Performance, breast morphological and carcass traits in the ardennaise chicken breed

peer reviewedThe aim of this study was to quantify performance, breast morphological and carcass traits in Belgium's most ancient chicken breed: the Ardennaise. Evaluation during growing showed at 84 days of age light as-hatched mean live Body Weights (BW) (1115g ± 221), fairly high Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) (5.09 ± 0.4) and Liveability (LIV) (92.55% ± 4.6). At 85 days, male and female in vivo breast measurements such as Keel Angle (KA) (67.74-71.82°), Thoracic Circumference (TC) (25.61-28.05 cm), Keel Length (KL) (10.32-11.26 cm) and muscle thickness (TM) (10.70-12.11mm), with associated BW, were all greater in males and significantly different between sexes (p