Husbandry Practices, Productive Performances, and Egg Quality Traits of SassoT44 and Koekoek Chicken Breeds in Urban and Rural Production Systems of Jama District, South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia.

Chicken production is an integral part of livestock farming in Ethiopia. Despite the local chicken ecotypes, the country introduces different exotic chicken breeds. This study aimed to assess husbandry practices, egg productive performances, and egg quality of SassoT44 and Koekoek chicken breeds in urban and rural production systems of Jama district. Purposive and random sampling techniques were employed to select 188 smallholder farmers for an interview. Data were collected on household characteristics, chicken ownership, husbandry practices, egg production performances, and egg quality traits. The proportion of males (59.3%) involved in chicken rearing is higher than that of females (40.7%). The results of the study indicated that majority of respondents (167) owned less number of SassoT44 and Koekoek chickens (5-10). Most of the respondents provided house and additional feed supplement to their chicken. The major feed sources were scavenging with supplements. The mean egg production performances of SassoT44 and Koekoek chicken breeds were 239.3 and 193 eggs/hen/year, respectively. Significantly higher (p < 0.001) numbers of eggs per hen/year (252.6 for SassoT44 and 198 for Koekoek) were recorded in the urban production system than in the rural production system (226 for SassoT44 and 187.5 for Koekoek). Egg weight was influenced by both chicken breed and production system. Higher (p < 0.001) weight of egg (56.7 g) was recorded for SassoT44 than that of Koekoek (51.1 g). SassoT44 was superior for a mean value of egg weight, width, albumen weight, yolk height, and yolk color (YC) than Koekoek. Most of the egg quality parameters have positive correlations. Sasso performs better in egg production and most egg quality traits in the study area.