Ann. Méd. Vét., 2009, 153 (1), pp 66-75 Zootechnical potential of the Ardennaise,
an ancient poultry breed for the future ?MOULA N., ANTOINE-MOUSSIAUX N., FARNIR F., PHILIPPART DE FOY M., LEROY P.Abstract :
Nowadays, Belgian poultry breeding
is characterized by a strong biodiversity that is nevertheless greatly endangered. The present work aims at evaluating the zootechnical
potential of an ancient poultry breed originating from the Franco-Belgian Ardennes region, the Ardennaise. This breed shows an important phenotypic
variation, with 10 different varieties being recognized. This study evaluates the Ardennaise production performances and is divided into three parts: (1) the analysis of the growth and the consumption indices over a twelve weeks period, (2) the comparison of the growth over seventeen weeks in four varieties,
(3) the study of eggs number
and eggs weight over 70 weeks laying. The results indicate
that the Ardennaise breed constitutes a good dual purpose breed that could be interestingly submitted to selection. Its use in industrial crosses for egg composition
amelioration is also proposed.
Lastly, this works shows the importance of extending the here developed evaluation protocol
to other Belgian endangered
poultry breeds to motivate the necessary conservation programs. Get the PDF Contact person : Pascal.Leroy@ulg.ac.be |