Characterization of village chicken production performance under scavenging system in Halaba district of southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Village chicken production was characterized using retrospective and crosssectional methods, where 280 households rearing local chickens in Halaba district of southern Ethiopia were used for data collection. The study revealed that the average flock size was 8.5 chickens (95% CI=7.98 – 9.08). The average number of chickens added to a flock annually was 28.3 birds (95% CI=27.76 – 28.86) while 22.9 birds (95% CI=22.36 – 23.53) were leaving the flock. The majority of the households (77.7%) constructed a wooden perch for night resting of their chickens inside the main house. Scavenging was the major avenue of feeding chickens. Most of the respondents (83.6%) practiced selection in their chicken flocks for females (68.4%) and both sexes (31.6%). The average number of eggs laid by local hen was 13.3 eggs/hen/clutch (95% CI=12.81 – 13.85) and the mean annual egg production was 50.8 eggs per year with an average clutching frequency of 3.8 clutches (95% CI = 3.69 – 3.92). The average clutch length was 26 days (95% CI = 24.92 – 27.08). While the age at first lay of village chickens was 6.53 months (95% CI = 6.45 – 6.61), the average weight at first lay was 0.91 kg (95% CI = 0.87 – 0.96). The mean egg weight for the village chickens was 39.4 g (95% CI = 38.79 – 39.91). The average hatchability of eggs in this study was 83.7 % (95% CI = 81.73 – 85.72). The survival rate of chicks to 6 months of age was 52.3% (95% CI = 51.09 - 53.45). It was concluded that village chicken production was characterized by low input and output system, and scavenging was the dominant form of feeding of village chicken.Key words: Village chicken – Scavenging – Productivity – Clutch