Bulgaria as a part of the world’s poultry genetic resources – Bulgarian chicken breeds
Abstract
Today, only a few major chicken breeds are used in industrial poultry farming, which leads to a considerable reduction in the genetic diversity of the domestic chicken in the world. This trend is also affecting rural poultry farming. On the other hand, there is exhibition and ornamental poultry breeding, where productivity is not so important. Amateur poultry breeders play an important role in maintaining genetic diversity in domestic birds, especially in domestic chickens. In Bulgaria there are 10 known chicken breeds, two of which are recognized by the state institutions (Black Shumen and Stara Zagora Red Chicken) and the others are recognized or in the process of recognition by the Union of Fanciers and Small Domestic Animal Breeders in Bulgaria, which is a part of the Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture (EE). Depending on the presence or absence of dwarfism, the breeds can be divided into standard (Black Shumen Chicken, Stara Zagora Red Chicken, Katunitsa Chicken, Struma Chicken, Rhodope Painted Chicken, Southwest Bulgarian Chicken, and Bulgarian Longcrower) and miniature (Bregovska Dzhinka, Struma Bantam, and Southwest Bulgarian Dzhinka) ones. The breeds with attractive appearance have higher populations compared to the productive breeds, which are at risk of extinction.
References
ANONYMOUS (2019): Livestock breeds from the Official Catalogue of Spain. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Madrid.
BESBES, B. – TIXIER-BOICHARD, M. – HOFFMANN, I. – JAIN, G.L. (2007): Future trends for poultry genetic resources. Proceedings of the International Conference Poultry in the Twenty-first Century: Avian influenza and beyond. – Bangkok, Thailand. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.15547/ast.2021.03.038
DOMESTIC ANIMAL DIVERSITY INFORMATION SYSTEM (DAD-IS) (2021): http://www.fao.org/dad-is/en/
FAO (2013): In vivo conservation of animal genetic resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines. Rome. No. 14.
GERZILOV, V. – NIKOLOV, A. – PETROV, P. – BOZAKOVA, N. – PENCHEV, G. – BOCHUKOV, A. (2015): Effect of a Dietary Herbal Mixture Supplement on the Growth Performance, Egg Production and Health Status in Chickens. Journal of Central European Agriculture. 16(2), 10-27. https://doi.org/10.5513/jcea.v16i2.3461
GERZILOV, V. (2011): Egg productivity in some fowl strains from the National gene pool reared under bio-friendly conditions. Agricultural Sciences. 3(6), 105-112.
GURA, S. (2007): Livestock genetics companies. Concentration and proprietary strategies of an emerging power in the global food economy. League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development. 1-31.
HLEBAROV G. – TOTEV S. (1963): Results of work on the creation of a new Bulgarian chicken breed, Chernaedra chicken. Sofia: BAN Publishing House.
LALEV, M. – OBLAKOVA, M. – MINCEVA, N. – HRISTAKIEVA, P. – IVANOVA, I. (2011): Opportunities for using genetic resources to create new parent lines of broiler and egg-laying hens. Agricultural Sciences. 3(6), 119-127. https://doi.org/10.22620/agrisci.2011.06.019
LALEV, M. – OBLAKOVA, M. – MINCHEVA, N. – HRISTAKIEVA, P. – IVANOVA, I. (2012): Evaluation of productive traits of chicken lines from the National gene pool. Trakia Journal of Sciences. 10(1), 38-42.
LUKANOV, H. – GENCHEV, A. – PETROV, P. (2018): Phenotypic characterization of shumen chicken breed. Bulgarian Journal of Animal Husbandry. 1, 50-58. https://doi.org/10.5555/20183364124
LUKANOV, H. – PAVLOVA, I. – GENCHEV, A. (2021a): Bulgarian chicken breeds - part of the world's genetic diversity: I. Standard breeds. International scientific and practical conference "Innovative approaches to increasing the productivity of farm animals". Kuban State Agrarian University named after I. T. Trubilin. 359-365. (Ru).
LUKANOV, H. – PAVLOVA, I. – GENCHEV, A. (2021b): Bulgarian chicken breeds - part of the world's genetic diversity: II. Bantam breeds. International scientific and practical conference "Innovative approaches to increasing the productivity of farm animals". Kuban State Agrarian University named after I. T. Trubilin. 366-369. (Ru).
LUKANOV, H. – PAVLOVA, I. (2021): Morphological and morphometric characterization of Bulgarian local chicken breed -Southwest Bulgarian dzinka. Agricultural Science and Technology. 13(2), 147-151. DOI: 10.15547/ast.2021.02.024
LUKANOV, H. (2011a): Bulgarian poultry breeds, Part I. Aviculture Europe. 7(2), 1-9.
LUKANOV, H. (2011b): Bulgarian poultry breeds, Part II. Aviculture Europe. 7(3), 1- 6.
LUKANOV, H. (2012): Balkan breeds and breed groups (Part I and II). Aviculture Europe. 8(6), 1-16.
LUKANOV, H. (2013): Studying the possibilities of creating a blue plumage color in the Shumen chicken. Poultry farming. 2, 10-12. (Bg).
LUKANOV, H. (2017a): Exhibition and ornamental poultry farming. Volume 1. Stara Zagora: “Kota“. 528 p. (Bg).
LUKANOV, H. (2017b): Balkan longcrowing chicken breeds. Aviculture Europe. 13(6), 1-16.
LUKANOV, H. (2023): Incubation characteristics of some Bulgarian chicken breeds. Bulgarian Journal of Animal Husbandry. 60(6), 44-52 (Bg). https://doi.org/10.61308/TZDV8636
MALOMANE, D.K. – SIMIANER, H. – WEIGEND, A. – REIMER, C. – SCHMITT, A.O. – WEIGEND, S. (2019): The SYNBREED chicken diversity panel: a global resource to assess chicken diversity at high genomic resolution. BMC Genomics. 20(1), 345. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-019-5727-9
MIGINEISHVILI, A. – SREDKOVA, V. – LALEV, M. (2021): Breeding program for genetic resources in poultry breeding. Sofia: NRAP (Bg).
NIKOLOV, A. – GERZILOV, V. (2011): Productivity of newly selected AN heavy chicken line. Agricultural Sciences. 3(6), 99-104. https://doi.org/10.22620/agrisci.2011.06.016
NIKOLOV, V. – DIMOV, G. – DIMOV, D. – NIKOLOVA, L. – PETROV, P. – GEORGIEV, V. – BAYCHEVA, E. – GEORGIEVA, E. – VALILEVA, K. – POPOVA, M. – KASTCHEV, S. – VLAYKOV, S. – STOYANOV, S. – MIHAYLOV, I. (2011): Livestock breeds in the Republic of Bulgaria, 3rd edition. Agency of the Selection and Reproduction in the Livestock Breeding, Sofia, Bulgaria.
NIKOLOV, V. – DUCHEV, Zh. (2022): A methodology for assessment of the risk status of the breeds in Republic of Bulgaria. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science. 28 (Suppl. 1), 5-13.
NOZHCHEV, S. – TSONKOV, Ts. (1969): Stara Zagora red chicken. Sofia: Publishing house of the BAN. 104 p.
PAVLOVA, I. – LUKANOV, H. (2024): Population status and distribution of Bulgarian indigenous chicken breeds. Journal of Central European Agriculture. 25(2), 313-324. https://doi.org/10.5513/JCEA01/25.2.4204
PAVLOVA, I. – ÖZDEMIR, D. – LUKANOV, H. (2021): Comparative study of some phenotypic characteristics between the Ispenc (Turkey) and Southwestern Bulgarian dzhinka chicken breeds. Agricultural Science and Technology. 13(3), 245-249.
PETKOV, E. – IGNATOVA, M. – POPOVA, T. – IVANOVA, S. (2020): Quality of Eggs and Hatching Traits in Two Slow-Growing Dual-Purpose Chicken Lines Reared Conventionally or on Pasture. Iranian Journal of Applied Animal Science. 10(1), 141-148.
PETKOV, E. – POPOVA T. – IGNATOVA M. – SHARKOVA, V. – DIMOV, K. (2022): Development of dual-purpose cross for meat and egg production I. Growth performance and carcass composition of the crossbred chickens in comparison to the parent lines. Archiva Zootechnica. 25(2), 119-129. https://doi.org/10.2478/azibna-2022-0019
PETROV, P. – LUKANOV, H. – GERZILOV. V. (2011). Black Shumen chicken - current status and egg productivity. Agricultural Sciences. 3(6), 135-141. (Bg).
TABAKOV, I. – HLEBAROV, G. (1930): Establishment of hemizygosity of plumage color in local chickens "Black Shumen chicken" and "White Sevlievo chicken". Anniversary of the Agronomic Faculty 1929/1930. 8, 389-418.
TENEVA, A. – GERZILOV, V. – LALEV, M. – LUKANOV, H. – MINCHEVA, N. – OBLAKOVA, M. – PETROV, P. – HRISTAKIEVA, P. – DIMITROVA, I. – PERIASAMY, K. (2015): Current status and phenotypic characteristics of Bulgarian poultry genetic resources. Animal Genetic Resources. 56, 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2078633615000016
UFSDABB. (2013a): Struma chicken – Standard. Union of Fanciers and Small Domestic Animal Breeders in Bulgaria. (Bg).
UFSDABB. (2013b): Bregovska dzhinka – Standard. Union of Fanciers and Small Domestic Animal Breeders in Bulgaria. (Bg).
UFSDABB. (2014a): Katunitsa chicken – Standard. Union of Fanciers and Small Domestic Animal Breeders in Bulgaria. (Bg).
UFSDABB. (2014b): Struma bantam – Standard. Union of Fanciers and Small Domestic Animal Breeders in Bulgaria. (Bg).
UFSDABB. (2021a): Southwest Bulgarian chicken – Standard. Union of Fanciers and Small Domestic Animal Breeders in Bulgaria. (Bg).
UFSDABB. (2021b): Southwest Bulgarian dzhinka – Standard. Union of Fanciers and Small Domestic Animal Breeders in Bulgaria. (Bg).
