A detailed account of the production performance of all government farms and some selected private poultry farms from five Northern Districts of Bangladesh, namely, Rajshahi, Bogra, Rangpur, Dinajpur and Thakurgaon, management practices of the farms, analyses of body and egg morphometric parameters, haematological data, and karyotypic studies on chicken breeds and some other birds have been presented. Cobb-500 (broilers), ISA Brown & White (layers) and a crossbred Sonali chickens are grown commercially in the farms for meat and egg production. The karyotypic analyses of the birds bear an important implication on understanding the cytogenetics of the species. The present information could be utilized for effective selection and/or breeding programmes and also for combating various diseases of the poultry birds in the country. It appeared from the investigation that strict bio-safety oriented management practices, coupled with the selection of fast growing breeds of chickens, could ensure profitability of the poultry farms in the study area.

Professor Dr. M. Saiful Islam, MSc (Rajshahi), MSc (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), PhD (Universities of Reading & Oxford, UK), Commonwealth Postdoctoral Fellow (Oxford, UK), Visiting Fellow (Kentucky, USA), specialized in Animal Genetics & Breeding; Most. Suraiya Khanam, BSc (Hons), MS, Department of Zoology, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.