Flock dynamics and composition of rural chickens in lowland and midland agro-ecological zones of central Tigray North Ethiopia

摘要

Astudyonflockdynamicsandcompositionofruralpoultryproductionwasconductedinlowlandandmidlandagro-ecologicalzonesofcentralTigray,innorthernEthiopiahavingtheobjectiveofassessingflockstructureandcompositionandidentifyingassociatedconstraintsandopportunitiesunderruralhouseholdmanagement.Atotalof160ruralhouseholds,80fromeachdistrict,wererandomlyselectedand50%ofthemwerefemaleheadedhouseholds.Datawerecollectedusingsemi-structuredquestionnaireandrepeatedfarmrecordingmethods.Redcolorwasthemostdominantcolor(52.3%)intheflockfollowedbygrayishcolor(20.9%)inbothagro-ecologies.Flocksizeinmidland(8.0±0.35)washigherthaninlowland(5.6±0.35).Flocksizeperhouseholdwasinverselycorrelatedwithnumberofcattle(r=-0.33,n=160)andnumberofgoats(r=-0.42,n=160).HigherflocksizeperhouseholdswasrecordedinOctober,November,DecemberandJanuary.Thesizeofflocksinthemaleandfemaleheadedhouseholdsdecreasedby38.2%and28.6%duringMarchinlowlandandmidlandagro-ecologyandincreasedby50%and42.8%inDecemberrespectively.nbsp;Indigenouschickensweredominantinlowlandandmidlandareasthataccountedfor88.8%withverysmallexoticbreedRhodeIcelandRed(RIR)chickens.