Journal of Applied Biosciences (J. Appl. Biosci.) [ISSN 1997 - 5902]
Volume 47: 3214 - 3220. Published November 29, 2011.
Incidence of spur gene and effect on metric parameters in male and female Nigerian local chicken
Egena S.S.A *, Ijaiya A.T, Kolawole R and Ahmed M.A.
Department of Animal Production, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author email: essa_may25@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence of spur gene and its effects on metric parameters in male and female Nigerian local chicken sampled in Niger state and add onto existing knowledge on the indigenous chickens.
Methodology and results: Seven hundred and fifty adult local chickens bought from the local market were used in the experiment. Parameters measured were body weight, body length, body girth, wing length, shank length and thickness. Results shows that the calculated gene frequency was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the expected Mendelian frequency for dominant alleles. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between the male and females in all the parameters measured. Spurred (sI) male chickens were significantly (P<0.05) better in body length, wing length and shank length than spurred females and spurless males and females. Live body weight correlated (P<0.0001) with the linear body parameters measured.
Conclusion and application of results: It was concluded that the presence of spur gene (sI) in the Nigerian local chickens confers some advantages on the chickens expressing it. The results of this study will be useful to geneticists and animal scientists generally as it provides a basis for selection. Local farmers can now know that the presence of spur in chickens is a pointer that the birds will be heavier than those not having the appendage.
Key words: Spur, metric parameters, Nigerian local chickens.
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