Characterization of Local Chicken and their Production Systems in Jordan with Comparative Studies on Parasitological Infections

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The main objectives of the current study were to characterize the local chicken (LC) and their production systems in Jordan, to investigate the prevalence of different gastrointestinal helminthes in these systems and to compare the resistance response of LC and Lohmann White (LW) when challenged by different geographic sources of parasites. The study was carried out in the rural areas of northern districts of Jordan. The area is of Mediterranean climate with annual precipitation about 200 – 350 mm. On-farm studies and surveys were carried out in 18 villages with participation of 120 households. The study was accomplished in two phases, the first was conducted from October 2004 to February 2005 and the second was conducted from May to July 2005.

On-farm surveys were conducted to investigate biodiversity of LC and their performance potential. A sample of 846 adult LC was phenotypically characterized based on morphology, feather colors, comb shape, and performance. The level of morphological and phenotypic heterogeneity was high. The most predominant chicken type was Baladi chicken (67.3 %) followed by Pakistani (27.7 %) and Brahma (5 %). Naked neck and Frizzled phenotype were occasionally observed in the study area. The Baladi type was characterized by its small size compared to Pakistani and Brahma. It has horizontal body position and large vertical tail. Pakistani type characterized by the upright stance, larger body size than Baladi, the tail slope to be horizontal rather than vertical, soft and long feather, prominent shoulders and narrow stern. Braham has a very large body size, heavy bone and muscles. They are highly feathered birds with heavily feathered legs and toes.

Many plumage colors were observed in LC populations. Individual chicken might have single, two or many colors (mottled). The mottled was the most predominant (23.1 %) followed by the black (19.5 %) and light brownish color (19.1 %). Brown and black was relatively prevalent (17.0 %). Other variants like spotted, grey, red, spangled green, and yellow were seen in different proportions. Many comb variants were found, the single comb type was the most predominant (80.3 %). Other variants were Buttercup shape, Double, Pea shape and V-shaped with feather cap.