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

Abstract

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.