Effect of genotype on hatchability, growth, morphometric and carcass traits of Chicken

The present study was conducted to assess the effect of genotype on hatchability, growth, morphometric and carcass traits of the naked-neck, normal-feathered, and Tetra H chicken in Southwest Ethiopia. A total of 135 day-old chicks, 45 from each genotype, were randomly stratified into 9 replicates (15 chicks/replicate), in a completely randomized design (CRD). Commercial starter and grower feed was fed ad libitum during the 18 weeks of the experimental period. The results showed that daily feed intake, daily weight gain, and final body weight of the Tetra H genotype were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the naked-neck and normal-feathered. The feed conversion ratio of the Tetra H genotype (3.76) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the naked-neck (5.6) and normal-feathered (6.1) genotype, indicating the Tetra H was better in feed conversion efficiency. In addition, chicken in the Tetra H genotype had significantly higher linear body measurements such as body length, chest width, and keel bone length and higher carcass traits such as carcass weight, breast, drumstick, and thigh muscle than the naked-neck and normal-feathered genotypes. We observed a positive relationship between body weight and some linear body measurement traits, and these traits could be used to predict the live body weight of the chicken. It was concluded that there were genetic variations among the studied chicken genotypes for the traits evaluated, evidenced by significantly higher growth performance, body length, and width, and carcass traits, feed conversion efficiency of chicken in Tetra H genotype than chicken in other genotypes, indicating the suitability of this genotype for meat production. On the other hand, the indigenous genotypes were found to be more fertile, hatchable, and livable. Further studies are needed to validate the cross-breeding and adaptive performances of those chicken genotypes under different agroecologies