Phenotypic characterization of Thai native black-bone chickens indigenous to northern Thailand

The aim of this study was to describe the phenotypic characteristics of native black-bone chickens indigenous to Northern Thailand. Nine qualitative and 6 quantitative traits were taken from 57 adult chickens of three genotypes, namely Chee Fah, Fah Luang and Papasoong. Only single type of comb and black shank were observed for all genotypes. The most prominent color of the comb was black followed by red and blackish red, respectively. Variations of hackle and plumage feather colors were found in Chee Fah and Fah Luang chickens, whereas those features of Papasoong were only white. Chee Fah had the lowest breast length, whereas Papasoong had the longest shank (p<0.05). Most of the quantitative variables showed significantly strong positive relationships to each other (r = 0.469 to 0.830). These investigations indicated that the native black-bone chickens in Northern Thailand represented phenotypic variations in both qualitative and quantitative characteristics.