The study was accomplished to identify the characteristics of village chickens’ (VCs) genetic resources in the Abu-Dhabi Emirate of United Arab Emirate (UAE) and to study factors affecting these characteristics. Each bird was individually observed, identified, measured and characterized of thirteen VCs pure breeds and crossbreds. The overall VCs had normal feather morphology (95.1%) and distribution (77%). Except for Fayomi chickens which were 100% mottled, no specific plumage pattern was found. Almost 52% of the VCs had white skins. Six different colors were reported for the shanks and maximized for white shanks (34.3%). Large breasts (46%) were more available. The predominant plumage color was mixed colors (37.5%). Face size tended to be small (42.8%) to medium (40.4%). More brown (48.9%) then orange (27.3%) eyes were found. Dark (49.7%) beaks were more available than white (28.6%) or yellow (21.7%) beaks. The distribution of wattle colors was similar to that of ear-lob colors with some variation. Small wattles (41.9%) were most available. Single comb (82.4%) is the most available; 11 other types and one with no comb were represented with low frequencies. In the whole sample, red and white combs (56.7%) were the most available ; however, plain red (23.8%) and red and black (15.5%) were represented. Results of factors influence showed that body weight was high significantly (P < 0.01) influenced by the interaction between both breed and region and breed and sex. Significant (P < 0.01) influence of interaction w as observed between breed and location on body length, wing span and shank length. The interaction between breed and sex only significantly (P < 0.01) influenced shank length. Though, all main effects of breed, sex and region significantly (P < 0.01) influenced continuous measures. Most morphological characteristics were significantly (P < 0.01) different among breeds. This study reported the morphological characteristics of the different VCs breeds kept in Abu-Dhabi Emirate, which considered the scientific base for future implementing of conservation and/or genetic improvement programs.
Village chickens (VCs) are those kept under traditional raising system and used for multiple purposes with variable morphological characteristics [
The breed characteristics are considered as an important key for decision-making guide in livestock improvement, breeding programs and conservation [
The study was accomplished between March 2015 and June 2016, in 18 randomly selected villages belong to Abu-Dhabi in UAE, located between 22˚40'' and 25˚N and 51˚ and 56˚E. The 18 randomly selected villages were located in each of the 3 Abu-Dhabi Emirate municipalities (Abu-Dhabi (6), Al-Ain (8) and Al-Dhafra (4)). The UAE’s weather is characterized by hot desert climate, with mostly clear skies all-year-round and low rainfall. Average maximum temperature is above 39˚C with high humidity during the period from June to September, while cool temperature reaches 19˚C from November to March.
Households within Abu-Dhabi Emirate who raise more than 10 VCs and willing to participate in the study were randomly selected. Chicken keepers who keep VCs under traditional system of raising for multiple purposes, regardless of the flock size were considered in the study. The sampling size of each farm was 5 - 10 adult hens and 2 - 5 adult cocks (>6-month-old) from each breed, with a total of 1208 chickens from a stratified random sampling procedure of 59 chicken keepers in the three municipal regions (Abu-Dhabi (20), Al-Ain (28) and Al-Dhafra (11)). The sample represents around 10% of the expected size of chicken keepers’ population (Animal Wealth Division, Abu-Dhabi Food Control Authority, Personal communication).
A survey was conducted to study the VCs populations of Abu-Dhabi Emirate. Assigning names to breeds of chicken were accomplished based on keepers’ perceptions and, explicit phenotypic differences among and consistencies within group and was partly based on the popular usage of particular name. The morphological characteristics of each bird were individually observed according to [
Statistical analysis was performed on qualitative survey data using the Chi-square test of the FREQ procedure [
The UAE is an open country for animal genetic resources exchange throughout no restriction for people of Emirates to import animals and birds breeds from all over the world. Emirati people are interested in keeping robust birds that would rank high in exhibitions and competitions. These chickens are source of income for many Emirati families beside home consumption and reared for meat and egg production [
Breed | Frequency | Breed * Region | Breed * Sex | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | Abu-Dhabi | Al-Ain | Al-Dhafra | Female | Male | |
P-value | <0.0001 | 0.0007 | ||||
N | 1208 | 417 | 587 | 204 | 831 | 377 |
Local | 71.19 | 1357 ± 28i | 1423 ± 23i | 1722 ± 50cdef | 1288 ± 21f | 1575 ± 31de |
Fancy | 35.59 | 2119 ± 30b | 2106 ± 40b | 1677 ± 96efg | 1819 ± 28bc | 2359 ± 43a |
Crossbred | 20.34 | 1551 ± 54gh | 1706 ± 49def | 1686 ± 49defg | 1431 ± 37de | 1876 ± 51b |
Omani | 11.86 | 1388 ± 44i | 1274 ± 50f | 1502 ± 78de | ||
Pakistani | 10.17 | 2210 ± 280abcdef | 1935 ± 101bce | 1596 ± 112cde | 2320 ± 174a | |
Brahman | 8.47 | 1960 ± 144bcdef | 2547 ± 186a | 1116 ± 99j | 1528 ± 86.83de | 1514.29 ± 147def |
Kuwaiti | 6.78 | 981 ± 132j | 1173 ± 77j | 1050 ± 87g | 1200 ± 112fg | |
Fayomi | 3.39 | 1635 ± 101fg | 1500 ± 123def | 1770 ± 174bcd | ||
Kerala | 3.39 | 1783 ± 154cdefg | 1305 ± 117hij | 1344 ± 129efg | 1614 ± 147bcde | |
Other breeds1 | 8.47 | 1676 ± 65fg | 1718 ± 73cdefg | 1514 ± 58de | 1874 ± 89bc |
1Other breeds: uncommon breeds that were named Holland, Australian, Japanese, Habhab and Abu-Dhabi. a,b,c,d Different superscripts within an interaction indicate significant differences (P < 0.05).
breed was not similar to any of the known French breeds, however, because fancy sound like French in Arabic most keepers called this breed as French. The Fancy breed was of two colors, one of which was very similar to New Hampshire Red, and the second was very similar to Delaware breed. Though, both had similar body conformation and body weight. They were preferred by local Emirati people because of their fast growth rate and final body weight. The third was the crossbred chickens (20%), which mainly crossed with Fancy breed, secondly with Pakistani and then with all other breeds. The fourth was the Omani chickens (12%) which were highly diverse group of chickens, very similar to the Emirati local breed, a little shorter, and found only in Al-Ain close to Oman boarder. The fifth breed was the Pakistani chickens (10%) which were originally from Pakistan and characterized by long body with divers colors and most shapes characteristics. Brahman chickens were mostly crested heads, brown and creamy in color with very diverse comb types. Other breeds were found in less than 10% of the visited sample farms. Kuwaiti chickens were originally from Kuwait had very small body size and weight, variable in colors and shapes characteristics. In Kuwait, it is traditionally called the Arabi chickens and it is important as a source of meat and eggs and used for entertainment [
Body weight was highly significantly (P < 0.01) influenced by the interaction between both breed and region and breed and sex (
Males were always heavier than females, differences were not consistent among breeds; male-female differences within some breeds were not significant (P > 0.05,
The significant (P < 0.01) influence of interaction between breed and location on body length, wing span and shank length were presented in
Breed | Body length | Wing span | Shank length | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abu-Dhabi | Al-Ain | Al-Dhafra | Abu-Dhabi | Al-Ain | Al-Dhafra | Abu-Dhabi | Al-Ain | Al-Dhafra | |
P-value | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | 0.0005 | ||||||
Local | 39.61 ± 0.23gh | 39.7 ± 0.2gh | 41.8 ± 0.4de | 41.4 ± 0.3h | 42.8 ± 0.2fg | 45.0 ± 0.5c | 5.6 ± 0.1g | 5.7 ± 0.1fg | 6.1 ± 0.1bde |
Fancy | 44.68 ± 0.24b | 44.6 ± 0.3b | 44.6 ± 0.8b | 47.4 ± 0.3a | 48.1 ± 0.4a | 38.1 ± 1.0jk | 6.8 ± 0.1ac | 6.6 ± 0.1bc | 7.1 ± 0.2a |
Crossbred | 42.73 ± 0.43cd | 42.8 ± 0.4cd | 44.2 ± 0.4b | 44.1 ± 0.6cde | 46.9 ± 0.5ab | 43.5 ± 0.5defg | 6.7 ± 0.1abc | 6.3 ± 0.1bd | 6.4 ± 0.1bd |
Omani | 40.3 ± 0.4fg | 42.3 ± 0.5fgh | 5.4 ± 0.1h | ||||||
Pakistani | 49.6 ± 2.3a | 44.8 ± 0.8b | 51.0 ± 2.9ab | 41.4 ± 1.0ghi | 7.1 ± 0.6abc | 6.3 ± 0.2bd | |||
Brahman | 44.44 ± 1.16bc | 44.9 ± 1.5abc | 38.1 ± 0.8h | 48.4 ± 1.5ab | 49.8 ± 1.9a | 33.1 ± 1.0l | 6.2 ± 0.3bdefg | 5.7 ± 0.4defgh | 6.4 ± 0.2bcd |
Kuwaiti | 34.77 ± 1.06i | 35.4 ± 0.6i | 38.5 ± 1.4ijk | 37.8 ± 0.8k | 4.5 ± 0.3i | 4.3 ± 0.2i | |||
Fayomi | 40.4 ± 0.8efgh | 42.1 ± 1.0efgh | 7.0 ± 0.2ac | ||||||
Kerala | 42.53 ± 1.24bcdef | 38.3 ± 0.9h | 46.1 ± 1.6abcd | 40.7 ± 1.2ghij | 6.5 ± 0.3abcd | 5.4 ± 0.3gh | |||
Other breeds1 | 41.2 ± 0.5ef | 41.1 ± 0.6ef | 43.0 ± 0.7defg | 45.3 ± 0.8bc | 5.3 ± 0.1h | 5.8 ± 0.2efg |
1Other breeds: uncommon breeds that were named Holland, Australian, Japanese, Habhab and Abu-Dhabi. a,b,c,d Different superscripts within an interaction indicate significant differences (P < 0.05).
Breed | Body length | Wing span | Shank length | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | |
P-value | 0.1027 | 0.3371 | 0.0005 | |||
Local | 38.0 ± 0.2hi | 41.8 ± 0.2d | 40.1 ± 0.2fghi | 45.0 ± 0.3cd | 5.2 ± 0.1h | 6.2 ± 0.1de |
Fancy | 42.1 ± 0.2cd | 47.2 ± 0.3a | 44.3 ± 0.3d | 49.9 ± 0.5a | 6.2 ± 0.1de | 7.3 ± 0.1a |
Crossbred | 40.8 ± 0.3ef | 45.7 ± 0.4b | 41.8 ± 0.4efg | 47.9 ± 0.6b | 6.0 ± 0.1e | 6.9 ± 0.1bc |
Omani | 37.88 ± 0.4hi | 42.8 ± 0.6cd | 40.4 ± 0.5fghi | 44.2 ± 0.8cd | 5.1 ± 0.1h | 5.6 ± 0.2fg |
Pakistani | 43.0 ± 0.9cd | 47.4 ± 1.4ab | 40.1 ± 1.2fghi | 44.2 ± 1.9bcdef | 6.0 ± 0.2ef | 6.8 ± 0.4abcd |
Brahman | 39.1 ± 0.7gh | 42.2 ± 1.2cdef | 39.1 ± 0.9i | 39.5 ± 1.6fghij | 6.3 ± 0.2de | 6.2 ± 0.3def |
Kuwaiti | 33.8 ± 0.7j | 36.7 ± 0.9i | 36.4 ± 0.9j | 39.6 ± 1.2fghi | 4.2 ± 0.2j | 4.5 ± 0.2ij |
Fayomi | 39.4 ± 1.0fgh | 41.3 ± 1.4cdefg | 39.1 ± 1.3ghij | 45.0 ± 1.9bcde | 7.0 ± 0.3abc | 7.0 ± 0.4abcd |
Kerala | 36.9 ± 1.0hi | 42.7 ± 1.2cde | 39.5 ± 1.4ghij | 45.8 ± 1.6bcd | 5.2 ± 0.3ghi | 6.4 ± 0.3cde |
Other breeds1 | 38.8 ± 0.5gh | 43.5 ± 0.7c | 41.4 ± 0.6efgh | 46.6 ± 1.0bc | 5.1 ± 0.1h | 5.9 ± 0.2ef |
1Other breeds: uncommon breeds that were named Holland, Australian, Japanese, Habhab and Abu-Dhabi. a,b,c,d Different superscripts within an interaction indicate significant differences (P < 0.05).
Shank length was not different between sexes for each of Brahman, Kuwaiti and Fayomi. Pakistani breed in Al-Ain had the longest body and wing span, with long shanks. Body length was consistently second for Fancy in all locations while Brahman body length was similar in Abu-Dhabi and Alain and was lower in Al-Dhafra. Kuwaiti as usual had consistently the shortest body. Wing span of Brahman and Fancy in Abu-Dhabi and Alain were similar to that of Pakistani in Al-Ain, however, these breeds had lower values in Al-Dhafra. Similarly, [
Emirati local chickens and the overall VCs in the Emirate had normal feather morphology (95.1%), with other morphology types were represented, however, differences among breeds were highly significant (P < 0.01,
In general, 77% of all chicken breeds had normal feather distribution, while feathered shanks and feet and crested head each represent 10% of the sampled
chicken population. Contrary to this result, [
Except for Fayomi chickens which were 100% mottled, no specific plumage pattern was found for the whole population. Though, the mottled pattern was main pattern with 58.5% of the population, followed by barred (21.5%), plain (13.3%) and laced (6.8%) patterns, however, different breeds had different distribution of plumage patterns (P < 0.01). The Local breed had mottled pattern represented by almost 50%, with the presence of other patterns. Fancy, Omani, Kerala and rare breeds had mainly mottled pattern of 81%, 43.5%, 50% and 75%, respectively. On the other hand, Pakistani, Brahman and Kuwaiti had mainly barred pattern with 43.8%, 56.5% and 79.2%, respectively. On the other hand, researcher in different parts of the world reported that no specific plumage pattern found for the majority of their sampled VCs [
Almost 52% of the overall sampled population of VCs had white or not pigmented skins; dark skinned chickens represent one third (33.3%) of the population and the rest had yellow skin (15%), though, differences among breeds were significant (P < 0.01). Emirati local chickens skin color was ranging from white (44.9%) to yellow (12.6%) to dark skin (43.5%). Fancy and Fayomi skins were mostly white (72.4%, 75%, respectively), while Kuwaiti chicken skins were mostly dark (91.7%). However, different regions of Ethiopia had differences in the majority of skin color either white or yellow [
Six different colors were found for the chicken shanks, with 34.3% of the sampled population had white or not pigmented shanks; in addition to 18.4% had yellow shanks (
Breast size relative to body was tended to be large (46%) to medium (39.5%,
Feather color
The color variations among and within local breeds of VCs in UAE were attracting poultry fanciers that were interested in selection of showy and colorful birds. Feather color of various body parts of the sampled chickens were highly significant (P < 0.01) among different breeds (
represented by less than 15% in the overall (
Head characteristics
The overall eye color was more of brown (48.9%) or orange (27.3%). Other colors frequencies such as pearl, red and black were less than 10%. Emirati local, Fancy, Omani, Kerala, crossbreeds and rare breeds had similar values for the frequency of the different eye colors. However, 62.5% of Pakistani chickens had orange eyes, 82.6% of Brahman and 83.3% of Fayomi had brown eyes, and 75% of Kuwaiti chickens had black eyes (
most prominent in different parts of the worlds; this include dark brown, orange, light brown, black and red; with high diversity [
In all VCs breeds, dark (49.7%) beaks were more available than white (28.6%) or yellow (21.7%) beaks. More white beaks were available than other colors for Brahman (39.1%) and Fayomi (58.3%), while 66.7% of beak color for Kuwaiti were dark (
The distribution of wattle colors was similar to that of ear-lob colors with some variation. Red and white (50.9%) wattles were more available than other colors, secondly the red (36.3%) wattles then red and black (10%) wattles with black wattles being the least (0.9%) in the overall VCs breeds. Local, Fancy, Omani, Kerala and crossbred chickens were not very different. Fayomi chickens had either read and white (66.7%) or red (33.3%) wattles, while Kuwaiti chickens had relatively high frequency of black (16.7%) and black and white (33.3%) wattles (
Small wattles (41.9%) were more available than medium (28.9%) and large (29.2%) ones in the overall VCs sampled breeds. However, more frequency of large (50%) wattles was found in the Pakistani chickens than other sizes and more medium (60.9%) wattles were found for Brahman chickens than other sizes (
Comb characteristics
Most of the sampled VCs in the Emirate had single comb (82.4%), with 11 other types and one with no comb were represented with low to very low frequencies, with significant (P < 0.01) differences among breeds (
Small combs (41.7%) were more available than either medium (36%) or large (22.3%) combs in the overall sampled population. Despite that, combs allow for better heat loss in the tropical climate of UAE [
In the whole sample, red and white combs (56.7%) were the most available, however, plain red (23.8%) and red and black (15.5%) were represented by high percentages, with high significant (P < 0.01) differences among VCs breeds (
In Abu-Dhabi Emirate, many VCs breeds existed (13 breeds and crossbreds), which exhibited wide phenotypic variation. This phenotypic variation reflected by the morphological characteristics of the different breeds raised in Abu-Dhabi Emirate, which considered the scientific base for future implementing of conservation and/or genetic improvement programs. Estimates of production performance and molecular based characterization of the different breeds of VCs reported in UAE under relatively improved management conditions are important before executing any genetic improvement program.
The authors are grateful to Abu-Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), Abu-Dhabi, UAE, for the financial support and to all persons who helped in achieving this study.
Tabbaa, M.J. and Hassanin, H.H. (2018) Factors Influencing the Morphological Characteristics of Village Chickens’ Genetic Resources in the Abu- Dhabi Emirate, UAE. Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 8, 87-103. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojas.2018.81007