RT Journal T1 PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO INDIGENOUS CHICKEN ECOTYPES OF PAKISTAN A1 A. Iqbal A1 A. Ali A1 K. Javed A1 M. Akram A1 M. Usman A1 S. Mehmood A1 J. Hussain A1 F. Hussnain JF Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JO JAPS SN 1018-7081 VO 25 IS 2 SP 346 OP 350 YR 2015 FD 2015/04/01 DO DOI NA AB

Aseel and Naked-neck chickens from various regions of Pakistan were studied (n=200; 100 (40♂, 60♀) in each) for phenotypic characterization based on head appearance; comb type; wattles size; colors and patterns of feathers on neck, breast, wing-bow, wing-bar, wing-bay, saddle and tail; shank color; spurs prevalence, and number of toes. Feather colors and patterns on the neck, breast, wing-bow, wing-bar, wing-bay, saddle and tail (P<0.000) and shank color (P<0.042) differed significantly between ecotypes. Both ecotypes had plain head. All Aseels had pea-comb, no wattles, fully feathered necks, predominantly dark-brown neck feathers (35%), pale-brown breast (32%), wing-bow (33%), wing-bar (35%), wing-bay (35%), saddle (32%) and black/gray tail feathers (44%). Majority (33%) had yellow shanks. Naked-necks possessed single-comb, predominantly medium sized wattles (53%), white/off-white neck (35%) and breast feathers (43%), dark-brown wing-bow feathers (21%), off-white wing-bar (26%) and pale-brown/orange-brown wing-bay (28%), black saddle (22%) and tail feathers (57%), yellow shanks (36%). Both ecotypes had four toes and normal spurs. Among Aseels, some hens also had spurs which is a unique feature not reported in previous studies to the knowledge of the authors. Predominantly both ecotypes had plain feathers but patterns were also present.

K1 Phenotype, Aseel, Pakistan, Conservation, Naked-neck PB Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum LK https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2015-JAPS-49