Native chicken from chotanagpur plateau: Morphological, behavioral, growth, and reproductive performance

The present study was conducted to describe the phenotypic characteristics, production efficiency and certain behavioural characteristics of native Mala Chicken of Chotanagpur plateau of India. Field observations, farmer interviews, and controlled rearing under simulated field conditions, were used to collect data. A total of 726 adult chickens were sampled and characterized for 17 quantitative traits and 438 adult chickens for 10 qualitative traits. The black and golden mix (38.88%) followed by white and black mix (37.80%) plumage colour in males and white and black (34.60%) followed by brownish white to light brown (31.18%) plumage colour in females were dominant in the ‘Mala’ chicken. The single comb was the most prevalent. In males, the hackle and saddle feathers displayed a rich golden-yellow hue, forming a garland-like pattern with laced plumage. Predominantly, the native chicken possesses white skin colour (73.28%), red earlobe (55.92%) and yellow shank (64.46%). The mean body weights of indigenous male and female chickens were found to be 1.86±0.04 kg and 1.09±0.02 kg, respectively. The average values for body length (cm), back length (cm), wingspan (cm), comb length (cm), shank length (cm) were 39.30±0.16, 27.22±0.13, 34.00±0.20, 5.76±0.18, 9.49±0.06, respectively. Average age at first egg, annual egg production, clutch length, number of clutches and average numbers of eggs laid per cycle of indigenous chickens calculated in the present study were 209.71±0.94 days, 68.94±0.98, 12.87±0.34, 2.41±0.08 days and 12.75±0.37, respectively. The flight distance and height were recorded as 40.14 ft and 8.35 ft, respectively, while the territory radius of cocks measured 122.69 ft. These findings offer baseline data on the phenotypic, production, and behavioral traits of native chicken germplasm from the Chotanagpur Plateau, India. Further efforts can be directed toward their conservation and enhancement.