ON-FARM PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF INDIGENOUS CHICKEN AND THEIR HUSBANDRY AND BREEDING PRACTICES IN DEBARK AND DABAT DISTRICTS, NORTH GONDAR, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Rural poultry in Ethiopia represents a significant part of the national economy in general and the rural economy in particular, and its production is also a part and parcel of the Amhara regional state agriculture with diversified benefits. In spite of its economic contribution, the attention given to the sector, the status of the production and comprehensive characterization has not received the attention it deserves. In addition, breeding objectives and phenotypic characteristics of indigenous chicken genetic resources and husbandry practices of the community have not been studied in the study area. Thus, the present study was conducted to describe indigenous chicken husbandry and breeding practices, and to characterize phenotypically the indigenous chicken types in Debark and Dabat districts from north Gondar zones of Amhara region, Ethiopia. Six villages from each district, 10 respondents and 50 chickens from each village and a total of 120 households were randomly selected. A total of 600 indigenous chickens (150 male and 450 female) were randomly selected for study of quantitative and qualitative traits. The survey included both questionnaire and a participatory group discussion. The result of the analysis revealed that the mean flock size of chickens per household was 9.12+0.58. Respondents in the study districts practiced selection on breeding hen and cocks based on some traits, such as plumage colour, body size, egg production and maternal performance. Average age of sexual maturity for male and female was 5.99 + 0.06 and 5.7 + 0.07 months, respectively. Average number of eggs incubated in one round, eggs hatched and survived chicks in one hatching period were 11.71+0.15 eggs, 10.56+0.18 eggs and 6.57+0.24 chicks, respectively. Average egg production per year was 57.82+1.11. Majority of chicken populations in Debark district were characterized by dark brown (20.7%), followed by black (12.7%) and red (9.7%) plumage color. Similarly, most of Dabat chicken populations were characterized by black plumage (19.3%) and dark brown (15.3%) color. The local chicken possessed yellow and white shank, rose combs and white ear lobes colour. In the study area, crest head type occupied 45%. The body weight of indigenous chicken was 1.24 +0.04 kg for male, 0.95+ 0.02 kg for female in Debark and 1.12+ 0.04 kg for male 0.88 + 0.01 kg for female in Dabat. Significant (P<0.05) difference in average body weight was found between the districts. Generally, phenotypic diversity of indigenous chicken in the study districts indicated the existence of genetic variability and genetic resources which are varying from place to place that might be due to early introduction of chicken and various causes of variation in Ethiopia. Therefore, morphological and phenotypic variation were observed among the chicken population in this study, which suggests that there is an opportunity to improve the genetic performance of the local breed through selection and better management