A study was undertaken to evaluate the genetic variation in the 10th generation of a breeder flock of native breed selected for high egg and meat production in native fowls breeding station, Mazandaran, Iran. Venous blood samples were collected from 100 birds of both sexes. The RAPD-PCR technique was applied to generate a DNA fingerprint of individuals. Initially, a total of 20 ten-nucleotide a...

This investigation aimed to study polymorphism of growth hormone (GH), growth hormone receptor (GHR), and insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) genes and their associations with growth and carcass traits in Mazandaran native chicken. 200 male chicks were reared and slaughtered at 12 weeks of age. Traits including live weight at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of age, body weight and weights of heart, liver, g...

In the early investigations into the nature of the etiologic agent of fowl tumors, immunity phenomena were given some attention. The first observation was that the manifestations of resistance to these tumors in fowls, whether natural or acquired, are similar to those established for mammalian tumors, the principal feature being a local cellular reaction about the introduced graft (1). As was a...

The economic, physiological and immunological costs of endo-parasitism are documented to be higher in poultry with greater parasite intensities and diversity. The current study was undertaken to determine the effects of helminth burden in domestic guinea fowls at quantified natural infestation levels on body condition, haematological profile and spleen morphometrics. We hypothesized that the sp...

We tested seven hypotheses regarding the mechanisms by which fluctuating asymmetry (FA) originates. We did this by analyzing data on four bilateral characters measured repeatedly during the development of individual domestic fowl. Immediately posthatching, there was substantial directional asymmetry, which rapidly decreased. We detected FA at significant levels in all characters in the majority...