ABSTRACT. The present study was undertaken in order to evaluate the growth performances and meat quality of three indigenous chickens phenotypes reared under extensive conditions in the region of Chlef in Algeria. A week after hatching, 3 random groups of 35 chicks from each phenotype; normal plumage free-range chicken (NPFRC), crested free-range chicken (CFRC) and naked neck free-range chicken (NNFRC) were chosen and reared in free-range conditions for 18 weeks. The highest growth performance was shown by the crested free-range chicken (CFRC). In terms of meat quality, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that crested phenotype (CFRC) showed the best nutritional qualities especially proteins and moisture. The discriminant analysis revealed that CFRC and NNFRC were better in terms of tenderness and overall acceptability. As consequence of these very interesting qualities, these local breeds should be considered for extensive production in order to provide a good quality meat, while assuring their preservation. ABSTRACT Algeria hatching freerange free range NPFRC, NPFRC , (NPFRC) (CFRC (NNFRC 1 weeks CFRC. . ANOVA (ANOVA moisture acceptability preservation (NPFRC

RESUMO. Raça comercial de aves tem assumido papel importante no mercado de produção de aves na Argélia que determinou uma redução na produção caipira, altamente dominante antes dos anos oitenta. Felizmente, as preferências dietéticas de consumidores, fortemente contribuiu para preservação da diversidade das raças locais. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o desempenho animal e qualidade de carne de 3 fenótipos de galinha locais versus galinha de linhagem comercial na mesma criação na região de Chlef na Argélia. Uma semana depois de chocar, 4 amostras foram escolhidas ao acaso de 30 pintinhos de cada fenótipo galinha comum de plumagem normal (NPFRC), criadas galinha comum coroada (CFRC), galinha comum de perna emplumada (FTFRC) e galinha de linhagem comercial (CBC) de 1ª a 8ª semana de idade. A três raças comuns (FTFRC, CFRC e NPFRC) tiveram o peso de corpo comparável, mas menor (p < 0.05) do que para a linhagem CBC. Em termos de qualidade de carne, a análise de componentes principais (PCA) e a análise de discrepância mostrou que as galinhas comuns eram mais interessantes que a galinha de linhagem comercial (muito gorda), especialmente o fenótipo coroado (CFRC), devido ao seu elevado teor em proteína (24.6%) e baixo conteúdo de gordura (1.20%).

ABSTRACT. Commercial breed has taken over the Algerian poultry production market which participated in the weakening of the village poultry farming, highly dominant prior to the 1980s. Fortunately, the dietary preferences of consumers, strongly participated in the preservation of the local animal breed diversity. In this context, the aim of this work was to study the growth performances and meat quality of 3 local chicken phenotypes versus commercial broiler chicken in the same breeding conditions in the region of Chlef in Algeria. A week after hatching, 4 randomly chosen samples of 30 chicks from each phenotype normal plumage free-range chicken (NPFRC), crested free-range chicken (CFRC), feathered tarsus free-range chicken (FTFRC) and commercial broiler chicken (CBC) were reared from the age of 1st until 8th week (slaughter age). The three local breed (FTFRC, CFRC and NPFRC) had the comparable body weight, but low (p < 0.05) to those of CBC. In terms of meat quality, the principal components analysis (PCA) and the analysis of variance showed that the free-range chickens were more interesting than the commercial broiler chicken very fat, especially the crested phenotype (CFRC), due to its very high protein 24.6% and very low fat content 1.20%.

The main objectives of this study were to identify the edaphic factors that could be related to vegetation distribution in the lower-Cheliff plain (35.750° - 36.125°N, 0.5° - 1°E) one the largest salted plains of northwestern Algeria and to establish the relationships between these soil factors and the main plant communities. Soil and vegetation data were obtained from 133 relevés. Species in Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae were dominant in the salted plain. Soil variables measured included electrical conductivity, elevation, soil texture, soil structure, organic matter, CaCO3, pH, Ca++, Na+, Cl-, CaMg and color of soil. Multivariate analyses including detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) were performed to analyze the collected data. The results showed that the vegetation distribution pattern was mainly related to conductivity and elevation. Separation of relevés into groups according to the first two axes of RDA provided four vegetation units, each one composed of several diagnostic species with highly significant fidelity value according to Fisher's test. The theoretical maps produced by kriging revealed a close relationship between these vegetation units and conductivity.

El objetivo de este trabajo es identificar los factores edáficos que tienen un efecto en la distribución de la vegetación en la planicie del bajo Cheliff (35.750° - 36.125°N, 0.5° - 1°E), una de las zonas salinas más grandes del noroeste de Algeria y asimismo establecer las relaciones entre estos factores del suelo y la distribución de las comunidades vegetales. Para cumplir con este objetivo se muestreó la vegetación y el suelo de 133 relevés. Las familias con un mayor número de especies dominantes fueron las Chenopodiaceae y Asteraceae. Las variables edáficas medidas incluyeron la conductividad electríca, la textura, la estructura, materia orgánica, CaCO3, pH, Ca++, Na+, Cl-, CaMg y el color de los suelos. Además se tomó en cuenta la elevación. Los datos se analizaron por métodos multivariados incluyendo el análisis de correspondencia de residuales (DCA por sus siglas en inglés) y el análisis de redundancia (RDA por sus siglas en inglés). Los resultados mostraron que el patrón de distribución de la vegetación estuvo relacionado sobre todo a la conductividad del suelo y a la elevación. La separación de relevés en grupos de acuerdo a los dos ejes del análisis de redundancia fueron en cuatro unidades de vegetación, cada una compuesta por varias especies diagnósticas con un alto valor de fidelidad de acuerdo a la prueba de Fisher. Los mapas elaborados corroboraron que existe una clara relación entre las unidades de vegetación y la conductividad del suelo.