Characterization of two Indian native chicken breeds for production, egg and semen quality, and welfare traits.

The present study was conducted to characterize 2 important native chicken breeds from India and compare them on growth, production, egg and semen quality, and welfare traits. The Aseel breed showed (P < 0.001) higher BW at different ages; higher shank, radius, and toe lengths at 40 wk of age; and greater egg weights at 28, 32, and 40 wk of age than did the Kadaknath breed. The Kadaknath breed reached sexual maturity at an early age, and it had higher 40-wk egg production (P < 0.001). Higher egg specific gravity (P < 0.05) and higher albumen (P < 0.001) and shell (P < 0.009) percentages in the Kadaknath were observed, whereas the Aseel breed had a higher yolk index (P < 0.004), higher yolk percentage (P < 0.001), and higher yolk-to-albumen ratio (P < 0.001). Concentration of sperm (P < 0.01), live sperm counts (P < 0.05), and semen appearance scores (P < 0.05) were higher in the Aseel breed than in the Kadaknath breed. The Aseel breed showed a greater incidence of feather-pecking behavior under floor rearing, and this was negligible or mild in the Kadaknath breed. Broodiness under cage rearing was observed (8.42%) in the Aseel breed. With regard to welfare traits, male Aseel birds had a significantly shorter (P < 0.05) duration of tonic immobility (TI) than did male Kadaknath birds. Furthermore, male Aseel birds had a shorter (P < 0.001) duration of TI than did female Aseel birds, whereas female Aseel birds had a longer (P < 0.05) duration of TI than did female and male Kadaknath birds. From this study, it was concluded that the breeds differed on various growth, production, egg and semen quality, and behavioral traits, but not on welfare traits, although female Aseel birds exhibited a greater fear response.

Genetic analysis of juvenile growth and carcass traits in a full diallel mating in selected colored broiler lines.

The juvenile growth and carcass traits were evaluated in a 4 × 4 full diallel crossing involving four colored broiler chicken lines viz., Naked neck (NN), Dwarf, Punjab Broiler-1 (PB-1), and Punjab Broiler-2 to study the performance and crossbreeding parameters. The data on 2,280 chicks were analyzed using least squares techniques to assess the effect of genetic group, and the significant traits were further analyzed for crossbreeding parameters. Genetic group had significant influence on the body weights and carcass traits. The cross of PB-1 × NN recorded significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher body weight at 6 weeks of age. The data revealed that general combining ability (GCA), specific combining ability (SCA), maternal ability (MA), sex-linked effect (SE), and purebred effects significantly influenced the growth and carcass traits in the broiler crosses. The crossbred PB-1 × NN showed positive heterosis for growth as well as carcass traits. The results suggest that GCA, SCA, SE, and MA are important in the inheritance of the body weights and carcass traits indicating the presence of both additive and nonadditive genetic variation along with reciprocal effects. Therefore, pure line selection along with development of specialized sire and dam lines followed by crossing will improve the growth performance and benefit the poultry farmers. It is concluded that PB-1 as a male line and NN as a female line performed significantly higher, therefore, may be used for improving the performance of colored broilers.