Phenotypic and morphometric diversity of Indigenous Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo) from Wilaya of Tlemcen, Northwest of Algeria

Abstract

In order to investigate the genetic and phenotypic variability of indigenous turkey in the North West of Algeria, a study was conducted around local poultry farms in the region of Tlemcen and performed on 78 Turkeys (27 males and 51 females) of adult age. Seventeen parameters were measured including 11 quantitative and 6 qualitative which are :body length (BL), wingspan (W), chest width (CW), chest size (CS), tarsal length (TL), thigh length (ThL), neck length (NL), spout length (SL), wing length (WL), width of the dewlap (WD), head length (HL). Taking in consideration plumage coloration, the following phenotypes were observed: Black (17%), White (65%), Red (18%). This work is considered as the first report about the phenotypic differentiation on indigenous turkey in Tlemcen. The measurements performed on these animals showed an important significant difference and a positive correlation between all the mentioned parameters thus the results of the hierarchical classification based on PCA shows three classes, where class 2 and class 3 were balanced with slight differences in (SL), (TL), (ThL), (CS), while class 1 showed remarkable differences which could be under implications of random selection and breeding programs