Awka Breed (New Indigenous Layer Breed of Chicken) Is Superior to Commercial Layers

The absence of an indigenous pure chicken breed in Nigeria has a serious negative impact on both the global and domestic economy, as well as per Capita protein consumption and income of their farmers. Moreso the poultry global gene pool is about to loss some fitness traits, due to the fact that they it was raised from very few population. With only 3 poultry breeding companies namely Aviagen, Hendrix and Cobb vantress principally supplying world exotic chicken the importance of a new chicken breed originating from an entirely different gene pool, like Nigerian chicken gene population can never be over emphasized. It is therefore pertinent that the Nigeria's rich natural resources (local chicken) be genetically modified to a Pure Elite Layer Breed to meet FAO 's prediction of Nigeria's potential for global food security Interestingly FAO has predicted the significant role of Nigerian livestock resources in global animal protein insecurity FAO (2022). Responding to this global call Nigerian local genetic breeders at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, in the past decade began selective breeding of the Nigerian local chickens through estimation of genetic parameters of growth and reproductive traits among the inbred chicken ( Ohaghenyi et al 2025, Ohaghenyi et al 2021, Nwankwo 2023, Okoye 2023, Ohagenyi and Okochi 2023, Ohaghenyi and Ezeugwu 2021.). Moreover (Ogbu et al 2019, Agbo et al 2 Corollary the comparative study of the inbred chicken and layer chicken will both provide a concrete information on the genetic progress made so far among the inbred chicken. The objective of this study is the genetic evaluation of reproductive traits of layer birds and Awka Elite chicken (genetically improved inbred chickens) raised in South Eastern Nigeria. The foundation stocks was grouped into 2 categories the layer birds and the genetically improved inbred chicken. They where fed with stater crumbs from day 1 to 8 weeks.l, and they where fed with finisher feeds from 8 to 16 weeks. And we continued with layer mash. Eggs were collected daily with egg crates and stored in a cool and airy room . Parameters that was measured include Reoroductive Traits and Egg internal Qualities The experiment was carried out using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with the statistical mode] as follows; Xij= μ + Ti + Σij A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine whether there were significant differences in Reproductive Traits and Egg internal Quality among the different chicken genotypes. The analysis compared the mean values of the experimental groups. It is evident from the findings of this study that the Awka Elite Inbred chicken was superior to the Exotic Layer in Albumen weight and Haugh unit. One Sire family (H62) of the Awka was superior to Exotic egg, however the average egg weight of EXOTIC eggs was 1.1g heavier, though not significant (p>0.05).The superior performance of the H62 family implies more homogeneous meat genes as a result of mating of related ancestors over several. Hence more suitable for development of broiler lines.The INBRED achieved similar weight with: more albumen (+1.4g); Larger yolk (+1.0g); Heavier shell (+0.3g). This suggests Awka Elite eggs may be more nutrient-dense per gram. The external egg quality namely Shell thickness and weight were nearly identical. Egg shape (length/width) showed minor variation, which was not meaningful. This research concludes that Selective breeding of local chickens, which expedited significant gains in performance,(growth and egg) traits has resulted in the origin of a new species, known as the Awka Elite Breed. This research breakthrough suggests that Nigeria now has the potential to develop elite poultry, hence reducing reliance on imported Parent stock. Partnership: It is recommended that Partnership from the US, UK, China and Africa to enable the Researchers supply this superior Pure chicken breed to Commercial and Rural farmers all over the world. .018, Udeh et al 2024 ) selectively bred the heavy ecotype chicken.