Pollo brianzolo : performance e reattività

Performance and reactivity in Brianzolo chicken. Unconventional rearing systems for poultry meat production greatly increased due to consumers interest in healthier and more natural food. The poor adaptability of commercial hybrid strains selected for intensive production systems and fast growing rate lead to the development of researches dealing with breed suitability for alternative productions. Brianzolo is an example of Italian chicken breed for unconventional system. The aim of this study was to characterize the hybrid “Brianzolo” for fenotipic caracteristics, reactivity and performance. Hatching eggs qualitative and quantitative characteristics parameters were recorded on a weekly basis and to growth performance data were collected 1 day to 6 months of age. To define the breed standard 145 animals were phenotypically tested at the age of 4 months. Tonic Immobility test was carried out on 93 subjects randomly chosen. Results of the phenotypic selection made it possible to standardize some characteristics such as, comb size and plumage colour, that will be selection objective to standardize birds morphology.The results of this study, although preliminary, showed productive performance typical for slow growing to a rural breeds adapted to alternative production systems (average weight at 6 months = 2350 g; IMG = 13.5 g / d). Regarding reactivity in this hybrid the conservation of ancestral characteristics such as man fear was evaluated through TI test for reactivity. The mean number of attempt to induce immobility was 1,25, while the mean duration was 98,19 sec. Brianpollo is a research project funded by Regione Lombardia (Italy) aimed to standardize and valorize Brianzolo chicken, a traditional Lombardy breed for non-conventional rearing systems (Ferrante et al., 2009).