Whole-genome resequencing data of the Ixworth chicken breed

The Ixworth chicken is a British dual-purpose breed and mostly maintained by small-scale farmers. Due to legislation regarding the ban on male chick culling in European countries, such as in Germany, renewed interest has arisen in rearing dual-purpose chickens that provide both meat and eggs from the same genetic line. This dataset was generated within the scope of projects aiming to evaluate the viability of dual-purpose breeds for sustainable and welfare-oriented poultry production. One of the objectives was to characterize the genetic potential of the Ixworth chicken as a model for breeding programs that combine conservation and practical use in ecological farming systems.

Liver samples from 49 male Ixworth chickens were collected after scheduled slaughter at the Campus Frankenforst of the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences of the University of Bonn, Germany. Genomic DNA was extracted and subjected to whole-genome resequencing using the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. The dataset provides high-resolution genomic information on a rare breed with a pure dual-purpose background. This resource represents the first public sequencing dataset of the Ixworth chicken and thus offers a valuable foundation for future studies on genetic diversity, conservation genomics, and breeding strategies for sustainable poultry production.