Assessment on Management Practices and Comparative Study on Egg Production and Egg Quality Parameters of Sasso and Local Chicken Breeds in Aleta Chuko Woreda, Sidama Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in midland and lowland agroecologies of Aleta Chuko Woreda with the aim of assessing chicken management practices and compares egg production and egg quality parameters of the newly introduced Sasso chicken breed and that of local chicken. A total of 174 households rearing indigenous and Sasso chicken for at least three years were selected for the survey work based on systematic random sampling method. Three hundred eggs from the two agroecologies, (150 eggs from each agroecology, 75 eggs each from Sasso and local chicken from one agroecology) were collected from 6 Kebeles (3 Kebeles in one agroecology) and tested in Hawassa University poultry laboratory for its external and internal quality traits. Two-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the effects of the two breeds and the two agroecologies using SPSS version 20. From the respondents, 21.8% of the sampled households were female headed. The average number of chickens per households was 4.3. The current chicken breed composition in the study woreda was 62%, and 38% of local and Sasso respectively. The average age of local and Sasso chicken at first egg laying was 7.18and 5.14months of age, respectively. The average number of clutches per hen per year for local and Sasso chickens were 4.06 and 7.8, respectively. About 86.2% of the respondents from Sasso chicken rearers and 77% from local chicken rearers had experience of culling non productive chicken from their flock, with 79.3% of the culling Sasso chicken was caused due to sickness and 65.5% of the culling local chicken was caused by poor productivity. The overall means for egg production per hen per year for local and Sasso chicken was 52.74and 161.4, respectively. From this work, it is recommended that regular training must be given on management practices of the chicken and government should support on disease treatment mechanisms and vaccination of chickens.