Characterisation and potential of the Khukhri poultry breed of Jharkhand in rural farming systems

The present study was conducted to characterize the Khukhri chicken reared under backyard system in three districts of Chotanagpur plateau of Jharkhand. Data on phenotypic and body measurements were recorded of 540 adult chickens; 180 male and 360 females drawn from 270 households. The overall flock size differed significantly (p≤0.01) in the study area. In males, mixed and red plumage were the dominant phenotypic traits. However, female chickens were characterized by brown plumage. The predominant shank colour was yellow. The colour of ear lobe and comb were red and skin was white in all the birds. The predominant comb type was single followed by pea and rose. The present study has developed the baseline data of indigenous chickens for recognition as a distinct breed in future. The overall value of age of first egg laying, clutch size, clutch interval, number of clutches per cycle, number of eggs per cycle, cycle per year, pause period and annual egg production was 216.51±0.9, 5.16±0.6, 1.311±0.001, 2.64±0.026, 13.16±0.107, 3.32±0.025, 107.6±0.423 and 43.39±0.395. The overall mean percent hatchability on total egg set basis recorded was 76.11±0.432. The overall average body weight of male and female chicken was 1552.18±27.46 and 1182.04±14.30 g, respectively in Chotanagpur plateau of Jharkhand. The body weight of males was observed to be significantly (p<0.05) heavier than females. The overall average shank length of adult male and female was found to be 9.85±0.08 and 8.73±0.05 cm respectively.