Abstract:
This study was conducted to assess the production performances and egg qualities of household
poultry in Hidabu Abote district. A total of 180 randomly selected households from three
different agro-ecologies were used to collect primary data with the use of questionnaires. A total
of 180 eggs of indigenous, cross and exotic breeds (like brown leghorn) were also used for the
determination of egg quality parameters. The results obtained showed that mean flock size of the
study area was 6.8 chickens/household of which 78, 13 and 9% of the total local poultry
population were indigenous, crossbred and exotic chickens respectively. About 51.4 and 24.8%
of the respondents reported to have kept chicken for the purpose of income generation and
household consumption in all the agro ecologies studied respectively. The dominant chicken
production system was reported to be an extensive type/free ranges (82.3%). New castle disease
(67.8%) and Kitchen waste born disease (32.2%) including, Fowl pox, Coccidiosis, Fowl typhoid
and Salmonella were found to be the major poultry diseases with relatively high prevalence.
About 42.8 and 38% of the farmers reported that wild cats and eagle as major predators
respectively. About 46% of the respondents used different perching materials in all the agroecologies studied. The mean age at first egg was reported to be 5.7, 5.1 and 4.8 months for
indigenous, cross breed and exotic pullets respectively. The mean egg number/ clutch / hen were
calculated to be 22, 22.7 and 23.95 for the highland, mid highland and lowland respectively.
About 45 and 36% of the respondent’s use urban and local market to sale live birds and eggs
respectively. There was significant difference (P<0.05) between the agro-ecologies in egg
quality parameters except albumen height, yolk weight, egg shape index and Haugh unit. Exotic
chickens had higher mean values than that of the crossbred and indigenous chickens in most of
the egg quality parameters. Awareness creation and orientation of the farming community in the
area of factors affecting productivity and egg quality seems to be appealing in the study area.
