Status, Characterization and Conservation Practices of Local Chicken Ecotypes, Ethiopia

Authors

  • Addis Getu  Department of Animal Production and Extension, University of Gondar, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ethiopia
  • Kefyalew Alemayehu  Bahir Dar University, Department of Animal Production and Technology, P.O. Box 21 45, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
  • Atnaf Alebie  Department of Animal Production and Extension, University of Gondar, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ethiopia

Keywords:

Chickens, Conservation, Indigenous

Abstract

Review work was conducted to assess the characterized and conservation methods of indigenous chickens in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia Chickens are the most wide spread and dominant poultry species. Since local chickens have good potential to adapted in different agro-ecology and provide luxurious source of family protein and income to rural poor. However, village chicken is usually kept under free ranging production system. Still those local chickens are non-descriptive type and show variations in body position, color, comb type and productivity. Indigenous chickens have characterized as; poor appearance, relatively low productivity, slow growth rate, small adult size and lays small egg. So, they are neglected from researchers, development workers and policy makers to put them in the research and development. To decrease loose of chicken genetic resource, phenotypic and genotypic characterization work were conducted. However, many chickens are lack with information about their geographical distributions and its availability. Many previous reports underlined that the breed characteristics of indigenous chickens are vary in color, comb type, body conformation and weight. High incidences of chicken diseases, mainly (NCD), coccidioses, salmonellae's fowl pox are the major and economically important constraint for village chicken production system following feeds and predators. Further constraints are poor access to markets, weak institutions, and lack of skills and knowledge which lead to high rate of genetic erosion. According to DAD-IS and DAGR-IS, the evidences about the genetic resource of identified chickens are undocumented and unobserved as well, only small number of chickens ecotype such as Tilili, Horro, Chefe, Jarso, Tepi, Gelila, Debre-Elias, Melo-Hamusit, Gassay/Farta, Guangua, Mecha, Konso, Mandura, and Sheka are the major identified and characterized type of local chicken ecotypes in Ethiopia. Therefore, conservation practices are not common rather than aggravating the erosion of local chicken resources through random distribution of exotic chickens.

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology

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Published

2015-12-25

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Volume 1, Issue 5, November-December-2015

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Research Articles

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[1]
Addis Getu, Kefyalew Alemayehu, Atnaf Alebie, " Status, Characterization and Conservation Practices of Local Chicken Ecotypes, Ethiopia, International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology(IJSRST), Online ISSN : 2395-602X, Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Volume 1, Issue 5, pp.75-82, November-December-2015.