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Discriminant analysis of sexual dimorphism in zoometrical characters of normal feathered Yoruba ecotype adult local chicken in the Tropical Forest Zone of Nigeria

Journal: Journal of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine (Vol.2, No. 4)

Publication Date:

Authors : ;

Page : 139-144

Keywords : Cocks; cross-sectional survey; hens; zoometrical traits.;

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Abstract

Measurement of some zoometrical traits and calculated indices in male and female local chickens were undertaken as means of differentiation between the sexes out of numerous measurements that could be taken and indices that could be calculated. Data on body weight (BW), breast circumference (BC), wing span (WS), Ornithological measurement (OM), total leg length (TLL), stockiness (STK), massiveness (MAS), long-leggedness (LLG) and condition index (CI) were collected on 161 adult local chickens comprising of 86 cocks and 75 hens reared under village scavenging conditions in a cross-sectional survey. The hens showed significantly (p<0.05) higher OM and STK (72 versus 67%) while cocks were higher (p<0.05) in BW, WS, BC, TLK, MAS, LLG and CI. Low, moderate and high positive and negative coefficients of correlation (r) were observed among the body parameters in both sexes. Highest r was observed between WS and TLL (r=-0.920; p<0.01) in hens and between TLL and BC (r=0.362; p<0.01) in cocks. When the calculated indices were correlated with body BW, highest r was obtained between BW and CI in both sexes. The discriminating power of the variables was highest in TLL, chronologically followed by BW, WL and BL. The reduction in the number of measurements saves time and energy required to distinguish between the sexes.

Last modified: 2018-10-26 19:27:36