A Study on the Change of Production Performance of 5 Strains of Korean Native Chicken after Establishment of Varieties

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the changes in production performance of five strains of Korean native chickens (KNCs), which have been collected and established at the National Institute of Animal Science, Korea, since 1992. A total of 38,026 KNCs were tested and survival rate, body weight, age at first egg-laying, hen-housed egg production, and egg weight was analyzed. The mean survival rates of KNCs were 87.9±0.8%, but no significant difference in survival rate between strains and in the annual survival rates of KNCs was observed. The average body weight of KNCs was 1,609.7±21.3 g at 150 d. The average body weight of KNC-Black was the highest, whereas KNC-White had the lowest weight. A gradual increase in the annual weight change has been observed in almost all strains after 2004. The average age at first egg-laying was 146.9±1.1 d in KNCs where KNC-White was the earliest and KNC-Black was the latest. The age at first egg-laying has increased after 2003, but has gradually decreased after 2008. The average hen-housed egg production at 270 d was 77.3±1.7 in KNCs, wherein KNC-Yellowish brown was the highest and KNC-Black was the lowest. The average egg weight at 270 d was 51.2±0.3 g in KNCs, indicating that KNC-Black was the heaviest, whereas KNC-White was the lightest. A significant increase in annual egg weight has been observed since 2008. To conclude, the appearance and feather colors of KNCs have improved uniformly, and the body weight has also improved slightly since 2002. (