Morphobiometrical diversity of the indigenous chicken’s population in the Sudano-sahelian zone of Cameroon

Studies were undertaken at rural, peri-urban and urban areas of the Sudano-sahelian agro-ecological zone of Cameroon to describe the variations in physical characters and some important feather and skin mutations observed in different populations of native chickens of the sudano-sahelian zone of Cameroon. According to accessibility, availability of chickens and willingness of farmers to give informations , thirteen villages were investigated from January to September 2010 in the Far-north and North regions using a structured questionnaire. 558 chickens were randomly selected and each of them was completely described by direct observation, weighing and body measurements according to FAO (1981) recommendations. The main results show that feather colour of local poultry of the Sudano-sahelian agro-ecological zone of Cameroon is variable, but dominated by the wild type and white having frequencies of 18.64% and 15.41% respectively, whereas the other colours of feather vary from medium to very small frequencies, as grey colour of feather (1.61%). Four genetic types were represented in this agro-ecological zone, namely: normally feathered (87.63%), Naked-neck (4.30%), crested (4.84%) and Frizzle chickens (3.23%). Heterogeneity of colours was also observed at the level of shanks; where white was the dominant colour (38.53%) and green (4.12%) the lowest frequency. The comb showed just two varieties: single (95.52%) and rose shape (4.12%). Sexual dimorphism was observed in all the traits with higher values recorded for males. The mean body weight of adult chicken, in the Sudano-sahelian agro-ecological zone of Cameroon is 1458±329g. Roosters are heavier ﴾1588±332) than hens ﴾1323±269g). All the body measurement considered are significantly higher in roosters. The high variability of characters offers possibilities for selection of rustic and more productive breeds in the Sudano-sahelian agro-ecological zone of Cameroon.