Comparative study of indigenous chickens on the basis of their health and performance Kingsley K. Duah, * ,a Edward K. Essuman, y,1 Vida G. Boadu, z Osca S. Olympio, * and Worlah Akwetey * *Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; y Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31 Ho, Ghana; and z Department of Hospitality and Tourism Education, University of Education, Winneba, Kumasi, Ghana ABSTRACT Three hundred crossbred chickens (at age of 11 wk) were randomly housed in 15 open-sided deep litter pens with 20 chickens in each pen under completely randomized design for a period of 9 wk. Before evaluating their hematobiochemical and carcass characteristics, the birds were provided with grower mash ad libitum throughout the experimental period. Blood samples were taken from each genotypic group (nanaff, Nanaff, and NanaFf), when the birds were 18 and 20 wk old, respectively, for the evaluation of hema- tobiochemical parameters. At the end of the trial, 15 chickens from each of the 3 genotypic groups were randomly selected and slaughtered to determine the carcass parameters. The findings from the study revealed that except for total cholesterol, spleen, and neck weight, there was no significant genotypic effect (P . 0.05) on hematobiochemical and carcass parameters measured. The nanaff genotype birds had significantly higher (P , 0.05) cholesterol levels than both Nanaff and NanaFf genotype birds, both of which did not differ significantly. The Nanaff had significantly (P , 0.05) higher spleen and neck weight than both the nanaff and NanaFf. The latter 2 did not differ significantly (P . 0.05). Also, hematobiochemical assays of all the birds were within normal range. From a health point of view, the indigenous naked neck genotype seems superior because its fat and cholesterol contents were low. Thus, it is strongly recommended that there should be a conscious effort to develop and commercialize the naked-neck and frizzled birds especially in developing countries. Key words: poultry, gene, naked neck, hematological parameters, indigenous chicken 2020 Poultry Science -:-–- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2019.11.049 INTRODUCTION Crossbreeding has been a noteworthy device for the advancement of present-day types of chickens and could in like manner be used to enhance the rural chicken. Crossbreeding methodology typically includes a 2-route cross between an enhanced exotic and a local breed, with the point of joining the better creation limit of the previous with the later flexibility to a harsh environ- mental condition Khawaja et al., (2016). Adeleke et al., (2011) in their study also reported improved performance and viability traits in reciprocal effects in crosses involving local chickens and exotic broiler breeder. This phenomenon in poultry is thought to originate from sex-linked genes (such as naked-neck: Na, frizzled: F and dwarf: dw). It has been established that these genes (Na, F) are highly tolerant to the tropical condition and can produce high number of good quality eggs and carcass with low production and handling costs. This depicts that the dam line is very important in practical poultry breeding. Thus, to improve the productivity and efficiency of the indigenous birds within their local environments, it is necessary to preserve desirable genes, for example, dis- ease resistance genes, and advance them (Sonaiya et al., 1999). Kral and Suchy (2000) reported that important information is provided by serum biochemical and hema- tological parameters on the immune status of animals, and this type of information is required for diagnostic and management function and could equally be inte- grated into breeding programs for the genetic advance- ment of native chickens. Islam et al., (2004) stated that a critical examination of normal hematological parameters of birds is especially vi- tal in diagnosing the diverse metabolic and pathological disorders. As a diagnostic tool, it can be used to evaluate Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Poultry Science Association Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Received August 11, 2019. Accepted November 18, 2019. a Present address: Osei Tutu Senior High School, P. O. Box 20, Kumasi, Ghana. 1 Corresponding author: eedwardken@gmail.com 1