Abstract:
This study was conducted to characterize poultry production and marketing systems in
Kerssa Woreda of Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia. Six Kebeles of the Woreda were
selected using multistage random sampling from which, 30 Households (HHs) were
randomly selected. A questionnaire survey was conducted on these selected 180 HHs
pertaining population characteristics, management, marketing, and productivity of the
indigenous chickens integrated with participatory rural appraisal. Moreover, 30 HHs who
had adopt hay-box brooder and exotic chickens were purposively selected to study the
performance of hay box and exotic chickens. The data collected were subjected to
descriptive and analysis of variance. The results obtained showed that the mean flock size
of the respondents was 8.37chickens/HH. The majority (> 80-85%) of the respondents
indicated that the indigenous chicken production system of Kerssa Woreda is
characterized by scavenging with supplementary feeding, natural incubation and
brooding, lack of separate poultry house, periodic disease outbreak and open marketing
system of eggs and live chickens. About 70 % of the respondents reported that predation is
the major constraint of chicken production in the area. The mean annual egg
production/hen of the Woreda was estimated to be 56.67±1.04. The mean annual egg
production of the indigenous chickens of Gello kebele (67 eggs/hen) was significantly
(p<0.05) higher than the others. The lowest (48.86 egg/hen) was recorded in Kitimbile
Kebele. The mean hatchability and chick mortality to an age of 8 weeks of the Woreda was
67.08 % and 50.15% respectively with no significant difference (P>0.05) between the
Kebeles. The farmers who adopted exotic chickens were successful in raising layer type
day old chicks with the use of hay-box brooder as measured by chick survival (60-89%),
rate of sexual maturity (5.53 months) and egg production (159.66 egg/hen/year). The
exotic chickens adopted performed fairly good under the Kerssa local conditions. The
current market price of eggs (Birr 1.5/egg) and adult live chickens (Birr 71.16/head) is
also rewarding. Therefore the provision poultry input and opportunity of credit scheme
seems to be the future direction for efficient poultry production in the Kerssa Woreda.
