A study was conducted on the growth performance, carcass characteristics and immune competence of Naked Neck (NN), exotic Rhode Island Red (RIR) and their crossbred NNRIR chickens in the tropical summer months of May to September at a natural ambient temperature of 25.4C to 38.2C. Naked Neck gene (Na) was introduced into exotic RIR chickens by crossing cockerels of RIR with homozygous NN pullets to produce their crossbred NNRIR chickens. Growth performance significantly (P<0.05) varied among the different genetic groups. Crossbred NNRIR gained 6.97% more body weight and consumed 4.95% less feed than indigenous NN birds. Total feed consumption ratio (day1-20 weeks of age) of crossbred NNRIR was 9.50% lower (better) than indigenous NN birds. Dressing percentage was significantly (P<0.05) higher and same for exotic RIR (63.5%) and NNRIR (62.9%) while lowest for indigenous NN (60.7%). Significantly higher (P<0.05) thigh and drumstick meat dry matter (DM) was recorded for exotic RIR (30.1% and 30.5%, respectively). Significantly (P<0.05) higher crude protein (CP) content was recorded in thigh meat of crossbred NNRIR (67.1%) and drumstick meat of exotic RIR (66.1%). Immune competence traits such as cell mediated immune response (CMI), humoral immunity and phagocytic activity, were significantly higher (P<0.05) for crossbred NNRIR as compared to RIR chickens. The results indicated that crossbred NNRIR performed better than indigenous NN in terms of growth performance and were relatively more heat tolerant than exotic RIR chickens. It was concluded that cross breeding has potential for improving economically important traits of birds in tropical regions without compromising their adaptability to environmental stressors.
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Alam et al. (2021) studied this question.