Caracterisation de la race de poule Ho dans sa region d’origine : province de Bac Ninh (VietNam)

The objectives of this study are to determine the morpho-biometric characteristics of Ho chicken, one indigenous Vietnamese chicken breed, to evaluate its production, reproduction performances and egg quality. The study was carried on in Northern Vietnam, from September 2013 to April 2015, on 20 households raising Ho chicken. Morpho-biometric characterization was based on measurement of 128 adult individuals (101 hens and 27 cocks). The egg production was measured on 66 hens from surveyed farmers. A total of 29 eggs were freshly collected from 8 hens at the 20th laying week for quality analysis. Ho chicken breed is a breed with a large dimension, a large diversity in the colors (black with gold hackle, black copper, wheat, tan and tricolor), a heavy weight (3.78 kg and 2.64 kg as average weights for adult males and females respectively), a low egg production (66,18 eggs/year) and a relatively low hatching rate (72.81%). The number of broodings per Ho hen per year is on average 5.23, with an average of 12.73 eggs per brood. Therefore, improving the production in the Ho chicken breed should be undertaken to obtain better performances, higher economic efficiency while maintaining this genetic heritage and sustaining the biodiversity of the avian breeds.