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Characteristics of indigenous chicken in Iraq

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2011

A.A. Al-Rawi  and
A.K. Al-Athari
A.A. Al-Rawi
Affiliation:
IPA Agric. Res. Center, Abu-Ghraib, Iraq
A.K. Al-Athari
Affiliation:
IPA Agric. Res. Center, Abu-Ghraib, Iraq
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Summary

The Iraqi indigenous chickens (I.I.C.) are well adapted to a wide range of ambient temperature (-5°C to 50°C). They are found throughout the country and are raised for meat and eggs. The birds are active and independent foragers.

The IPA Agricultural Research Centre played a role in the purification and multiplication of five different genetic lines according to feather colour. These lines are the progeny of segregating populations of the foundation stock which was a specimen collected from all over the country. The plumage colour of the I.I.C. lines varied from white to black. Most of the birds have white skin colour; comb type is single; egg-shell colour varied between white, tinted to brown; age at sexual maturity ranged between 162 to 166 days; body weight at sexual maturity was found to be similar for the differentlines (1.4 kg) indicating that I.I.C are small-sized birds and variations among lines of the I.I.C were significant for egg production, egg weight and feed efficiency.

Resumen

La raza indígena de aves Iraquí (IIC) está bien adaptada a un amplio espectro de temperaturas ambientales que va de -5°C a 50°C.Esta raza está presente en todo el país y se crían tanta para producción de carne que de huevos. Los animales se crían al suelo y se alimentan de forma independiente. El IPA a jugado un papel esencial en la purificación y multiplicación de cinco líneas genéticas diversas en base al color del plumaje. Estas líneas son la progenie de poblaciones segregadas del stock original formado por una serie de especímenes recogidos a través del país. El color del plumaje de las líneas IIC va del blanco al negro. La mayoría de los animales poseen la piel blanca, la cresta es única, el color de la cáscara de los huevos varíade blanco, beige a marrón, la madurez sexual se alcanza alrededor delos 162 a 166 días, el peso corporal en el momento de la madurez sexual fue muy similar para las diversas líneas (1,4 kg), lo que indicaque la IIC es de pequeno tamano y las variaciones entre líneas fueron significantes en cuanto a producción de huevos, peso del huevo y eficacia alimentaria.

Keywords

ChickenIndigenousIraqPracticesProductionCharacteristicsMorphological description
Type
Research Articles
Information
Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales , Volume 32 , April 2002 , pp. 87 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2002

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