assessment of the expression of phenotypic traits in male and female indigenous chickens (gallus gallus domesticus l.) in rajshahi, bangladesh

This study aimed to identify and describe phenotypic traits of indigenous chicken (gallus gallus domesticus l.) populations in five market sites in rajshahi city, bangladesh: shaheb bazar (s1), court bazar (s2), vodra bazar (s3), binodpur bazar (s4), and katakhali bazar (s5). a total of 496 chickens (205 males and 291 females) were evaluated for qualitative phenotypic traits, including feather type, head shape, plumage color, shank color, comb type, and ear lobe color. descriptive statistics and chi-square (c2) test were used to analyze the data. in the male chickens, significant differences were found in traits such as normal feathering, cock’s comb head shape, black plumage, white shank, black shank, brown shank, single comb, and red ear lobe (p < 0.001); multicolor plumage, white and black plumage, white ear lobe color (p < 0.01), and white plumage (p < 0.05) among the different sites. similarly, in females, significant differences prevailed in normal feather, plain head, black plumage, multicolor plumage, golden mixed plumage, white plumage, white shank, black shank, single comb, and red and white earlobe (p < 0.001); brown shank (p < 0.01), and cock’s comb, yellow shank (p < 0.05) within the different sites. in total, the male and female showed significant differences in the plain head, cock’s comb head, black plumage, black shank, single comb, and white ear lobe (p < 0.001); white plumage (p < 0.01), and white and black plumage and white shank (p < 0.05). the high phenotypic diversity in indigenous chickens is major evidence of high genetic variability at the population level. these findings highlight the broad spectrum of phenotypic traits among the studied populations and provide a foundation for developing conservation and selection strategies for indigenous chickens in the region.