A Study on the Production Performance of Korean Native Chickens for amgye Chicken Production

This study aimed to develop a high-productivity breed of Korean native Samgye chicken. We evaluated the production performance of six Korean native chicken combinations (KNC-SCYC, SCYD, SDYC, SDYD, SYYC, SYYD) and GSP-Hanhyup Korean native chickens, with Baeksemi chickens used as a control group. The performance test was conducted from hatching to 7 weeks of age on 756 chickens, and we measured survival rate, body weight, shank length, feed utility, and carcass yield. The overall survival rate was nearly 100% for all strains. However, body weight showed significant differences between strains at all ages ( P <0.01), with Baeksemi weighing 863.8±76.9 g, GSP-Hanhyup weighing 804.7±72.5 g, and KNC-combinations weighing 543.0±61.8 g at 5 weeks of age. The duration needed to reach 850 g was estimated to be 34.5 days for Baeksemi, 37.5 days for GSP-Hanhyup, and 45.8-48.8 days for KNC-combinations. Carcass yield percentage was highest for KNC-SYYD combination at 63.3%, followed by Baeksemi at 60.4%, and GSP-Hanhyup at 56.1%. Shank length at 850 g body weight was 7.6 cm for KNC-SYYD combination, 7.8 cm for Baeksemi, and 8.0 cm for GSP-Hanhyup. The feed conversion ratio at 850 g body weight was 1.81 for Baeksemi, 2.17 for GSP-Hanhyup, and 2.27 for KNC-SCYC combination. Our results suggest that the KNC-SYYD combination and GSP-Hanhyup breed have the potential to be used in Samgye production due to their moderate growth performance, higher carcass yield, and shorter shank length, despite their lower growth productivity and feed efficiency when compared to Baeksemi.