Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify and describe qualitative traits of indigenous Tswana chicken populations in Kweneng and Southern districts of Botswana. The qualitative traits involved in the study included tail colour, breast colour, back colour, neck colour, comb type, shank colour, earlobe colour and head shape. Data were subjected to frequency and cross tabulation procedures of descriptive statistics in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to compute frequencies of occurrence of each qualitative trait. The five strains of indigenous Tswana chickens under scavenging management system showed distinct physical variations for most of the qualitative traits. Black was the most predominant tail colour across the strains (51.6%) followed by brown (27.9%). The frequency of brown breast colour and brown back colour were significantly higher in those respective regions. Brown and black were the predominant neck colours across the strains. The single comb type (81.7%), featherless shank (65.4%), red ear lobes (67.6%) and grey shank colour (32.9%) were the most predominant phenotypes across the strains. Plain and crested head shapes occurred at similar frequencies of 56.4 and 43.6%, respectively, in Tswana chickens in Southern part of Botswana. Key words: Botswana, morphological characterization, phenotypic variation, qualitative traits, Tswana chickens.
Highlights
In Africa, rural households have kept indigenous chickens for many years on free running or scavenging management (Ndidde et al, 2014)
Indigenous chickens of Botswana are known as Tswana chickens and are the most widely spread domestic animal, which almost every rural family owns
A total of 98 households within each district comprising six villages each, rearing only indigenous Tswana chicken participated in the study
Summary
In Africa, rural households have kept indigenous chickens for many years on free running or scavenging management (Ndidde et al, 2014). Indigenous Tswana chicken contributes enormously to supply of meat and eggs to the rural communities of Botswana (Badubi et al, 2006). Local chicken populations are often described and grouped according to geographical location or phenotypic characteristics, while their classification into breeds or types is limited (Manyelo et al, 2020). They exhibit great variation in performance in various qualitative and quantitative traits of economic importance (Faruque et al, 2010). Indigenous Tswana chicken exhibits numerous observable attributes including plumage, shank and earlobe colour, comb type, head shape and other qualitative traits. The possible existence of several genetically distinct subpopulations within a large population has called for the need to identify and define the subpopulations in order to determine genes which might be in danger of becoming extinct and need conservation (Guni and Katule, 2013)
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