A Comparative Morphological Study of Three Indigenous Poultry Birds in Nigeria

Over 90% of the indigenous birds in Nigeria: chicken, duck and guinea fowl, are kept by rural home set often in small flocks ranging from 5-80 birds. Heterogeneity observed among individuals and populations of birds is fundamental in animals. The degree of relatedness among three indigenous chicken types Ibile (wild type), Abolorun (naked neck) and Asa (frizzle feather) and the interdependence between and among morphological traits in the birds were studied. Ten quantitative and 10 qualitative traits were considered using 261 birds: 80 chicken, 65 ducks and 116 guinea fowl. Closest neighbour analysis (hierarchical cluster) and principal component analysis (PCA), SPSS 15.0 version revealed most Ibile distinct from the Asa and the Abolorun. Less degree non-relatedness was observed between the Ibile and the Asa at 19% coefficient level while the Abolorun was farther separated from the Ibile and the Asa at 0.75 coefficient level. Traits interdependence was observed between the height and the back length in all three types of poultry birds as revealed by the dendrogram and PCA analysis. The wing and the tail lengths also show positive correlation within the chicken and the guinea fowl populations. Other traits interdependence observed were between the beak to comb length and beak length; tail colour and neck colour; skin, shank and feather colour within the guinea fowl population. The height, back length and wing length in the duck also indicated some interdependence. It is therefore pertinent that molecular genetic study be applied for proper characterisation of these local birds.

Key words: morphological, birds, indigenous, traits, characterization, Nigeria