Influence of Parental Age on Linear Body Measurements of Progeny in Indigenous Naked Neck Chicken Varieties

Abstract

The current research was done to determine the effect of parental age on morphometric data of progeny in three types of native Naked Neck chicken. There were 126 day-old chicks raised in 20 weeks by parents of two age groups (45 and 55 weeks) of light brown, black and dark brown varieties. The morphometric measurements were taken on a weekly basis and recorded as body  length, beak length, neck length, keel length, shank length, shank circumference, drumstick length, drumstick circumference, and wing spreads. It was found that parental age had a strong effect on a number of morphometric characteristics of progeny (P ≤ 0.05). The length of the body, the shank length, the shank circumference, the length of the drumstick, and the wing spread were higher in the progeny of 55-week-old parents than in the progeny of 45-week-old parents. Varietal differences were also found in body length and shank-related parameters, with the black variety recording better measurements in most of the parameters. Parental age and variation of age interacted to have a significant effect on shank circumference, keel length, and wing spread. It was established that parental age is a big factor in defining skeletal growth and linear body sizes of Naked Neck chicken offspring.