| Summary: | Chee is 1 of 4 important native chicken breed in Thailand. Genetic selection can be used to improve growth and carcass performance. The objective of this study was to compare growth and carcass performance of native chickens (Chee) with a population selected for economic traits (Chee KKU12) and natural selection (Chee N). Two hundred Chee KKU12 and Chee N chickens were divided into 5 replicates, 20 chickens per replication. Record growth and carcass quality for data analysis. The results showed that at 12 weeks of age, Chee KKU12 chickens (1,279.484 g) had a higher body weight than did Chee N chickens (1,180.212 g). The averages daily weight gain at 4-6, 6-8, and 0-12 weeks of age of Chee KKU12 chicken (17.861,19.230, and 14.843 grams) was higher than Chee N chickens (16.284, 17.497, and 13.668 g) (P<0.05). The carcass quality with mixed gender showed that Chee KKU12 chickens had higher breast (20.859%) and abdominal fat (0.659%) than Chee N chicken (19.585% and 0.217%, respectively) (P<0.05), but Chee KKU12 chicken thigh (17.007%) was significantly lower than Chee N chickens (18.627%). Regression analysis revealed that the selection of Chee KKU12 chickens for gain in weight will result in better carcass composition including wing (0.074 g), breast (0.089 g), and drumstick (0.134 g), while Chee N chicken had better thigh (0.189 g) when selected for high growth performance (P<0.05). It was concluded that chicken population selected for economic traits has a better growth performance in open housing conditions than naturally selected chickens.
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