PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF LOCAL CHICKEN AT ENEBSIE SAR MIDIR WOREDA, EASTERN GOJJAM, ETHIOPIA (Published)
This study was carried out to evaluate the performance of local chickens in terms of average egg production per annum, hatchability percentage, age at first laying, age of slaughtering, age at marketing, number of egg set to a hen for hatching, brooding length, clutch size and amount of feed supplemented per head (g) under famers management condition in three representative peasant associations from 180 households (60 each). The data was collected by using questionnaires, observation and interviews. As the study revealed that average annual egg production was 65 per year per hen, age at first laying was 7 months, age of slaughtering was 5 months, numbers of eggs set was 13 per hen, number of chicks hatched was 9, brooding length was 3 months, number of eggs per clutch was 17, clutch size was 4 per year and amount of feed supplemented per day per chicken was 45gm. The performance of local chicken under farmer’s management condition was low. Therefore this local chickens should be crossed with pure exotic for maximizing the production. In addition to this, the overall husbandry and/or management activities with intensive system should be adapted to farmers in order to improve performance of chicken and the living standard of households in a better way condition.
Keywords: Husbandry practice, Local chickens, Performance evaluation
