Evaluation of the body weight and laying performance of diallel crossed Korean native chicken layers from hatch to 40 weeks of age

The current experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of diallel crossbreeding on the body weight and laying performance of Korean native chicken from hatch to week 40. A total of 1,000 one-day-old chicks were allotted to 10 cages per crossbreeding treatment with 10 birds per cage on a random basis and then raised until 16 weeks and subsequently moved to layer battery cages and raised until 40 weeks. Ten crossbred treatments (YC, YD, YF, YK, CD, CF, CK, DF, DK, FK) that were obtained from the diallel crossbred of five pure lines were used in the current experiment. The body weight and mortality were measured biweekly from hatching to week 20 and every four weeks from week 20 to week 40. The number of eggs was measured daily. YC and YD crossbreeds showed a higher body weight (p < 0.05) and FK crossbreed showed a lower body weight (p < 0.05) during the whole xperimental period. The week 20 weight range was 1,501 to 1,729 g and the week 40 weight range was from 1,829 to 2,179 g. Earlier onset of egg-laying was noted in the YC and YD groups whereas late onset was observed for the DF and DK groups. YK reached its peak earliest at week 25 with 89.15% while the DK crossbreed attained its peak at week 36 with 89.69%. The YC and YD crossbreeds showed the improved body and egg-laying performance. Conclusively, there are variations in the body weight and laying performance of Korean native chickens with diallel crossing.