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Flock Composition and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Village Chicken Production System in Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Received: 28 November 2023    Accepted: 14 December 2023    Published: 26 December 2023
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Abstract

A survey was conducted in Western Tigray, Northern Ethiopia to assess flock composition, ownership, and gender roles in chicken production, as well as factors affecting chicken product consumption. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used to select three districts, nine sample peasant associations, and 385 respondents. Data was collected through a pretested, structured questionnaire and focused group discussions, and analyzed using SPSS software. The size of chicken flocks per household varied significantly among the three agroecologies, with an overall mean of 24.35±10.69 chickens per household. The effective population size (Ne) and rate of inbreeding (∆F) were calculated to be 1263.69 and 0.04, respectively. Chicken and egg consumption were found to be influenced by cultural and religious festivals, farmer status, agroecology, breed, plumage color, shank type, comb type, feather distribution, and age. In all agroecologies, large-scale farmers had higher average annual chicken and egg consumption per household compared to small-scale farmers. The average annual chicken consumption per household was 7.76±0.68 for small-scale farmers and 20.79±0.68 for large-scale farmers. Similarly, the average annual egg consumption was 67.52±3.13 for small-scale farmers and 182.27±3.13 for large-scale farmers. Across the agroecologies, there were consistent preferences for certain plumage colors for chicken consumption. Red-colored chickens were ranked 1st, followed by greyish-colored chickens in 2nd place, and multicolored chickens in 3rd place. Chickens with full white and black colors were primarily used for mystical purposes in the study. The care of chickens involved participation from all family members, although the level of responsibility varied. Both husbands and wives were involved in the decision-making process related to chicken product utilization. Understanding flock composition, factors influencing chicken product consumption, ownership, and gender roles is essential for effective chicken breeding strategies.

Published in American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajls.20231106.13
Page(s) 99-116
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Egg, Consumption, Plumage Color, Inbreeding Coefficient, Agroecology

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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Markos, S., Belay, B., Dessie, T. (2023). Flock Composition and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Village Chicken Production System in Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. American Journal of Life Sciences, 11(6), 99-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20231106.13

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    ACS Style

    Markos, S.; Belay, B.; Dessie, T. Flock Composition and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Village Chicken Production System in Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Am. J. Life Sci. 2023, 11(6), 99-116. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20231106.13

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    AMA Style

    Markos S, Belay B, Dessie T. Flock Composition and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Village Chicken Production System in Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Am J Life Sci. 2023;11(6):99-116. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20231106.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajls.20231106.13,
      author = {Shishay Markos and Berhanu Belay and Tadelle Dessie},
      title = {Flock Composition and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Village Chicken Production System in Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia},
      journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
      volume = {11},
      number = {6},
      pages = {99-116},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20231106.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20231106.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20231106.13},
      abstract = {A survey was conducted in Western Tigray, Northern Ethiopia to assess flock composition, ownership, and gender roles in chicken production, as well as factors affecting chicken product consumption. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used to select three districts, nine sample peasant associations, and 385 respondents. Data was collected through a pretested, structured questionnaire and focused group discussions, and analyzed using SPSS software. The size of chicken flocks per household varied significantly among the three agroecologies, with an overall mean of 24.35±10.69 chickens per household. The effective population size (Ne) and rate of inbreeding (∆F) were calculated to be 1263.69 and 0.04, respectively. Chicken and egg consumption were found to be influenced by cultural and religious festivals, farmer status, agroecology, breed, plumage color, shank type, comb type, feather distribution, and age. In all agroecologies, large-scale farmers had higher average annual chicken and egg consumption per household compared to small-scale farmers. The average annual chicken consumption per household was 7.76±0.68 for small-scale farmers and 20.79±0.68 for large-scale farmers. Similarly, the average annual egg consumption was 67.52±3.13 for small-scale farmers and 182.27±3.13 for large-scale farmers. Across the agroecologies, there were consistent preferences for certain plumage colors for chicken consumption. Red-colored chickens were ranked 1st, followed by greyish-colored chickens in 2nd place, and multicolored chickens in 3rd place. Chickens with full white and black colors were primarily used for mystical purposes in the study. The care of chickens involved participation from all family members, although the level of responsibility varied. Both husbands and wives were involved in the decision-making process related to chicken product utilization. Understanding flock composition, factors influencing chicken product consumption, ownership, and gender roles is essential for effective chicken breeding strategies.
    },
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Flock Composition and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Village Chicken Production System in Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
    AU  - Shishay Markos
    AU  - Berhanu Belay
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    T2  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    JF  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    JO  - American Journal of Life Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5737
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    AB  - A survey was conducted in Western Tigray, Northern Ethiopia to assess flock composition, ownership, and gender roles in chicken production, as well as factors affecting chicken product consumption. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used to select three districts, nine sample peasant associations, and 385 respondents. Data was collected through a pretested, structured questionnaire and focused group discussions, and analyzed using SPSS software. The size of chicken flocks per household varied significantly among the three agroecologies, with an overall mean of 24.35±10.69 chickens per household. The effective population size (Ne) and rate of inbreeding (∆F) were calculated to be 1263.69 and 0.04, respectively. Chicken and egg consumption were found to be influenced by cultural and religious festivals, farmer status, agroecology, breed, plumage color, shank type, comb type, feather distribution, and age. In all agroecologies, large-scale farmers had higher average annual chicken and egg consumption per household compared to small-scale farmers. The average annual chicken consumption per household was 7.76±0.68 for small-scale farmers and 20.79±0.68 for large-scale farmers. Similarly, the average annual egg consumption was 67.52±3.13 for small-scale farmers and 182.27±3.13 for large-scale farmers. Across the agroecologies, there were consistent preferences for certain plumage colors for chicken consumption. Red-colored chickens were ranked 1st, followed by greyish-colored chickens in 2nd place, and multicolored chickens in 3rd place. Chickens with full white and black colors were primarily used for mystical purposes in the study. The care of chickens involved participation from all family members, although the level of responsibility varied. Both husbands and wives were involved in the decision-making process related to chicken product utilization. Understanding flock composition, factors influencing chicken product consumption, ownership, and gender roles is essential for effective chicken breeding strategies.
    
    VL  - 11
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Author Information
  • Humera Begait Research Center, Tigray Agricultural Research Institute of Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute, Tigray, Ethiopia

  • Animal Breeding and Genetics, Injibara University, Injibara, Ethiopia

  • Animal Breeding and Genetics, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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