Village Chicken Breeding Objectives and Trait Preferences of Chicken Producers’ in Western Amhara, Ethiopia

This study was carried out to generate base line information on village chicken production objective, breeding practice and trait preference of chicken producers in South Achefre, Banija and FagitaLekoma districts of western Amhara. Multi stage sampling procedures were employed to select the study villages and respondents, where nine villages and 180 respondents were selected by purposive and random sampling techniques, respectively. Data were collected by individual survey using Open Data Kit. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of SPSS version 20 and ranking index. Main purposes of keeping chicken in the study area are sale of egg and live adult chicken and farmers have a multiple breeding practice. Exotic breed was the first priority of chicken producers. The three most preferred trait for the selection of breeding hen are egg production trait, disease resistance and mothering ability, while the three most preferred trait for the selection of breeding cockare body conformation/ physical appearance, body size and diseases resistance. Comprehensible knowledge on breeding practices, objectives and trait preferences of chicken owners are crucial for development of holistic and applicable genetic improvement program. Hence, production objectives and trait preference should incorporate in designing genetic improvement breeding programs to assure sustainable utilization and improvement of indigenous chickens. Keywords: Breeding hen, Breeding practices, Breeding objectives, Trait preference DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-9-03 Publication date:May 31st 202