Evaluation of breeding practices and morphological characterization of donkeys in Blouberg Local Municipality, Limpopo province: Implication for the design of community-based breeding programme

Maswana, Masixole; Mugwabana, Thinawanga Joseph; Tyasi, Thobela Louis

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0278400

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The high ranking of growth performance as a selection criterion indicates that farmers who desire a higher financial return on labour and capital place a higher emphasis on aspects of economic importance. These findings are consistent with Maswana et al (2022), who found that growth rate and body size were among the most important characteristics in choosing donkeys to be the parents of the next generation. In conventional situations where recording is not frequently practiced, growth performance provides an option for determining an animal's capacity for rapid growth.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Donkey production systems and breeding practices in selected districts of South Omo Zone, southern Ethiopia

Wassie,

Getachew,

Kassa

et al. 2023

Rangeland J.

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The study was conducted to understand the production system and breeding practices of Omo donkeys and provide baseline information for future production strategies. The data were collected through individual interviews, focus group discussions, and personal observation. A semi-structured questionnaire using 2012 Food and Agriculture Organisation guidelines was used to obtain respondent views. On the basis of donkey population, production potential, and road accessibility, 76 households from two districts were randomly selected and interviewed. Donkey growth performance and body size were given a higher priority in breeding selection. Most respondents selected their breeding donkeys based on growth performance, body size, and disease resistance. The criteria for culling were old age, body size, poor fertility, temperament, and colour. Variables that were given a higher priority in trait preference were disease resistance and pulling ability. Water shortage and disease were significant constraints to donkey production. Therefore, to address these constraints, the concerned bodies should invest in infrastructure to increase access to water and other services so as to support the livelihoods of donkey-dependent communities. Moreover, funding for animal healthcare and nutrition initiatives should be provided to ensure the health and well-being of animals.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Donkey production systems and breeding practices in selected districts of South Omo Zone, southern Ethiopia

Wassie,

Getachew,

Kassa

et al. 2023

Rangeland J.

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Zambian indigenous chicken genetic resources: phenotypic characteristics and their production systems among small-scale farmers

Liswaniso,

Mwambilwa,

Odubote

et al. 2024

Front. Vet. Sci.

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IntroductionIndigenous chickens are very important to households for income and protein. However, their performance is usually poor, especially under small-scale farmer management, despite their potential to perform better. The performance of these chickens can be improved by selective breeding. However, for this to be a success, there is a need to understand the phenotypic and production characteristics of these chickens fully. Hence, this study aimed to characterize the phenotypes of these chickens and their production system among small-scale farmers.MethodA structured questionnaire was administered to 177 small-scale farmers. A total of 538 chickens whose mean weight was 1.66 kg were individually phenotyped in Luapula, Muchinga, and Northern provinces of Zambia.ResultsOwnership of the indigenous chickens was dominated by females (65.37%), with most (64.31%) having attained primary education. Most housed their chickens in family houses (42.03%). All the farmers let their chickens scavenge for their feed, with 45.58% of them providing basic supplementation. Most (84.10%) farmers bought their breed stock from within their community and had a mean flock size of 12.5 chickens/household, which they mostly (78.09%) kept as free-range. The majority (77.39%) practiced culling, with low productivity being the most common reason for culling (84.45%). Only 59.01% of farmers practiced selective breeding, while 86.22% practiced uncontrolled mating. The age at first mating for cocks and hens was 6.8 months and 6.34 months, respectively, with 6.73 months being the age at first egg. It takes 15.43 days to reach a mean clutch size of 13 eggs. The hatchability and mortality at 8 weeks were 83.44% and 67.57%, respectively. All chickens were sold as live chickens, and the majority (51.59%) of the farmers sold their chickens within the community at 7.23 months. Diseases and predators were the most common challenges affecting farmers in the study area. Consultations with veterinarians, vaccinations, and deworming were uncommon while treating sick chickens mostly using ethnoveterinary medicines was common. The most common qualitative traits were brown (27.88%) and mixed (26.77%) plumage color, white skins (91.45%) and shanks (48.70%), single comb type (91.08%), red earlobe (55.76%), and orange eyes (78.07%). All linear body measurements positively and significantly correlated with the body weight averaging 1.66kgs, an indicator that selection for any of them would result in a corresponding increase in body weight. Principal Component Analysis extracted two components with 69.38% of the total variation.DiscussionThe diversity in phenotypes of these chickens and their production systems indicate huge potential for improvement by implementing breeding programs.

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Evaluation of breeding practices and morphological characterization of donkeys in Blouberg Local Municipality, Limpopo province: Implication for the design of community-based breeding programme

Cited by 2 publications

References 21 publications

Donkey production systems and breeding practices in selected districts of South Omo Zone, southern Ethiopia

Donkey production systems and breeding practices in selected districts of South Omo Zone, southern Ethiopia

Zambian indigenous chicken genetic resources: phenotypic characteristics and their production systems among small-scale farmers

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