The objectives of this study were to determine the phenotypic correlations among body weight and linear body parameters (LBPs) of the black and pearl guinea fowl and their crosses, as well as to derive multiple regression equations that can be used to establish models for predicting body weight. The following three genotype groups were established: Pearl male X pearl female (P X P) Homozygous pearl thorough bred line; black male X black female (B X B) Homozygous black thorough bred line and Black male X pearl female (B X P) Heterozygous crossbred line. A total of 317 guinea fowl keets were obtained and used for the study. There were 100 PXP, 118 BXB and 99 BXP keets. The coefficient of determination of body weight by linear body measurements was generally significantly (P < 0.001) high between 8 and 12 weeks of age among the genotype groups. Body circumference plus breast length were the best prediction variables in the PXP group at this period. Body circumference plus shank leng...

Guinea fowls represent an important animal genetic resource for food security in Nigeria. This study was conducted to investigate sexual dimorphism and the effect of location on morphometric traits in guinea fowls, obtain fewer uncorrelated orthogonal variables (principal components) from body linear measurements of guinea fowl, obtain homogeneous groups from a heterogeneous set of adult guinea fowl and predict live body weight of guinea fowls . A total of one thousand and seventeen(1,017) adult guinea fowl varieties aged between 28 and 39 weeks (774 pearls; 64 lavenders;151 black and 28 white varieties) consisting of 457 males and 560 females were randomly selected from rural farmers and markets in two Local Government Areas (LGAs) each in Osun and Oyo States in South-Western Nigeria. Data were collected on body weight, helmet height, wattle length, thigh length, body circumference, shank length, body length, neck length, wing length using standard procedures. Data collected were a...

The use of path analysis will not only produce a regression equation for prediction of body weight but also partition correlation between two traits into direct effects of one on other and indirect effects caused by other characters which may be of importance in selection. A total number of 2641 mature cocks comprising of 1782 Yoruba ecotype and 859 Fulani ecotype were sampled from markets in Osun state, southwest Nigeria. Live weight (LW) and eight morphometric characters were measured from these birds. The biometric traits were keel length (KL), chest circumference (CC), thigh length (TL), wing length (WL), body length (BL), drum stick (DS), breast length (BrL) and shank length (SL). T-test was used to check the significance of variation in biometric traits between the two ecotypes. Correlation analysis was used to check degree of association between these traits. Regression and path analysis was also explored. There were significant differences in keel length, thigh length, wing length, body length, breast length and shank length between the two genotypes. All traits considered in Yoruba ecotype but drum stick showed significant (p<0.05) positive correlation with body weight whereas in Fulani ecotype all characters but chest circumference showed a significant (p<0.05) correlation with body weight. Body length and breast length had significant (p<0.05) direct effect on the body weight in Yoruba ecotype whereas significant (p<0.05) path coefficients were obtained for chest circumference, wing length and breast length in Fulani ecotype. Body length and breast length had the highest direct effect on body weight in Yoruba and Fulani ecotype cocks respectively. The highest indirect effect was obtained for breast length through drum stick in Fulani ecotype, while in Yoruba ecotype the highest indirect effect was obtained for body length through chest circumference. Body length and breast length can be deduced as the most important morphometric traits in determining body weight of Yoruba and Fulani ecotype cocks respectively.

This study was conducted to characterise phenotypically helmeted Guinea fowls in three agro-ecologies in Nigeria using multivariate approach. Eighteen biometric characters, four morphological indices and eleven qualitative physical traits were investigated in a total of 569 adult birds (158 males and 411 females). Descriptive statistics, non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis H test followed by the Mann–Whitney U and Dunn-Bonferroni tests for post hoc, Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), Univariate Analysis, Canonical Discriminant Analysis, Categorical Principal Component Analysis and Decision Trees were employed to discern the effects of agro-ecological zone and sex on the morphostructural parameters. Agro-ecology had significant effect (P&lt;0.05; P&lt;0.01) on all the colour traits. In general, the most frequently observed colour phenotype of Guinea fowl had pearl plumage colour (54.0%), pale red skin colour (94.2%), black shank colour (68.7%), brown eye colour (49.7%), white earlobe ...

This study was embarked upon to characterise phenotypically helmeted guinea fowls in three agro-ecologies in Nigeria using multivariate approach. Eighteen biometric characters, four morphological indices and eleven qualitative (phaneroptic) traits were investigated in a total of 569 adult birds (158 males and 411 females). Descriptive statistics, non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis H test followed by the Mann–Whitney U test for post hoc, Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), General Linear Model, Canonical Discriminant Analysis, Categorical Principal Component Analysis and Decision Trees were employed to discern the effects of agro-ecological zone and sex on the morphostructural parameters. Agro-ecology had significant effect (P&lt;0.05; P &lt;0.01) on all the colour traits. In general, the most frequently observed colour phenotype of guinea fowl had pearl plumage colour (54.0%), pale red skin colour (94.2%), black shank colour (68.7%), brown eye colour (49.7%), white earlobe colour (54...

The native chickens constitute about 80 percent of the 120 million poultry birds found in Nigeriabut have not been adequately characterized. Thus, the study was undertaken to establish the relationship among body weight and morphometric traits of thirty six Fulani Ecotype chickens raised for 25 weeks. Body weights were collected per bird and the morphometric traits (body length, drumstick length, drumstick circumference, breast girth, nose to shoulder, shoulder to tail and height at withers) were measured with tape rule on weekly basis. The measured parameters were subjected to correlation and regression analyses. Analysis showed that positive and high significant correlation existed between body weight and morphometric traits (p&lt; 0.01). The result showed that accuracy of prediction was attained with linear and quadratic models but quadratic model had theoretical advantage over the linearmodelwith respect to its goodness of fit to the data. This means that an increase in growth r...

The study was undertaken to identify the variations among morphometric traits of local chicken in the Gomoa West district of Ghana. Thirteen body measurements namely Weight (WT), Body Length (BDL), Chest Circumference (CC), Thigh Circumference (TC), Shank Length (SL), Neck Length (NL), Wing Length (WGL), Head Length (HDL), Hip Length (HL), Wattle Length (WAL), Beak Length (BKL), Drumstick Length (DL) and Comb Length (CL) were taken on 500 birds and analyzed under general linear model to determine the fixed effects of sex, comb type, feather distribution and skin colour on variabilities in the traits. The male birds had significantly (P<0.001) larger heads (NL=9.11 cm, HDL=6.59 cm, CL=5.23 cm etc.) and bodies (WT=1.19 kg, BDL=24.64 cm, CC=14.32 cm etc.) than their female counterparts. Cushion comb-type chickens were significantly (P<0.001) superior to all other comb-type chickens in all head and body measurements. Feather distribution had significant (P<0.05) influence on WT and BDL, as naked neck birds appeared superior. Birds with grey skin colour had significantly (P<0.001) larger chest circumference than all other birds. These findings could be useful as selection criterion, thereby providing a basis for genetic manipulation and improvements of the local chicken in Ghana.

Abstract The study aimed at describing objectively the interdependence among the morphological traits of Nigerian indigenous chickens and to predict body weight from their orthogonal body shape characters using principal component factor analysis. Body weight and eight body measurements namely, comb height, comb length, beak length, body length, neck length, shank length, chest circumference, and thigh circumference were measured on 238 randomly selected adult chickens of three genetic groups. The birds were extensively managed in Nasarawa State, north central Nigeria. General linear model was used to study genotype and sex effects. Frizzled birds had higher beak length and lower neck length compared to their normal feathered and naked neck counterparts. Sexual dimorphism was observed in all the traits with higher values recorded for males. Phenotypic correlations among body weight and biometric traits were positive and highly significant (r = 0.56-0.91, 0.61-0.91 and 0.55-0.96; P<0.01 for normal feathered, naked neck and frizzled chickens respectively). In factor solution of the principal component analysis, with varimax rotation of the transformation matrix, three factors were identified in each of the genetic group (ratio of variance = 87.84, 90.60 and 89.20 for normal feathered, naked neck and frizzled chickens respectively). The first factor in each case accounted for the greatest percentage of the total variation, and was termed general size. The subsequent factors (indices of body shape) presented patterns of variation independent of general size. The principal component based regression models, which are preferable for selecting animals for optimal balance, accounted for 85, 84 and 87% of the variation in the body weight of normal feathered, naked neck and frizzled chickens respectively.

The aim of this study was to characterize the local guinea fowls of the Northern Ghana based on some qualitative traits. Three hundred local guinea fowls randomly selected from 204 farmers purposively sampled from the Northern (NR), Upper East (UE), Upper West (UW) and Volta regions (VR) were scored for phenotypic characteristics (variation in plumage and shank colour, helmet colours, ear lobe colour, helmet shape, skin colour, eye colour and ptilopody). Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. Nine colour variations were identified: pearl grey, pearl grey pied, bronze, brown, coral blue, ash, brown pied, bronze pied and white. Birds with pearl grey colour were the majority (43.7%) whereas the least were birds with the brown pied colour (0.7%). Helmet shapes identified were single (42.7%), slanted backwards (34.00%) and erect (23.3%). Earlobe colours identified were white (94.7%), bluish (2.7%) and spotted (2.7%). Shank colours identified were orange (29.00%), black (33.70%), and yellow (0.30%) and white (37.0%). Skin colours identified were dark (40.00%), pale red (19.70%), yellow (18.30%) and red (22.00%). Eye colours identified were white (1%), brown (27.3%), black (71.3%) and pink (0.3%). Skeletal structures identified were normal (94.4%), creeper (5.1%) and polydactyl (0.5%). Helmet colours include purple (28%), brown (41%), black (24.7%) and red (6.3%). The population of Ghanaian local guinea fowls studied showed heterogeneity in the phenotypic traits considered and therefore present a genetic pool from which selection could be made. These findings will help both farmers and breeders to produce guinea fowls with specific phenotypic traits to meet consumer preferences.