Presence or Absence of Earlobes Reveals Different Biometric Structure among the Peluca Hen from Guatemala

Background and Objective: Earlobe, a head furnishing trait, is a non-putative trait in Peluca hen (“naked-necked” hen), a local breed from Guatemala. The objective of this study is to determine if presence or absence of earlobe is linked to a body linear trait.

Materials and Methods: Quantitative data collected on 311 mature hens belonging to Peluca breed were subjected to analyses for two different phenotypic subsets according to presence/absence of earlobes (212 with earlobes and 99 without earlobes). Measured morphometric traits were 18: Weight, Perimeter, Length, Width and Height of Body, Wing Length, Leg Length, Lengths of Head, Beak and Face, Length and Width of Shank, Metatarsal Perimeter, Dorso-sternal Height, Bicostal Length, Withers Height, and Thoracic and Abdominal Perimeters. A Principal Component Analysis was applied to the study of variable between both groups to explore the relationship between traits.

Results: body length and height, and abdominal and thoracic perimeters were the most discriminative traits between groups. “Non-lobe” group presented significative higher values only for body length.

Conclusion: Presence/absence of earlobes describe a different body structure within the Peluca hen. Moreover, as this represents no adaptative response, presence or absence of earlobe must be considered to be more related to the productive aptitude rather than different ecotypes. This association of earlobe with some body traits is important since it can ease the task of selecting productive characteristics of the “Peluca” hen.