Evaluation Of F1 And F2 Generations of Body Weight and Linear Body Dimensions of Normal Feathered and Plymouth Rock and Their Crossbred

Abstract

The domestic fowl plays a major role in supplying the population with egg and meat, which are highly nutritious and popularly consumed in rural area of Nigeria. The experiment was conducted at the poultry research center (PRC) of the Faculty of Agriculture, DSUST, Ozoro, to evaluate F₁ and F₂ generations of body weight (BWT) and linear body dimensions (LBDs) of normal feathered (NF) and Plymouth Rock (PR) and their crossbred. One hundred and sixty-eight (168) sexually matured birds of NF chicken were purchased and used for the study. The NF hens were bred (natural) with PR cock. The first cross was between NF and PR cock produced (50 % Indigenous (I) and 50 % Exotic (E)) in the first filial generation (F₁). The second cross was an inter se mating of the heterozygous NF from the F₁ generation. The pure NF was used to produce F₁ and F₂ generations. Data attained were LBD which include: BWT (g), CL (cm) , BKL (cm), HL (cm), NL (cm), WL (cm), KL (cm), BG (cm), THL (cm), SL (cm), and TOL (cm) were subjected to statistical analysis. Results revealed that values obtained ranged from 762.75 g to 996.20 g; 1083.33 to 1333.80 g for BWT, at 12th week for F₁ and F₂ respectively. The crossbred progenies of F₁ and F₂ generations were superior in all the traits of LBD than the purebred lines. In conclusion, crossbreeding and selection should be practice to bring about genetic improvement of the crossbred lines over many generations.