Phenotypic analysis of underutilized poultry species in Kenya

Abstract

Poultry are playing an increasingly important role in ensuring food security especially in developing countries. They are a source of dietary protein as well as a source of income. In Kenya, there is an overreliance on chicken to provide poultry products like meat and eggs. Other poultry species such as domestic ducks (Carina moschata and Anas plathyrynchos), geese (Anser anser and Anser cygnoides), pigeons ( Columba livia) and turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), in this paper referred to as minor poultry, have not been adequately exploited. This study aimed to characterize the phenotypic traits of these minor poultry species. Quantitative parameters measured were live body weight and shank length, while the qualitative traits of shank colour and skin colour were observed and recorded. Data analysis was done using Excel spread sheets and R Core Version 3.1.2. Geese showed no variation in the qualitative traits scored as all birds sampled had white skin and yellow shanks. Ducks on the other hand exhibited the largest variations in shank colour with six different colours being identified. Ninety-eight percent of the ducks sampled had pink skin colour whereas the remaining two percent were white. More than half of the number of turkeys (fifty-six percent) had white skin colour and almost three quarters (seventy-two percent) had pink shanks. The dominant phenotypes identified in the pigeons sampled were eighty-seven percent with pink skin colour and ninety-four percent with pink shank colour. Males exhibited higher body weights as compared to the females (p≥0.05) in these four species. Shank lengths were significantly longer in males than females (p≥0.05) in all the species except in geese. Results from this study could be used by the National Poultry Improvement Program to establish breeding and improvement programs for minor poultry species. These underutilized poultry species could play a greater role in improving nutrition and alleviating poverty in Kenya, particularly in the rural areas.