Thesis Ref. No___________ ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE OF IMPROVED CHICKENS UNDER RURAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN DUGDA WOREDA, EAST- SHEWA ZONE, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA. MSc. Thesis By Almaz Abebe Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Department of Animal Production Studies October, 2015 Bishoftu, Ethiopia i ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE OF IMPROVED CHICKENS UNDER RURAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN DUGDA WOREDA, EAST- SHEWA ZONE, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA. A Thesis Submitted to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of Addis Ababa University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Tropical Animal production and Health By Almaz Abebe October, 2015 Bishoftu, Ethiopia. ii Addis Ababa University College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture Department of Animal Production Studies ___________________________________________________________________________ As members of the Examining Board of the final MSc open defence, we certify that we have read and evaluated the Thesis prepared by Almaz Abebe, titled “Assessment of Production Performance of Improved Chickens under Rural Management Practices in Dugda Woreda, East- Shewa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia” and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the thesis requirement for the degree of Masters of Science in Tropical Animal Production and Health. Dr. Gebeyew Goshu ______________ ______________ Chairman Signature Date Dr. Fikre lubago _______________ ______________ External Examiner Signature Date Dr. Ashenafi Mengistu _______________ ______________ Internal Examiner Signature Date Academic Advisors Prof. Harpal Singh _______________ _______________ Major Advisor Signature Date Dr. Nigatu Alemayehu _______________ _______________ Co- Advisor Signature Date Professor Berhan Tamir _______________ _______________ Department chairperson Signature Date iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my beloved families, my Father Ato Abebe Hirpo, my Mother w/ro Zenebech Jimma and especially my beloved Sister Birtukan Abebe, you all deserve my appreciations for your encouragement. iv STATEMENT OF AUTHOR First, I declare that this thesis is my bona fide work and all sources of material used for this thesis have been duly acknowledged. This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced (MSc) degree at Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and is deposited at the University/College library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. I solemnly declare that this thesis is not submitted to any other institution anywhere for the award of any academic degree, diploma, or certificate Name: Almaz Abebe Signature: ______________ College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Bishoftu Date of Submission: 05/10/2015 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, Glory to God in the highest for helping me in my entire life. Without his assistance nothing would be possible. I am extremely grateful toward ILRI Ethiopia project that helped me in funding this study. And also I would like to express my gratitude to my major advisor, Prof. Harpal Singh for his resourceful comments and suggestions throughout the research period and at the time of write up process of this thesis. My heart-felt thanks is also forwarded to my co-advisors Dr. Nigatu Alemayehu ,who arranged financial support to the research and provided his valuable comments at the time of the research as well as during thesis write up process. I would like to extend sincere thanks to post graduate head Dr. Getachew Terefe for his support and encouragement. The contributions from Haramaya University and Animal productin and Health office in the study area in obtaining the data for the purpose of this study and the help rendered by few individuals (Girma Berhe, Birtukan Abebe, Biyazin Abrar and Abebe Teklu) for providing materials and giving me comments regarding my thesis work are fully acknowledged. I also like to extend my cordial gratitude to my best friends for their unreserved contribution and encouragement. Last but not the least, my deepest gratitude goes to my beloved family Werku Abdo Naume Werku,Abebe Hirpo,Zenebech Jimma, Tiruwerk Ebsa, Tsigereda Abebe and to all my sisters for their endless love and support. And finally to those who indirectly contributed in this research, your kindness means a lot to me. Just thank you!! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................VII LIST OF ABBREVATIONS..............................................................................................X LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ XI LIST OF ANNEXES ......................................................................................................XIII ABSTRACT................................................................................................................... XIV 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1.Background ............................................................................................................... 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 5 2.1. Purposes of Keeping Family Chicken...................................................................... 5 2.2. Production Performance of Chicken under Rural Production System..................... 5 2.3. Village Chicken Husbandry/Management ............................................................... 7 2.3.1. Housing and feeding management .................................................................... 7 2.3.2. Chicken Health .................................................................................................. 8 2.3.3. Causes of chicken mortality and losses ............................................................. 8 2.3.4. Knowledge of Medication and Vaccination ...................................................... 9 2.4. Challenges of Village Chicken Production System ................................................. 9 2.5. Classification of Poultry Production Systems on The Basis of Biosecurity Level 10 2.6. Marketing ............................................................................................................... 11 2.7. Egg Quality Traits.................................................................................................. 11 2.8. Gender Aspects of Smallholder chicken Production ............................................. 13 2.8.1. Role of rural Family members in village chicken production system ............. 14 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS.................................................................................. 17 3.1. Description of the Study Area................................................................................ 17 3.2. Study Design .......................................................................................................... 18 3.3. Study Population .................................................................................................... 18 3.4. Sample size determination ..................................................................................... 19 3.5. Selection of the study area and sampling techniques............................................. 19 3.2. Data Collection and Evaluation ............................................................................. 19 vii Table of Contents (Continued) 3.2.1. Questionnaire survey....................................................................................... 20 3.2.2. Direct Observation .......................................................................................... 20 3.2.3. Variables Measured......................................................................................... 20 3.3. Data Analysis ......................................................................................................... 21 4. RESULTS ..................................................................................................................... 22 4.1. Household Characteristics...................................................................................... 22 4.2. Rural Chicken Management Practices ................................................................... 23 4.2.1. Poultry housing and facilities.......................................................................... 23 4.2.2. Feed and feeding system.................................................................................. 24 4.2.3. Watering .......................................................................................................... 25 4.2.4. Chicken health management............................................................................ 26 4.2.5. Culling practice and reasons for culling chickens in the district.................... 27 4.4. Type and Source of Improved Chicks Adopted..................................................... 27 4.5. Marketing ............................................................................................................... 28 4.5.1. Market access for poultry products and production inputs............................. 28 4.5.2. Practice of selling