Abstract:
Chicken product is the primary commodity for developing country to increase the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), food security and self-sufficiency. The research was
conducted in Farta Woreda, which is located in South Gondar Administrative Zone
and 105km and 666km far from Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa, respectively. The
objective of the study were to assess farmer’s perception on hay box brooder and to
evaluate the least cost ration on Sasso and indigenous breed’s performance under onfarm
condition of the South Gondar Zone. The study was consisted survey and
experiment to assess the farmers’ perception about the hay box brooder and to
evaluate the hay box, least cost ration on growth performance of Sasso and indigenous
breeds for eight and twenty four weeks, respectively. A total 450 Sasso and 150
Indigenous day-old chicks were randomly divided into five dietary groups in
completely randomized design (CRD) with 3 replications for 60 and 168 days feeding
trial for Sasso and indigenous, respectively. A total of 60 Sasso and indigenous
matured chicken were randomly selected from each replication for carcass evaluation.
The results obtained indicated that, 100% of the households had no awareness of how
to use hay box brooders for their chicks growing. After evaluation of the hay box, about
86.7% of the farmers said that the construction of hay box brooder is easy and 53.3,
33.3, and 13.4% of households have grouped the efficiency of hay box as very good,
excellent, and good respectively. The majority (80%) of the households who were
supposed to use hay box brooder were suitable for exotic breeds rather than
indigenous breeds. The increased levels of substitution of a commercial diet with a least cost ration significantly depressed (p<0.001) mean daily feed consumption.
Growth rate as measured by mean daily weight gain, mean final body weight, and total
feed consumption were significantly lower (p<0.001) in an increased least cost ration.
Accordingly, edible carcass components of chicken on 0, 25, 50, and 75% at least cost
ration was significantly (P<0.001) higher than 100% least cost ration. The slaughter
weight, breast, drumstick, thigh muscle, and dressing percentage of Sasso and the
indigenous breed was significantly (P<0.001) lower on the 100% least cost ration as
compared to the others. Generally, up to 50% of expensive commercial diets could be
economically replaced with the least cost ration without adversely affecting the growth
and carcass performance of chicks.