The rational of conservation and sustainable use of indigenous chicken (IC) resources requires their morphobiometrical characterisation. This study morphobiometrically characterised the IC ecotypes in Rwanda. The morphological features and zoometric measurement data were randomly collected on 1670 mature IC of both sexes from five ecotypes of Rwanda. The nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U test were used in evaluating the effect of ecotypes on the qualitative morphological variables. Zoometric measurements were analysed with the PROC GLM of SAS. The findings showed that the feather morphology and distribution were mainly normal (98.3 and 84.40%, respectively) while feather colour was dominated with multicoloured (38.10%). The majority of the birds had red earlobe (49.20%), yellow shanks (53.80%) and single comb-type (71.70%). These parameters were different (p < 0.05) between the ecotypes. Bodyweight and linear body measurements were highly different (P < 0.001) between ecotypes. Differences associated with sex (P < 0.001) were observed in body weight and linear body measurements. The interaction between ecotype and sex significantly (P < 0.001) influenced body weight, body length, shank length, comb length, comb height, wattle length, chest circumference, neck length and wingspan. The IC ecotypes in Rwanda were found to be diverse morphobiometrically both in quantitative and qualitative traits. These variations provide a foundation for classification of the chicken into breeds.

保护和可持续利用本地鸡肉（IC）资源的合理性要求对其形态生物特征进行表征。这项研究用形态生物学的方法描述了卢旺达的IC生态型。随机收集了卢旺达五种生态型的1670个男女两性成熟IC的形态学特征和动物学测量数据。非参数Kruskal–Wallis和Mann–Whitney U检验用于评估生态型对定性形态变量的影响。用SAS的PROC GLM分析了动物学测量值。研究结果表明，羽毛的形态和分布主要是正常的（分别为98.3和84.40％），而羽毛的颜色以彩色为主（38.10％）。多数鸟类有红色耳垂（49.20％），黄色小腿（53.80％）和单梳型（71.70％）。这些参数 在生态型之间是不同的（p <0.05）。 生态型之间的体重和线形体测量值差异很大（P <0.001）。 在体重和线形体测量中观察到与性别相关的差异（P <0.001）。生态型与性别之间的相互作用显着（P  <0.001）影响了体重，体长，小腿长度，梳子长度，梳子高度，鸡冠长度，胸围，颈部长度和翼展。发现卢旺达的IC生态型在数量和质量上都在形态，生物计量上各不相同。这些变化为将鸡分类为品种提供了基础。