Rural poultry production and health management practices in central zone of tigray, Ethiopia
Journal Title: Scientific Journal of Animal Science - Year 2013, Vol 2, Issue 12
Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess rural poultry production andmanagement practices in lowland and midland agro-ecological zones of centralTigray in Northern Ethiopia (13015’ and 14039’ North latitude, and 380 34’ and39025’ East longitude). A total of 160households, 80 from male and 80 from female headed households were selectedrandomly. All farmers in both agro-ecologies provided supplementary feed andwater to their chickens but did not use feed trough, they simply poured thegrain on the ground. About 62.5% of the households in midland and 40% inlowland constructed separate poultry house. There was positive correlation (r =0.48, n=160) between separate housing and flock size. About 81.25% of the producers in the lowlandand 87.5% in the midland selected hens for breeding purpose. Selection andculling of chickens were considered as best traditional breeding practices inboth agro-ecologies. About 75% and 87.5% of the male and female headedhouseholds in lowland and 92.5% and 82.5% of the male and female headedhouseholds in midland, respectively selected hens for breeding purpose usingdifferent selection criteria. Culling age of cocks in midland (2.8±0.08 years) wassignificantly higher (P<0.0001) than in lowland (2.5±0.08 years). About 75%of the male and 50% of the female headed households in lowland and 72.5% of themale and 65% of the female headed households in midland treated their chickensat home traditionally. Different types of treatment methods were used to treatsick chickens and the type of traditional treatment methods used by thehouseholds showed significant (X2=92.3; P<0.001) variation. Diseases, poorveterinary services, below standard housing, poor nutrition and neglecting thelocal chickens in extension packages are the major constraints of the systembut the desire of the farmers to promote poultry production and theirindigenous knowledge on culling and selection practice could be an opportunity toimprove the sector.
Authors and Affiliations
A. T. Atsbeha| Aksum University, Department of Animal Science and Ecotourism PO Box 314, Shire-Endaselassie, Ethiopia.
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP668
- DOI 10.14196/sjas.v2i12.1058
- Views 475
- Downloads 21
Efficacy of supplementary enzymes on in vitro digestibility of various ratios of maize with wheat offal
The basic experimental diets were 4 x 5 factorial combinations of the inclusion levels of wheat offal at the expense of maize in the control diet with different enzymes. Basically the control diet had 100% of maize whi...
Use of cytochrome oxidase 1 gene region: a molecular tool for the domestic and wildlife industry in Kenya
Illegal substitution of meat products by traders either as closely related domestic species or as bush meat is a common occurrence in various parts of Kenya. This has implications on biosafety, food safety and consumer...
Non genetic factors affecting calf growth traits in mashona cattle
The objective of thisstudy was to evaluate the effects of sex of calf, year of birth, age of calfand age of dam on growth traits of indigenous Mashona calves. The growth traitsunder study were weaning weight (W2), year...
Effects of protection system and grazing seasons on goats’ nutrition in El Rosa, North Kordofan State, Sudan
The range grazing and distance walked for diet selection and nutritive value were studied in close and open range systems at the flowering and seed setting stages during the September and November 2009 respectively in...
Growth response and nutrient digestibility of West African Dwarf goats fed micro doses of dietary aflatoxin
An experiment was conducted with twenty West African Dwarf (WAD) goats (4-5 months old) averaging 8.40±0.2kg to assess performance and nutrient digestibility of WAD goats exposed to varied levels of dietary aflatoxin o...