Osteomorphological Description and Osteometric Variation of Long Bones in Ethiopian Indigenous Naked Neck Chickens in Quara District, Northwest Ethiopia.

Osteomorphological and osteometric assessments provide valuable information on skeletal characteristics and biological variation in indigenous chicken populations, yet data on the long bones of Ethiopian Indigenous Naked Neck chickens remain limited. This study aimed to characterize osteomorphology and evaluate osteometric variation of selected long bones in Indigenous Naked Neck chickens from Quara District, Northwest Ethiopia. Sixteen clinically healthy chickens, comprising eight males and eight females, were allocated to two predefined age groups: 8-month-old younger chickens and 14-month-old older chickens. The humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and tarsometatarsus were examined morphologically and assessed using standardized osteometric procedures. Significant differences in bone weight and osteometric measurements were observed between the predefined age groups and sexes (P < 0.05). Older chickens exhibited greater bone weight and linear dimensions than younger chickens, while males showed larger measurements than females. Bone weight displayed greater relative variability than most linear measurements, as indicated by higher coefficients of variation. The osteomorphological features observed were consistent with established descriptions of avian skeletal anatomy. However, because individual body weight data were not available for inclusion as a covariate and potential age × sex interactions were not evaluated, the findings should be interpreted as observed group differences rather than independent effects of age or sex. These results provide baseline osteometric data for Indigenous Naked Neck chickens and serve as a reference for comparative anatomy and future studies of skeletal development and variation. Further studies involving larger and more diverse populations, individual body weight measurements, and factorial statistical approaches are warranted.