Productive and Reproductive Performance of Aseel, Indigenous Naked Neck, and Red Junglefowl as Important Chicken Genetic Resources of Bangladesh

Abstract

Indigenous chicken genetic resources are essential for sustainable poultry production, rural livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation in Bangladesh. This study compared the productive and reproductive performances of three indigenous chicken genotypes, namely Aseel, Indigenous Naked Neck (INN), and Red Junglefowl (RJF), reared under identical semi-intensive management conditions. A total of 120 day-old chicks (40 birds per genotype) were raised from hatch to 52 weeks of age. Productive traits, including live weight, growth rate, feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg production, and egg weight, together with reproductive traits such as age at sexual maturity, fertility, hatchability and embryonic mortality were recorded and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. Significant differences (P < 0.01) were found among genotypes for most productive and reproductive traits. Aseel consistently exhibited superior live weight, growth rate, feed efficiency up to 20 weeks of age, and egg weight throughout the study (52 weeks). At 20 weeks of age, Aseel attained the highest mean live weight (2107.40 ± 138.59 g), significantly exceeding INN (1577.00 ± 106.16 g) and RJF (983.00 ± 73.64 g). Conversely, INN reached sexual maturity earlier (135 days), produced the highest egg production up to 52 weeks of age (65.00 ± 2.43 eggs), and recorded the highest fertility (80.75 ± 4.67%). Although Aseel showed lower fertility (65.68 ± 2.48%), it achieved the highest hatchability of fertile eggs (75.68 ± 5.01%). These findings demonstrate distinct genotype-specific production potentials and provide baseline information for the conservation, genetic improvement, and sustainable utilization of indigenous chickens in Bangladesh, supporting future breeding program and biodiversity conservation efforts for climate-resilient rural poultry development and genetic conservation initiatives.

Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 14(3): 122-130.