Abstract
Korean native chicken populations have been raised by private farmers in the Korean Peninsula. Only five chicken populations were restored as pure lines officially and have been conserved by National Institute of Animal Science. However, there were several private chicken farms that still have raised native chickens as genetic resources. Here, we investigated conservation status of native chicken populations exist throughout Korea. Two of the three industrialized farms were well-run with individual management and animal breeding. And only three of the eight small farms were managing individuals and differentiating them by generation, and two of the three national institutions maintained proper breed conservation status. In many small farms, the maintenance of population size and preservation of the genetic resource of various chicken breeds were insufficient. And also, it was difficult to improve the performance of populations through selection and breeding. To conserve diverse Korean native chicken populations and develop native chicken breeds, it is obvious that more concerns and support should be provided to the small chicken farms.
