Ho Chicken in Bac Ninh Province (Vietnam): From an Indigenous Chicken to Local Poultry Breed

The objectives of this study were to determine the morpho-biometric characteristics of Vietnamese indigenous Ho chicken breed and to evaluate its production, reproduction performance and egg quality. The study was carried out on 20 households raising purebred Ho chicken from September 2013 to April 2015 in Northern Vietnam. Morpho-biometric characterization was based on measurement of 128 adult individuals. The egg production was observed on 66 hens within 20 households. 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 and 2.64 for adult males and females, respectively), a low egg production (12.73 eggs/clutch) and a relatively low rate of embryo eggs (72.81%). A research to improve the egg production and reproduction should be undertaken to obtain a better performance, economic efficiency while maintaining this genetic heritage and sustaining the biodiversity of the avian breeds in Vietnam.