. The species-specific PCR products were sequenced to confirm the specificity of the product amplified. These markers were subsequently tested for cross amplification by checking them with beef, mutton, chevon, pork, rabbit, chicken, duck, turkey and pigeon meat. DNA markers developed in this study can help identify the species of fresh, cooked and autoclaved meat of chicken, duck and pigeon and fresh and cooked meat of pig. The process of identification is simple, economical and quick as compared to other methods such as RAPD, PCR-RFLP and sequencing method of species identification.

Analysis of a village chicken production system and performance of improved dual purpose chickens under a subtropical hill agro-ecosystem in India.

This study was designed to analyze the low input backyard poultry production system practiced by the tribal farmers, and evaluate the performance of an improved dual-purpose breed, the Vanaraja. Results revealed that a significantly (p < 0.05) higher number of farmers used temporary, non-conventional poultry houses made of locally available materials, such as bamboo and wood. Most of the farmers (65.9 %) did not provide balanced feed to their poultry and did not vaccinate their birds against any disease. Under standard management conditions, the average body weight of Vanaraja birds at 6 weeks was 625 +/- 10.9 g. Under backyard conditions, the body weight at 18 months was 3.6 +/- 0.8 kg. The age at first egg was 154 +/- 9 days in the backyard system, whereas under the intensive system it was 196 +/- 4 days. Annual production under the backyard and intensive systems of rearing was 176 +/- 9 and 152 +/- 7 eggs, respectively. Mortality of adult birds was 12 % and predation by foxes and wild cats accounted for 1.67 %. This study revealed that village chickens are an important income source for household expenses, and that traditional free-range poultry production in the smallholder sector of developing countries can possibly be improved through the use of improved dual-purpose birds.