Long live the long-limbed African chicken

(Washington University in St. Louis) For generations, household farmers in the Horn of Africa have selectively chosen chickens with certain traits that make them more appealing. Some choices are driven by the farmers' traditional courtship rituals; others are guided by more mundane concerns, such as taste and disease resistance. The result is the development of a genetically distinct African chicken -- one with longer, meatier legs, according to new research . But that 3,000-year-old local breed type is threatened by the introduction of commercial cluckers.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news