Table_1_Traditional sexing methods and external egg characteristics combination allow highly accurate early sex determination in an endangered native turkey breed.DOCX

Early sex determination methods are not only crucial in the worldwide massive poultry industry, but also for small-holder producers. The profitability of sexing techniques must be accounted for when aiming to boost management, nutrition, and conservation practices in endangered poultry breeds. This becomes pivotal when the local breed dealt with belongs to an understudied species, such as the turkey. So, the main objective of this study is to identify which method combination may report a higher likelihood of successful sex determination in poults across the three-pattern varieties of the Andalusian turkey breed. A total of 84 one to two days old Andalusian turkey poults (42 black, 28 black-roan, and 14 bronze-roan) were evaluated in this study. Sex determination was performed using 15 methods, which included testing external egg metrics and eggshell color, poult morphological appraisal and phaneroptics, and behavioral traits. Possible differences across plumage varieties and the interaction between sex and plumage were observed when external egg quality was measured. Sex determination through behavioral methods in black base feathered (black and black-roan) male sex individuals showed seven times higher sensitivity when compared to the rest of the studied individuals (χ2 = 7.14, df = 1, P < 0.01). In contrast, for the black-roan plumage females, the method based on the color of down feathers was approximately four times more sensitive (χ2 = 3.95, df = 1, P ≤ 0.05). For the bronze-roan pattern, none of the sexing techniques was reported to efficiently predict sex itself. However, the most proper method combination to determine sex, independent of plumage color, was physical external egg characteristics, the color of down feathers, and behavioral approaches (“English method” and “slap technique”). The specificity values were found to be 49.12, 93.33, and 100%, while the sensitivity values were observed to be 74.64, 91.03, and 100%, which translated into accuracy of 63.10, 92.26, and 100% in black, black-roan, and bronze-roan poults, respectively. Our results suggest that the method combination tested in this study could be considered a highly accurate, simple, and affordable alternative for sex determination in turkeys. This could mean a pivotal advance for small producers of turkeys, as early sex detection can help to plan timely conservational management strategies, which is of prominent importance in the context of endangered poultry breeds.

早期家禽性别鉴定方法不仅对于全球规模化家禽养殖业至关重要，同时也对小农户养殖者意义重大。在致力于优化濒危家禽品种的饲养管理、营养供给与保护工作时，必须考量性别鉴定技术的经济效益。当所研究的地方品种属于火鸡这类尚未被充分探究的物种时，这一点尤为关键。因此，本研究的主要目标是，在安达卢西亚火鸡品种的三种羽色变种火鸡雏（poult）中，找出哪种方法组合能实现更高成功率的性别鉴定。本研究共评估了84只1至2日龄的安达卢西亚火鸡雏，其中黑色羽42只、黑栗色羽28只、青铜栗色羽14只。本研究采用15种方法开展性别鉴定，涵盖了蛋的外部指标与蛋壳颜色检测、雏鸡形态评估与体表特征检视，以及行为性状分析。在检测蛋外部品质时，可观察到不同羽色变种间存在差异，且性别与羽色之间存在交互效应。与其余研究对象相比，黑色基羽（黑色与黑栗色羽）公雏通过行为方法进行性别鉴定的灵敏度（sensitivity）高出7倍（χ²=7.14，df=1，P<0.01）。相比之下，对于黑栗色羽母雏，基于绒羽颜色的鉴定方法灵敏度约为其余对象的4倍（χ²=3.95，df=1，P≤0.05）。针对青铜栗色羽变种，所有性别鉴定技术均未能有效实现性别预测。不过，不受羽色影响的最优性别鉴定方法组合为：蛋的外部物理特征检测、绒羽颜色鉴定，以及行为分析法（"English method"和"slap technique"）。在黑色、黑栗色羽、青铜栗色羽雏鸡中，该组合的特异度（specificity）分别为49.12%、93.33%与100%，灵敏度分别为74.64%、91.03%与100%，对应准确率（accuracy）分别为63.10%、92.26%与100%。本研究结果表明，本次测试的方法组合可被视为火鸡性别鉴定的高精度、简便且经济可行的替代方案。对于火鸡小规模养殖户而言，这一成果或将成为关键性突破：早期性别鉴定有助于及时制定保护管理策略，而这对于濒危家禽品种而言意义非凡。