Phenotypic Characteristics of Legund Chickens in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The Legund chicken is the rare Indonesian native chicken that is naturally devoid of feathers on its neck due to the autosomal incomplete dominant naked neck (Na) gene. This gene is not only responsible for defeathering the neck region, but also restricts the feathering areas around the body by 20-30% in the heterozygous (Nana) and up to 40% in the homozygous (NaNa) genotype. Due to the association with the reduction in feather coverage, improved heat tolerance and better adaptability, survivability, and productibility under heat stress conditions, the Na can be used as a marker gene that is economically mportant in modern breeding system. However, the characteristic of this chicken has been poorly characterized to date in Indonesia due to the r small population number, very limited data of their phenotypic characteristics, and biological parameters, and very limited data on their current utilization. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to observe the phenotyp c characteristics, the influence of imported breed and the purity level of native gene of the Legund chicken populations cared under traditional farming system in West Java. The research findings will be very important to provide base line data that would be useful for the desaining their conservation program and improvement of utility development.