Body Weight and Growth Characteristics of the Progeny Chicks of Two Breeds of the Nigerian Local Chicken in a Humid Tropical Environment

Abstract

The experiment was carried out to study growth performance and biometrical characteristics of two breeds of the Nigerian local chickens during a period of eight weeks. Ninety four progenies comprising of 42 naked neck and 52 normal chicks were produced from 2 sires and 4 dams each of the genotypes. Differences in body weights and linear body measurements among the two genotypes were significantly different (p > 0.05) at all ages. Those with the normal homozygous gene showed general superiority over the naked neck genotype in body weight, shank length, body length and body width. This may justify the exploitation of the normal gene in breeding programmes for meat and egg production.