Different breeds of poultry

Dr.Niranjan Kalita

Classification of fowl

Kingdom - Animal (as opposed to plant kingdom)

Sub-kingdom - Metazoa (bodies consisting of specialized cells)
Phyllum - Chordata (axial skeleton with notochord)
Sub-phyllum - Vertebra (well developed brain and axial skeleton)
Class - Aves (feathered, warm blooded vertebra with 4-chambered heart)

Sub-class - Neornithes (without teeth)

Order - Galliformes (bird with short wings, legs and toes adapted for
running and scratching)
Family - Phasianidae

Genus - Gallus (cock like bird)

Species - Domesticus (breeding under domestic condition). The domestic

fowl is called Gallus domesticus.

Origin of modern fowl:

All the present breeds of chicken/fowl have known to be descended from the wild
jungle fowl. There are four known species of jungle fowl viz. Gallus gallus (Red jungle
fowl), Gallus lafayetti (Ceylon jungle fowl), Gallus sonnerati (Grey jungle fowl) and
Gallus varius (Java jungle fowl) and all domestic breeds of chicken/fowl have originated
from Gallus gallus.

Classification of fowl based on utility:

Poultry can be classified as follows on the basis of its economic value.
 1. Egg type – e.g. White Leghorn, Minorca, Ancona
2. Meat type – e.g. Cornish, Plymouth Rock, Brahma.
3. Dual purpose – e.g. Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, Australorp.
4. Game type – e.g. Aseel.

Birds of distinct type and colour patterns admitted to the standard are termed as
standard breed. They are further classified as follows:

1. Class - It is a group of breeds which have been developed in certain regions

or geographical areas. e.g. American, English, Mediterranean,
Asiatic etc.
2. Breed - It is a group of birds that have usually the same general body shape,
they are true to the type, carriage and characteristics of the name of
the breed they carry e.g. Leghorn, R.I.R. etc.

3. Variety - Varieties represent a sub-division of a breed, distinguished either by

plumage colour, feather patterns or comb type e.g. Single Comb
White Leghorn, Rose Comb Leghorn, Brown Leghorn, Barred
Plymouth Rock etc.
4. Strain - A strain refers to line, family or a group of birds within a variety
bearing a name of a place or person connected and produced by a
breeder through a specialized breeding programme, which reproduce
uniform characteristics with marked regularity. e.g. HH – 260,
Bacbcock-300, ILI-80, B-77, BV-300 etc.

The British Poultry Standard listed about more than 225 breeds and varieties of
chicken, ducks and turkeys. The original Indian breeds of fowl such as Aseel, Chittagong,
Ghagus are also available.

Standard classes, breeds, and varieties of fowl

Classes and their Common breeds and their Varieties Commercial

characteristics characteristics importance
A. American Rhode Island Red (R.I.R.) Single Dual
class Origin : Rhode Island in New England Comb purpose
after crossing with the Red Malay (S.C.)
1. Clean shanks Game, Leghorn and Asiatic native Rose
2. Yellow skin stock Comb
3. Red earlobes i) Long rectangular body (R.C.)
4. Dual purpose ii) Back is flat and the breast is
5. Medium size carried well forward.
6. Brown- iii) The plumage is rich dark or
shelled eggs brownish red in colour
iv) Skin and shanks are yellow and
the earlobes are red.
v) Standard weight :
Cock – 3.8 kg
Hen – 2.9 kg
vi) Annual egg production :
225 to 260 eggs hen-housed per
bird.
2. New Hampshire Single Meat
Origin : American Comb purpose
i) Broad, deep and rounded body.
ii) The plumage is chestnut red
iii) Skin and shanks are yellow and
the earlobes are red.
iv) Standard weight : Cock – 3.8 kg
Hen – 3.1 kg
v) Mostly used as female line in
broiler breeding.
3. Plymouth Rock Barred Meat
White Buff purpose
i) Long bodies and have good depth
of body
ii) They have single comb.
iii) In general, the plumage is greyish
white, each feather crossed by
almost black bars
iv) Skin and shank are yellow and red
earlobes.
v) Standard weight : Cock – 4.2 kg
Hen – 3.3 kg
vi) White variety is extensively used
as male line in broiler breeding.
B. English class 1. Australorp Black Dual
1. Clean shank Origin: Australia. purpose
2. White skin
3. Red earlobes ii) Deep oval body
4. Dual purpose iii) Black shanks, white skin and red
5. Medium size earlobes.
6. Single comb iv) Plumage is lustrous greenish black
7. Brown in all the sections.
shelled eggs v) The back is long and the body
slopes gradually towards the tail.
vi) Standard weight :
Cock – 3.8 kg
Hen – 3.0 kg.
vii) “Austro White” is a hybrid cross
between Australorp male and the
White Leghorn female. It is an
excellent layer.
2. Cornish White Meat
Origin : England Dark Buff purpose
i) Heavily meated compact body
with a good depth.
ii) Body is well rounded all sides and
carried higher in front than rear.
iii) Pea comb is present
iv) Yellow skin, shank and red
earlobes.
v) Standard weight :
Cock – 4.6 kg
Hen – 3.5 kg.
vi) Used as male line in broiler
breeding.

3. Sussex Light, red Meat

Origin – England purpose

i) Long rectangular body.

ii) Single comb present
iii) Standard weight :
Cock – 4.0 kg
Hen – 3.1 kg
 4. Orpington White Meat
Origin :England Black Buff purpose
i) Body in deep and
well rounded
ii) Full breast and broad
back
iii) Standard weight –
Cock - 4.5 kg
Hen - 3.5 kg
C. Mediterra- 1. Leghorn Out of 12 Egg purpose
nean class Origin : Italy varieties of
Leghorn 3
1. Clean shank i) It is the world’s no.1 egg producer varieties
2. Yellow or ii) It has small, oval and compact are popular
white skin body. i.e.
3. White iii) It has relatively long neck, S.C. White
earlobes prominent breast and long shanks. S.C. Buff
4. Small size iv) All varieties have yellow beaks, S.C. Light
5. Egg purpose skin, shanks and toes. brown
6. White- v) Plumage may be white, dark, brown
shelled eggs. or light brown.
vi) The single comb of the male should
be of medium size and should stand
erect with 5 uniform deeply serrated
points. The front point of female
should stand erect; but remainder of
the comb gradually slopes to one
side.
vii) Standard weight :
Cock – 2.7 kg
Hen – 1.8 kg
viii) Annual hen-housed egg
production per bird is 290-320
eggs.
 2. Minorca S.C. & Egg purpose
Origin : Spanish R.C. Black
S.C. &
i) Largest and heaviest of R.C. White
Mediterranean breeds of poultry.
Long rectangular body, white
skin.
ii) Long strong bodies, large comb,
large white earlobes (Red in Black
Australorp)
iii) Beak, shank and toes are black
like black Australorp.
iv) Standard weight :
Cock – 4.1 kg
Hen – 3.0 kg

D. Asiatic class 1. Brahma Light dark Meat

purpose
1. Feathered Origin : India
shank
2. Yellow skin i) Circular shaped and
3. Red earlobes massive in appearance.
4. Massive size ii) Pea comb
5. Meat purpose iii) Feathered shank
6. Brown iv) Matured weight :
shelled egg Cock - 5.5 kg
Hen - 4.2 kg

2. Aseel Black Fighting and

Grey meat
Origin : India (Northern part) Red etc purpose

i) Large and noble looking

ii) Game shaped body and called as
“Indian fighter” or “Game bird”
iii) Legs are short and stout
iv) Rudimentary wattle
v) Standard weight :
Cock – 5.0 kg
Hen – 4.0 kg
 3. Cochin Buff Black Meat
White purpose
Origin : India

i) It is a fancy bird
ii) Single comb and red earlobe are
present
iii) Colour of skin is yellow
iv) Shank is feathered and yellow.
v) Standard weight
Cock - 5.1 kg
Hen – 3.9 kg

Breeds of ducks: Ducks belongs to –

Family – Anatidae,
Genus – Anas,
Species – Platyrhynchos.

Sl. Name of breeds and their characteristics Commercial importance

No.
1. Khaki Campbell :
Origin : England (developed by Mrs. Campbell) Egg purpose
i) Cross between – Rouen and White Indian
Runner and Mallard
ii) Plumage colour is khaki
iii) The size of head of male is larger than female
iv) Bills and shanks are black in colour
v) Light body weight
vi) Egg production 280 to 300 eggs per bird per
year
vii) Standard weight – Duck : 2.0 to 2.2 kg
Drake : 2.2 to 2.4 kg
2. Indian Runner :

Origin : Indonesia Egg purpose

i) It is a second good layer to Khaki Campbell
ii) White, penciled and fawn are the three standard
varieties
iii) Body is broader in front and slightly tapering at
back
iv) The outstanding feature of this breed is its
 perpendicular carriage which gives a lean
appearance with wedge-shaped bill
v) Egg production 250 to 280 eggs per bird per
year
vi) Standard weight – Duck – 1.4 to 2.0 kg
Drake – 1.6 go 2.2 kg
3. Pekin : Meat purpose
Origin : China
i) The white variety is most popular for meat
purpose
ii) It has creamy white plumage, yellow flesh, long,
broad and deep body with bills and legs deep
orange
iii) The white Pekin attains 2.2 to 2.5 kg body
weight in 7 weeks of age with a feed conversion
of 1:2.6 - 3.0 kg
iv) It lays 160 eggs per bird per year
v) Standard weight : Duck – 3.6 kg
Drake – 4.5 kg
4. Aylesbury : Meat purpose

Origin : England
i) The plumage of both sexes is white
ii) The legs and feet are bright orange and bill is
yellow in colour.
iii) It is regarded as deluxe table bird because of its
light bone and high percentage of creamy white
flesh
iv) Standard weight : Duck – 4.0 kg
Drake – 4.5 kg

5. Rouen : Meat purpose

Origin : France
i) It is good for roasting
ii) Eggs are light blue in colour
iii) Standard weight : Duck – 4.0 kg
Drake – 4.5 kg

6. Muscovy : Meat purpose

Origin : South America

i) There is still doubt whether it is duck or goose
ii) It grazes like goose. Like goose, males have no
such curled feathers in the tail
iii) There are no feathers on the face and the skin is
bright red in colour with caruncles around the
eyes.
iv) Drake has a knob on head which gives the
appearance of a crest. Voice is not characteristic
of sex.
v) Incubation period is 35 days.
vi) Muscovies when crossed with other breeds
produce sterile ducks called ‘Mule ducks’.

vii) Standard weight : Duck – 2.2 to 3.1 kg

Drake – 4.5 to 6.4 kg

Breeds of turkey:
 It belongs to the family Meleagridis. Turkeys are kept only for meat. In India
turkeys are almost non-existent and constitute 1% of total poultry population. Turkeys are
most popular in USA and are not classified into breeds like chicken and ducks. The
popular standard varieties are:

1. Broad Breasted Bronze

2. Broad Breasted Large White
3. Beltsville Small White
4. White Holland
5. Bourbon Red.

Breeds of Quail:

Japanese quail belongs to:

Family – Phasianidae,
Genus – Coturnix
Species – Coturnix coturnix japonica.
Bob white quail come under a different sub-family and species – Colinus
virginianus.
Quail farming is popular in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, France, Italy, Germany
and Britain. Japanese quails were introduced in India by C.A.R.I. in 1974 from
California. Females (150 – 180 g) are heavier than males (120 – 130 g). They lay eggs at
the age of 6 weeks and egg weight is around 10 g. Quails lay about 210 eggs per year.
Meat is very delicious.