Abstract:
The study was conducted in three districts of Gamo Gofa zone, with the objectives to discriminate the morphological character of different local chicken population and to assess the chicken breeding and husbandry practices of the community in the study area. A total of 180 indigenous chicken owning farmers for survey and 711 chickens (162 male and 549 females) aged greater than 8 months for quantitative study were considered in this study. Descriptive statistics, frequency procedures, general linear model, univariate and multivariate analysis were used with SAS 9.1.3 and SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data. The study result revealed that the mean flock size of chickens per household was 6.45, 9.00, and 6.67 in Mirab Abaya, Kamba and Melo Koza districts, respectively. Surveyed households reported that chickens were kept mainly for sale to generate income. The main feed sources of chicken in the study area were scavenging and supplementary feeding. All of the respondents in the three districts provide water and shelter for their chickens. The major causes of chicken loss in the study area were reported to be diseases (56.1%) and predators (43.9%). Broody hens (100%) were the only means of incubation and rearing at household level. Concerning breeding practice 78.6% of the respondents have practice of breeding for improving their chicken. A total of seven plumage colors were identified in all districts among which key and gebsima were the predominant colors. Variations were observed in all qualitative characteristics. According to the survey, the average ages at sexual maturity of local chicken were 5.91+0.061 and 5.61+0.54 months for female and male, respectively. The average number of eggs laid/clutch was 11.87 and the number of total clutch periods/hen/year was 3.74, the annual egg production performance of local hen was 44.52 eggs /hen/year. The average body weight of local cock in Mirab abaya, Kamba and Melo koza districts were 1.46, 1.42 and 1.54kg, respectively, while the respective values for mature hens were 1.14, 1.05 and 1.20kg.In terms of shank lengths, in Mirab Abaya, Kamba and Melo koza cocks and hens had significantly (p<0.05) different across the districts. Morphmetric measurements indicated that significant differences (P<0.05) were observed between districts. In all parameters, male shows higher significance (P<0.001) value than female. Multivariate analysis result showed that the correct classification for female and male sampled chicken population into their district ranged from 53.01-76.5% and 72.22-87.04%, respectively. The Wilks’ lambda test for the female and male sample population was 0.508 and 0.226. The Mahalanobis’ distances between populations shows the smallest and largest distances between districts. The present results could be complemented by molecular characterization using DNA markers; and serve as a basis for further characterization, conservation and genetic improvement strategies for indigenous chicken
