Phenotypic Characterization and Production Systems of Chicken Ecotypes in Central Ethiopia

Abstract

The Ethiopian indigenous chicken population size is declining in alarming conditions. Therefore, reversing conservation action through the identification of chicken type and production practices is crucial to mitigating the problem. The study was conducted to characterize the phenotypic features and production systems of chickens managed under rural smallholder production systems. A total of 426 chickens were included for quantitative measurements and qualitative observation. For the farming practice, 152 farmers were included in the study. The morphological data were analyzed using district as the main effect. The morphometric data were entered into SAS version 9.4 for conducting UNIVARIATE and GLM procedures. GLM was conducted by fitting sex and district as factors. The significance level was set at 5% for both morphological and morphometric data. Diksis and Gimbichu chickens were significantly (P<0.05) superior in terms of body weight, body length, shank circumference, and shank length than those from the Wulbareg district. However, the canonical discriminant analysis result indicates the similarity of chickens among the study areas with some variation within the population. Plain plumage pattern (53.85%), triangular body shape (60.14%), flat head shape (69.23%), single comb type (56.64%), red earlobe color (58.04%), white skin color (65.03%), and absence of spur (76.22%) were the most observed qualitative characteristics of chickens in the study areas. Generally, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of chickens show similarity among the Wulbareg, Gimbichu, and Diksis populations. On-farm evaluation and molecular characterization may be needed for detailed characterization. Urgent alternative conservation and improvement programs should be implemented to overcome the alarming decrease in the chicken population.