Abstract
The study was conducted in Charuhurit kebele in Menit Shasha woreda West Omo Zone, south west region (SWR) Ethiopia. Before
the commencement of the study need assessment was done on existing livestock production system and their constraints through
conducting group discussion with pastoralists, then the pastoralists were prioritized poultry production system as major problem need
immediate intervention. A pastoralist and agro-pastoralist extension research group (PAPREG) which containing 25 pastoralists were
established and randomly assigned to different production system (10 intensive productions, 10 semi intensive and five extensive
production system). 125 pullets of Bovan Brown chicken breed age 75 days purchased from Bushoftu Alema farm were distributed and
before distribution training on housing, feeding, health and overall handling system of animals were given for pastoralists. The study
revealed that high mortality rate or low survivability rate was observed before the onset egg production in the study area. There were
no significant differences in age of animals before onset of egg lying, but number of egg produced every month was significantly (p
< 0.05) higher between production systems. The average age at onset of egg lying was 22.10 weeks. The result shown that significantly
(p < 0.05) higher number (23.77) of eggs per month per hen was recorded for intensive production system. Finally, the authors concluded
that Bovan Brown chicken breed under village production in terms of their egg production performance were feasible in the study area
to enhance family nutrition and income generations.
Key words: Chicken, Egg, Income, Mortality, Need assessment, Pastoralists, Production system.
Participatory evaluation and demonstration of productive
performance of Bovans Brown chicken under village production
system in Menit Shasha Woreda, West Omo Zone, Ethiopia
Regasa Begna
*
, Worku Masho, Wondosan Wondimu, Yaregal Tilahun, Tilahun Bekele, Benyam Tadesse, Haile Negash
RESEARCH ARTICLE
© The Scientific Temper. 2023
Received: 16/07/2023 Accepted: 30/08/2023 Published : 25/09/2023
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mizan Tepi University,
Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia
*Corresponding Author: Regasa Begna, College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources, Mizan Tepi University, Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia,
E-Mail: begnaregasa@gmail.com
How to cite this article: Begna, R., Masho, W., Wondimu, W.,
Tilahun, Y., Bekele, T., Tadesse, B., Negash, H. (2023). Participatory
evaluation and demonstration of productive performance of
Bovans Brown chicken under village production system in Menit
Shasha Woreda, West Omo Zone, Ethiopia. The Scientific Temper,
14(3): 799-805.
Doi: 10.58414/SCIENTIFICTEMPER.2023.14.3.36
Source of support: Nil
Conflict of interest: None.
Introducon
Ethiopia is one of the African countries which have
pastoralist, agro pastoralist and agronomists in the rural
areas (85% of the total population). Most of the livelihoods’
of rural community survive through agriculture practices.
Chicken are widespread and almost every rural family owns
chickens, which provide a valuable source of both family
The Scientific Temper (2023) Vol. 14 (3): 799-805 E-ISSN: 2231-6396, ISSN: 0976-8653
Doi: 10.58414/SCIENTIFICTEMPER.2023.14.3.36 https://scientifictemper.com/
protein and income (Tadelle et al., 2003). The total chicken
population in the country is estimated to be 57 million with
native chicken type representing 78.85%, hybrid chicken
12.02% and exotic breed 9.11 (CSA, 2021). The most dominant
chicken types reared in Ethiopia are local ecotype, which
show a large variation in body position, plumage color,
comb type and productivity (Halima, 2007). However, the
economic contribution of the sector is not still proportional
to the huge chicken numbers, attributed to the presence
of many productions, reproduction and infrastructure
constraints (Halima, 2007; Fikadu, 2021).
The chicken production system in Ethiopia can be
characterized by not market oriented, low input, scavenging
and traditional management system consisting of local
breed (Afras, 2018). The indigenous birds are small in body
size and low producers of meat and egg. The egg production
potential of local chicken is 30 to 60 eggs/year/hen with
an average of 38 g egg weight under village management
conditions, while exotic breeds produce around 250 eggs/
year/hen with around 60 g egg weight in Ethiopia (Yizengaw
et al., 2022).The total chicken egg and meat production in
Ethiopia is estimated to be about 78,000 and 72,300 metric
tons, respectively (Buli, 2017).