Perception of farmers on exotic chicken breeds and its management condition in North western zone Tigray, Ethiopia

The study was conducted in two Woredas of North western zone of Tigray, Ethiopia. The survey was conducted by interviewing 264 randomly selected respondents to assess the chicken production system and perception of farmers regarding the benefits and constraints of using exotic chicken breeds. Of total, 95.1% of respondents practiced free ranging type chicken production system with little feed supplementation. About 95.4% of the respondents were using traditional treatment for their chicken as prevention as well as for treating their poultry from different diseases. Farmers’ in the study area were perceiving that producing of exotic poultry have the benefits such as higher egg production capacity, fast growing ability of chicken and higher selling price of exotic poultry eggs as compared to the local ones. On the other hand, cost of the exotic chicken breed, needs more care, higher feed requirement, susceptibility to diseases and predators are among the major constraints in producing exotic poultry breeds as compared to local poultry. The government and non-governmental organizations that involved in improving poultry production in the rural areas should address the major constraints of poultry production that hinder the adoption of exotic poultry in the study area. Therefore, technical and institutional interventions are very crucial to reduce the existing constraints and improve the existing traditional chicken production system in the study area.