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

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted in this study. In Experiment one, a study was conducted in Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono East and Bono region with the aim of generating information on village-based Turkey utilization, management practices, opportunities, and challenges, to identify, characterize and describe the phenotypic variation of indigenous Turkey populations. Questionnaires and interviews were used for the study. Twenty-four towns/villages (6 from each region) were sampled at random and 154 Turkey farmers were randomly selected from these towns/village. Descriptive statistics such as mean, range, frequency and percentage was used to analyse the data from the survey. The results of this study showed that the majority of the respondents were females (79 %). This showed that most of the time the women, either in male-headed or female-headed family circles are responsible for poultry rearing, while the men are responsible for crop cultivation and other off-farm activities. Majority (92 %) of the respondents gave supplementary feed to their Turkeys. Night shelter was provided by almost all farmers in a separate shed purpose made for Turkeys (51 %). Majority of the farmers provided shelter for their Turkeys. Experiment two was conducted to assess the effects of variety, region, and sex on body measurements and phenotypic correlations between various body measurements were estimated. Three hundred indigenous Turkeys from the Ashanti, Ahafo, and Bono and Bono East region of Ghana were randomly sampled. The average age for Turkeys used in this study was 6-7 months old. Colour varieties Frequencies were computed. Five colour varieties were identified: White, Bronze, Black, Black, White and Buff. The largest representation was the Black colour variety (39 %). The least represented were the Buff (6 %) and Bronze (7 %). 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) and Buff (5.059±0.292 kg). Turkeys from the Bono East region had much higher body weights than Turkeys from 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 correlation between the various body measurements. The highest correlation (P <0.05) with body weight, ranging from 0.69 for head length to 0.96 for the wing length. Turkey production is a profitable and promising venture based on cash generated after sale of the Turkeys. In conclusion, despite the factors limiting Turkey production as outlined by the respondents, turkey production has great potential in bridging the animal protein supply therefore, poultry farmers should be encouraged by government to increase their level of production by establishing reliable breeding centres in the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono and Bono East Region which will ensure regular supply of day old poult, prompt disease control by employing of more veterinarians and provide soft loans to farmers.