Poultry production plays an important role as a source of cheap and
high quality animal protein in Egypt. A 30 laying hens at 34 weeks age from each of
Fayoumi, RIR and WL chicken breeds were evaluated for body weight and egg
production traits. RIR recorded a significant heavier body weight while WL chickens
recorded the highest and significant mean for egg number during the period of study.
Fayoumi recorded the highest values for yolk index and yolk percentage. Fayoumi
showed higher and significant values for most of the external egg quality
characteristics compared to RIR and WL breeds. Blood samples were collected from
the wing vein of 25 hens from each breed for DNA extraction and microsatellite
genetic analysis. The highest value of expected heterozygosity (0.617) was obtained
for Fayoumi breeds. The inbreeding coefficient (FIS) was ranged from 0.084 to 0.156
with an average 0.124. The neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree showed closer relation
between Fayoumi and WL. The low production traits of Fayoumi breed might be
improved by crossbreeding with exotic breeds such as RIR and WL chickens. We
confirm the efficiency of microsatellites for genetic characterization of Egyptian
chicken breeds.