The Influence of Trait Preferences and Breeding Practices on Local Chicken Genetic Resource Conservation in Igunga District, Tanzania

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the influence of farmers’ trait preferences and breeding practices on local chicken genetic resource conservation in Igunga District, Tabora Region of Tanzania. The study used proportionate random sampling to obtain 384 respondents in ten study villages within two wards. Data were collected through a household survey, key informant interviews (n=5), and focus group discussions (n=10). Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage and frequencies are used to present the findings. Chi-square establishes the association between variables. The relative importance indices (RII) model determines the level of importance of preferred local chicken traits. The findings indicates that natural mating and slaughter of the chickens with undesirable characteristics as main breeding methods and are statistically significant in between the two wards (p<0.05). Furthermore, findings show that Kuchi is the most preferred local chicken ecotype due to its large body weight and size. Findings on RII on breeding hen indicates that hen egg number with RII=0.9 as the most preferred trait (first rank) followed by hatchability with RII=0.87 (second rank) and mothering behavior with RII =0.86 (third rank). Furthermore, the cock body size ranks first with RII=0.9 followed by cock weight as a second rank with RII = 0.86 and cock disease resistance which ranks third with RII=0.85. Government officials affirm that local chickens are more resilient to diseases than other breeds. The local chicken traders contend that the market value of the local chickens depends on large body weight or frame and plumage color whereas farmers confirm that the preferred breed and traits is focused on economic motives. The study suggests that characterization of local chickens is an important step prior to setting strategies for breeding, utilization and conservation of the resources.

Breeding practice of indigenous village chickens, and traits and breed preferences of smallholder farmers

“…Small‐scale farmers who keep IVCs do not have a single, dependable way to meet their diverse needs and preferences. Chickens are more than just a source of protein and companion animals for small‐scale farmers; additionally, they fulfil various cultural and ritual commitments and provide a variety of socioeconomic services (Desta, 2021a ; Kapella et al., 2023 ; Manyelo et al., 2020 ; Wong et al., 2017 ). The use of chickens in the everyday lives of small‐scale farmers demonstrates their long tradition of breeding and managing chickens (Zhang et al., 2020 ).…”

“…IBM SPSS Statistics 23 (IBM Corp., 2015 ) and R (R Core Team, 2016 ) were used to conduct a statistical analysis. The data were analysed using the Chi‐square test and the t test.…”