Biometric characterization of local chicken "Gallus gallus domesticus" according to the sex and phenotype from traditional breedings of Dabakala (Côte d'Ivoire)

Essential sources of animal's protein undoubtedly remain the local production of poultry in Côte d'Ivoire (Fofana, 2010). Traditional poultry farming produced about 22 million chickens, which represents 70 % of national poultry production (FAO, 2008). In general, over 89 % of small rural farmers raise chickens and the average number per household is 6.8 chickens (Fattah, 1999). Despite this important average, the national poultry production remains in deficit. Thus the country has imported frozen poultry meat from African countries and from Europe. These imports of animal's products caused significant output of currency. In Côte d'Ivoire, these imports amounted to over 120 billion CFA in 2013 (MPARH, 2013). This short production could be explained by a poor productivity of traditional poultry farms compared to modern one. Indeed, African indigenous chickens are in majority reared without food supplement, no vaccine and treatments. These rambling birds feed on residual grains in the course and surrounding houses, kitchen waste, insects and earthworms. This low productivity could explain why this village farming could not benefit from the support programs put in place by the authority in the agricultural sector. The few programs that have involved the breeding of local species were the used of improved stump of poultry in crossbreeding, especially for meat production (Sonaiya and Swan, 2004). Most of these programs have failed due to the lack of monitoring in improving the management of livestock (FAO, 2004). Moreover, crossbreeding with exotic breeds is a source of "erosion" of local breeds genetic leaving in place hybrid whose breeding conditions, are not always accessible to the breeder in rural areas (Batimsoga and Lombo, 2009). It is necessary to preserve the genetic "erosion" by improving the genetic selection for the satisfaction of farmers and consumers. This cannot be done without a good knowledge of livestock genetics parameters. The objectives of this work are to contribute to the knowledge of animal genetic resources of the local chicken population in Cote d'Ivoire. Specifically, we proposed to describe the morphometric characteristics by type of feathering of local chicken come from traditional farms Dabakala northern region of Côte d'Ivoire.