Phenotypic characteristics and egg production of rural chickens in Kota Bharu

This study was carried out to investigate the qualitative and quantitative information on village chickens for identification, characterization and type description in relation to the phenotypic variations of indigenous chicken. The study was also aimed to provide genetic information, on the variation of qualitative and quantitative traits of village chickens. The qualitative pattern and quantitative measurements on indigenous chicken were taken in total of 49 birds for qualitative and 21 birds for quantitative. The result showed that the frequency of naked neck chicken took a figure of 2.04% only. The majority plumage color was dark green (30.61%), followed by dark brown (18.37%), black ( 16.33% ) and light brown ( 14.29%). The comb types showed that pea comb wad predominantly characterized with 36.73%, followed by cushion (28.57%), single (22.45%) and rose (12.25%). Red comb and red earlobe had frequencies of 67.35% and 71.43% respectively followed by pale red to an extent of 30.61% and 28.57%. Shank color distribution was yellow (57.14%), blackish yellow (14.29%) and brown (10.20%). The egg shell colors consist of 77.77% creamy and 22.22% off white. Variations on quantitative characteristics such as shank length, egg weight, body weight and other traits were also recorded. Average shank lengths in birds from 3 months to 36 months of age were ranged from 9.25 cm to 13.50 cm and the average egg weight in 8 months old and 30 months old hens were 40.30 g and 36.00 g respectively.