Animal Production

Effect of The Inclusion of Thyme (Thymus schimperi. R.) Leaves as Feed Additives on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Meat Quality of Hararghe Highland Sheep, and Consumers’ Perception of Hararghe Highland Sheep Mutton in Meta Woreda, East Hararghe Zone

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Effect of The Inclusion of Thyme (Thymus schimperi. R.) Leaves as Feed Additives on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Meat Quality of Hararghe Highland Sheep, and Consumers’ Perception of Hararghe Highland Sheep Mutton in Meta Woreda, East Hararghe Zone Daba Galata, Raya; i Gadissa (PhD), Silesh; Urge (Professor, Mengistu This study was conducted at Haramaya University, a goat farm, and Meta Woreda in the East Hararghe Zone to evaluate the effect of thyme (Thymus schimperi R.) leaves as feed additives on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of Hararghe Highland Sheep (HHS) and assess consumer perceptions of sheep mutton consumption trends in Meta Woreda. Eighteen finishing rams with an average initial body weight of 23.13 ± 0.02 kg were purchased from local markets. The experimental design utilized was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with six replications, where the animals were blocked according to their initial body weight and randomly assigned to three dietary treatment groups: T1 (0 g thyme), T2 (100 g thyme), and T3 (200 g thyme). Each treatment consisted of concentrate mixtures formulated from wheat bran, noug seed cake, table salt, and vitamin and mineral premixes provided at 2.5% of the rams' body weight on a dry matter basis, with pasture grass hay offered ad libitum. The digestibility trial was carried out for 7 days, followed by a feeding trial of 60 days and carcass evaluation. The feed offered and refusals were recorded for each animal during both the digestion and feeding trials, whereas feces voided during the digestibility trial were recorded daily. The body weight changes of the animals during the feeding trial were recorded within a ten-day interval. Compared with those fed the control diet (T1), the rams fed diets containing 100 and 200 grams of dried thyme leaf (DTL) as a feed additive exhibited larger average DM, OM, CP, NDF, ADF, and ADL intakes. On the other hand, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the DM digestibility coefficient among the treatments, indicating that rams fed T2 had the highest digestible DM and OM coefficients (82.0 vs 80.4%) compared with those in T3 (79.9 vs 77.3%) and T1 (70.1 vs 67.3%), respectively. These findings suggest that the T2 diet is more effective at improving the digestibility of dry matter in the diet. Similarly, Hararghe Highland rams fed T2 (100 g DTL) supplemented with the concentrate mixture had shown the highest FBW, ADG, and FCE. The mean slaughter body weight (SBW), empty body weight (EBW), hot carcass weight (HCW), dressing percentage based on SBW and EBW, rib-eye muscle area, total edible proportion (TEP), and total usable products were significantly higher (P<0.05) for dried thyme leaf-supplemented rams than for the control diet. In addition, the inclusion of DTL as a natural feed additive in the diets of HH rams had enhanced meat color, water holding capacity, flavor, juiciness and tenderness, and chemical composition compared with those of the control diet. xviii Finally, the survey assessment conducted on perceptions of consuming sheep meat in Meta Woreda indicated that majority of the respondents (54.2% and 33.3%) said that they rarely eat mutton during religious holidays and wedding ceremonies, respectively. The major reason for the rare consumption of sheep meat was the bad smell of the meat (100%) due to the inherent excess fat content of the sheep (50%) and the feed source (33.3%). Moreover, the major mechanisms for alleviating its bad smell were washing live animal skin ahead of slaughtering (40.8%), hot carcass spicing (30.0%), and the application of a special cooking method (29.2%). Thus, from the results of this study, it was concluded that the inclusion of DTL at 100 g per day in the diet of finishing HH rams is optimal for enhancing feed intake, nutrient utilization efficiency, growth, carcass yield, and physical, chemical, and meat eating quality parameters. In addition, proper sheep feeding management and consumers’ perception improving training are essential to enhance sheep meat consumption habit in the study area. 87

ASSESSMENT OF TRADITIONAL BUTTER PRODUCTION, HANDLING, MARKETING AND ITS PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTY IN TULLO AND MESELA WOREDAS OF WEST HARARGHE ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

ASSESSMENT OF TRADITIONAL BUTTER PRODUCTION, HANDLING, MARKETING AND ITS PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTY IN TULLO AND MESELA WOREDAS OF WEST HARARGHE ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA Endashaw Gebeyehu Shiferaw; Takele Wolkaro (PhD); Tibebu Manaye (PhD) Across-sectional survey was employed to assess butter traditional production, handling and marketing practices in Tullo and Mesela Woredas of West Hararghe Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussion were the methods utilized for data collection. The questionnaire were pre-tested and administered to 140 respondents, with 77 from Tullo and 63 from Mesela Woreda. Additionally, a total of 30 samples each weighs 50 gm butter from each producer for physicochemical analysis were obtained from 30 producers that participating in the survey. The data for physio-chemical property analysis was collected from Haramaya University Dairy Technology Laboratory. Statistical Package for SPSS was used to analyses the data. Results show that, women and daughters were entirely responsible for butter production and handling in the study areas. In Mesela Woreda, 47.6% of the respondents were used bottle guard churners and 52.4% used plastic churners for butter making. In Tulo Woreda, 49.6% used bottle guard while 50.4% used plastic churner for butter making. About 60.3% and 64.9% of the respondents in Mesela and Tulo Woreda, respectively utilized butter for cosmetics purpose. About 39.7% and 45.4% of the respondent in Mesela and Tulo Woredas, respectively used Sheketi (traditionally prepared equipment) to handle butter. As the result indicated 100%, female has responsibility to sell butter in the study districts. 61.9% and 72.7% in Mesela and Tulo Woreda, respectively, butter buyer conceder freshness as quality factor. In the study districts the overall mean value of moisture content of butter was 18.43±0.37 and 18.67±0.53 which is higher than the value of standard butter (16%). The fat content of butter collected from Mesela and Tulo Woreda were 77.91±0.50 and 78.64±0.50, respectively that indicates lower than the value of standard (80%).To concluded that from the results for physicochemical property indicates the butter produced in study districts has lower quality. It is recommended that efforts should be made to improve awareness among butter producers, especially on modern dairy handling and processing practices. This could help improve product quality and safety. Regular training on butter production is important to ensure butter meets both local and international standards 62p.

EVALUATION OF CHICKEN PRODUCTION PRACTICE, PERFORMANCE AND EGG QUALITY OF BOVANS BROWN AND SASSO CHICKENS IN DOBA DISTRICT, WEST HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

EVALUATION OF CHICKEN PRODUCTION PRACTICE, PERFORMANCE AND EGG QUALITY OF BOVANS BROWN AND SASSO CHICKENS IN DOBA DISTRICT, WEST HARARGHE ZONE, ETHIOPIA Ahmed Beker Umere; Negassi Ameha (PhD); Tibebu Manaye (PhD) The study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the chicken husbandry practices, productive performance, and egg quality of Bovans brown and Sasso chickens in Doba District. A total of 160 households were purposively selected and interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. For the evaluation of egg qualities, a total of 160 freshly laid eggs were used. SPSS and JMP® pro version 17 (SAS Institute, 2023) were employed to analyze the data. The age at first egg for the Sasso chicken was 5.77 months, and for the Bovans brown chicken, it was 5.38 months. The average number of eggs per hen per year for the Bovans brown chicken was 248.86, which was higher as compared to the Sasso chicken, which was 227.32. A significant difference (P< 0.05) was observed between chicken breeds and agroecologies in terms of the pullet's age at first egg and the total number of eggs produced per year, with higher results in midland than in the highland agroecology of the study area. The female body weights of Sasso and Bovans brown chickens greater than 20 weeks of age was higher in the midlands, and the Sasso breed performed higher than Bovans brown chickens. The results indicated that egg quality traits with a significant difference (P<0.05) between the two agro-ecologies in terms of egg weight, egg length, shell weight, shell thickness, yolk weight, yolk color, yolk height, yolk diameter, and albumen weight of eggs collected from midland were higher than those of eggs from highland. However, the highest values for albumen height and Haugh unit were observed on eggs collected from highland. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) between eggs collected from the Sasso chicken with higher values than Bovans brown eggs in terms of egg weight, egg width, shell weight, egg length, albumin weight, yolk color, and yolk weight. In general, the Sasso and Bovans brown chickens perform relatively better in midland for egg production, growth performance, and most of the egg quality traits than highland agro-ecology. The prevalence of disease, predators, inadequate veterinary services, a lack of housing, and a shortage of supplementary feeds were the major constraints on chicken production. Therefore we recommend that there should be appropriate intervention in disease and predator control activities, an improved housing system, a feeding system, and a vaccination of chicken to be promoted in the study areas. 101p.

SCAVENGING AND SMALL-SCALE INTENSIVE CHICKEN PRODUCTION PRACTICES, EGG QUALITY ANALYSIS, AND MARKETING SYSTEM IN AND AROUND JIGJIGA CITY

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

SCAVENGING AND SMALL-SCALE INTENSIVE CHICKEN PRODUCTION PRACTICES, EGG QUALITY ANALYSIS, AND MARKETING SYSTEM IN AND AROUND JIGJIGA CITY Osman Abdullahi Jama; Negassi Ameha (PhD); Meseret Girma (PhD) The study was conducted to assess and evaluate production practices, marketing systems, and egg quality traits of small-scale intensive and backyard chicken production in and around Jigjiga city. The study was thus composed of a survey and egg quality examination of local and exotic chickens reared under an intensive and scavenging production system. Hence, 160 households under the backyard system with four strata and 10 from the small-scale intensive system were involved in the survey. SAS and JMP pro version (9.4) were statistical software tools used to analyze the data and the chi-square test was used to analyze the categorical variables while ANOVA was used to analyze continuous variables. The results indicated that the majority of respondents in the study area were male in the 1 st and 4th strata and in all strata their ages fall between 41 and 50 while their educational attainment is predominantly low among respondents, with many being illiterate or having only primary education. In terms of chicken production practices the first strata represent 30% of households that still rely on traditional scavenging while 47.5%, 70%, and 72.5 respectively in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strata shows semi-scavenging systems. The housing conditions and practices for chicken rearing across four strata, which significantly different across the strata (χ2-test= 4.740, P<0.05) based on the number of chickens kept by each household. Results show a significant difference in egg production per year/hen across the four strata, with the fourth strata producing the highest average of 54.90±1.02 eggs per hen per year, while the third strata produced the lowest, at 49.12 ±1.29 eggs per hen (p = 0.001). The correlation relationships between various external egg quality traits for exotic and indigenous chickens reveal distinct patterns. In exotic chickens egg weight is significantly correlated with shell weight (r = 0.4428, p < .0001) and egg width (r = 0.3063, p = .0057), indicating that heavier eggs tend to have heavier shells and greater width. On the other hand, for Indigenous chickens, egg weight shows very strong correlations with both egg length (r = 0.8735, p < .0001) and width (r = 0.5896, p < .0001), suggesting that heavier eggs tend to be longer and wider. Indigenous chickens showed significantly (P<0.05) lower mean values in egg weight (42.450±0.25) and shell weight (3.625±0.062) compared to exotic breeds, which exhibited 68 higher values (61.837a±0.23 for egg weight and 6.151±0.066 for shell weight), indicating breed effects as a key determinant in these traits. Exotic breeds showed a higher mean albumin height (5.665±0.154 mm) compared to Indigenous breeds (4.856±0.154 mm), with the breed (B) showing a significant effect (p=0.000), indicating that genetic factors influence albu min height. Production type (P) and interaction effects (B x P) were non-significant (p=0.255, p=0.708), suggesting that albumin height remains relatively stable across intensive and backyard systems within each breed. The study's holistic approach provides valuable guidance for policymakers and development practitioners seeking to strengthen the poultry industry. Promoting controlled breeding programs, improving disease management, and leveraging gendersensitive extension services crucial to develop the poultry industry in the study area. By addressing the multifaceted challenges facing chicken producers, this research paves the way for a more resilient and equitable poultry value chain in Jigjiga and beyond. 108p.