Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono and Bono East Regions of Ghana

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the effects of variety, region, and sex on body measurements and phenotypic correlations between various body measurements. Three hundred (300) adult indigenous Turkeys of 6-7 months old from each of the four middle-belt regions were sampled. Data on qualitative and quantitative traits from 3 Turkeys consisting of two (2) males and one (1) female randomly selected per farmer was taken (195 males and 105 females). The Morphometric traits such as body weight, beak length, body length, shank length, thigh length, head length, and sternum length were measured and recorded in kilograms (kg) and centimeters (cm). The Qualitative characters (colour) were determined using colour chart. White, Bronze, Black, Black White, and Buff were the Turkey plumage identified. The overall mean body weights for the five colour varieties were: White (4.792±0.201 kg), Black (4.744±0.112 kg), Bronze (4.783±0.284 kg), Black & white (4.547±0.113 kg) and Buff (5.059±0.292 kg). Turkeys from the Bono East region had much higher body weight than Turkeys from the Ashanti, Bono, and Ahafo regions. Cases of genotype-environment interaction were observed. The effect of Sex and Region was a highly significant (P<0.05) source of variation for most of the traits. There were positive, moderate to high correlations between the various body measurements. Body measurement was highly correlated (P <0.05) with body weight, ranging from 0.69 for head length to 0.96 for wing length. This study indicated that there are five (5) indigenous Turkey lines and each showed distinct physical variations for both qualitative and quantitative traits which can be harnessed for future genotypic and molecular characterization.