Phenotypic characterization of native chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Eastern Samar, Philippines

• Main Authors: Picardal, Jay P., Afable, Felix A., Lagman, Ma. Carmen A., Campoto, Edmundo A., Palada, Eva P., Valdez, Marcos B., Jr.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Subjects: Chicken breeds—Philippines—Samar Island; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/7693
• Institution: De La Salle University

The study characterized native chickens based on phenotypic traits, measuring 13 morphometric and describing 7 discrete characters of 228 randomly-selected native chickens from three arbitrary districts (North District [ND], Central District [CD] and South District [SD]) in the province of Eastern Samar. Results show that significant difference was observed in drumstick length and beak length (p<0.05) across districts but most of the morphometric traits were dominant in chickens of CD. Although there were more than 2 traits observed for each of the 7 discrete characters, traditional chickens from both sexes across districts were found to have R/W earlobe, white skin, gray shank, single comb, red wattles and yellow / orange iris coloration. Sexual dimorphism was only observed in plumage color, having mahogany red and brown as dominant plumage colors in roosters and hens, respectively. Based on the morphometric data, discriminant analysis revealed that 52%, 47% and 73% of traditional chickens from ND, CD and SD were classified as member of their respective localities, respectively while dendrogram showed that most native chickens from neighboring municipalities under each district clustered together. The study concluded that there is a considerable variation in the phenotypic characters of native chickens in the province of Eastern Samar.