Abstract
This study was conducted in four districts (Bambassi, Kamashi, Mao-komo and Homosha) of Benishangulgumuz regional state to describe physical and morphological chrematistics of local chicken population in the study area. A total of 847 matured local chickens (619 females and 228 males) were randomly sampled from the study area. Mean live body weight and other linear body measurements of males was significantly (p<0.05) higher than females. The overall mean values of measured traits males of indigenous chicken for body length, wingspan, and height and body weight were 37.0±4.26cm, 22.9±2.72, and 41.9±5.47cm and 1.5±0.413 kg respectively. While the respective values for mature females were 34.0±3.19cm, 21.4±2.72cm, 36.6±2.98cm and1.3±0.32kg. Almost all chickens (91%) in the study area were feathered neck. Regarding the head shape, 81% of the chicken in the study area had plain head shape and the remaining (19%) were crest. Single comb was the most common (82 %) comb type and was predominant in all of the districts. The study revealed that most of the parameters measured revealed distinctive variations, providing the basis for further characterization of local chicken breeds; therefore future study can be concentrated on selection for qualitative traits of interest. Keywords : Benishangulgumuz: Local chicken; Phenotypic characterization; Qualitative variation; Quantitative variation; DOI : 10.7176/JBAH/9-7-03 Publication date : April 30 th 2019
Highlights
Ethiopia possesses huge number of chicken population in Eastern Africa
Even though chicken population is huge in Ethiopia, the production system majorly is still very traditional that chickens are not provided with enough feed, poor health and housing managements
The live body weight and other body measurements of this study showed that male chicken population was significantly higher (P
Summary
According to CSA (2015) chicken population in the country estimated to be 56.87 million of which 96 percent are indigenous chicken ecotypes. Chicken population in Benishangulgumuz is estimated to be 1.38 million; from this 0.62 million, 0.56 million, 0.12 million and 0.06 million are found in Assosa, Metekel, Kamash zones and Maokomo special district, respectively. Even though chicken population is huge in Ethiopia, the production system majorly is still very traditional that chickens are not provided with enough feed, poor health and housing managements. Despite this improper management, indigenous chickens are resistance to harsh environments, tolerant to diseases and provide better test of meat and eggs than exotic ones (Taddele and Ogle, 2001). Generally the naming of these indigenous animals was based on either the area occupied by the animals or ethnic groups or clans keeping them (Halima, 2007)
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