Heterodibility: A 90-day decision index for creating a "Chair Local" strain in tropical poultry

The creation of a locally adapted broiler strain is the main challenge for African poultry. Imported broilers are fast but fragile. Local chickens are rustic but too slow. This paper proposes to use the concept of "Heterodibility" (Htd) to create a new "Chair Local" hybrid by crossing 1 Local Rooster x 5 Broiler Hens and its reciprocal. Htd is defined as the heritable component of the segregation effect observed in F2. It quantifies the proportion of F2 individuals that exceed the Best_Parent_Mean + 0.5*Heterosis. Proposed Formula: Htd_g = [Number of F2 individuals > Threshold / Total_F2] x 100Proposed Decision Rule: If Htd_g > 10%, the population is recommended for continued selection. This paper presents 1. The theoretical basis of Htd and the "K coefficient", 2. The Excel calculator tool v3.0 for reciprocal crosses, and 3. A proposed 12-month pilot protocol to validate Htd on 400 chickens in Cameroon using a 2-line system. We are seeking funding and partnership to execute this pilot. The goal is to obtain an F4 "Chair Local" of 2.2kg at 45 days, reducing feed cost by 25% and import dependence by 80%.