94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Product Quality
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fanim.2025.1565246
Effect of Breed, Sex and Age on Body and Internal organ Weight of Chickens for Food Security in Resource-Poor Communities of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Provisionally accepted- 1University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- 2University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
- 3Mangosuthu University of Technology, Umlazi, South Africa
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The study aimed to compare the effect of sex, breed and age on the body weight and internal organ weights of chickens reared in resource-poor communities. A total of 120 chickens were used, comprising of three breeds namely broilers (n=40), Potchefstroom Koekoek (n=40) and a nondescriptive breed (n=40). Each breed was divided into 20 females and 20 males, subsequently categorized by age, resulting in 10 growers and 10 mature chickens for each breed. The results showed that grower and mature broilers had a heaviest ( body weight compared to Potchefstroom Koekoek and non-descriptive breed (. Breed significantly influenced body weight (p<0.001). Males were generally heavier than females (p>0.05). Liver weight was higher in females than males and liver weight was not affected by sex. A linear relationship (p<0.05) existed between body weight and breed, sex and age. A negative coefficient was recorded between body weight and breed but sex and age showed a positive coefficient for body weight of chickens. Age had the strongest relationship on chicken's body weight and liver weight compared to breed and sex. The proportion of variance in the dependent variables (body weight, liver weight, gizzard weight, heart weight, intestine weight and intestine length) was predicted from the independent variables (breed, sex and age). A (64%) variance in body weight can be expected from breed, sex and age, and there was a (64%) association between body weight and breed, sex and age. The study concludes that breed and age affect the body weight and internal organ weight of chickens but not sex. The study recommends more research and focus on chickens in resource-poor communities irrespective of breed sex and age while focusing on their quantity of meat and internal organs for their potential contribution to food security.
Keywords: consumption, Backyard, farming, Income, Management, Protein source, quantity, Women
Received: 22 Jan 2025; Accepted: 21 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tenza, Mhlongo, Ncobela and Rani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Thando Tenza, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.