High genetic variation in African indigenous chicken populations provides opportunities for long-term genetic improvement. This study estimated genetic parameters for economic traits based on data derived from a nucleus flock comprising two generations, derived from 40 sires and 200 dams in a line breeding program through mass selection. Body weight (BW) at different weeks was analyzed for 1370 chickens. Similarly, egg performance was evaluated on 473 hens kept for 44 weeks. Genetic parameters were estimated using a multi-trait animal model based on an average information-restricted maximum likelihood (AI-REML) algorithm in WOMBAT software. Body weight showed significant heritability (p < 0.001), ranging from 0.251 for body weight at 8 weeks of age (BW8) to 0.34 for body weight at 16 weeks of age (BW16), indicating a good genetic improvement potential. Egg production traits had low to moderate heritability (0.08–0.37). Positive genetic correlations among growth traits, particularly BW8 and body weight at 12 weeks of age, BW12 (rG = 0.94), suggest shared genetic influences and the possibility of improving multiple traits simultaneously. The genetic correlation between BW16 and the cumulative egg number varied from low and negative (−0.02) in the first two months to high (0.51) in the cumulative egg number over six months, suggesting that heavier birds lay more eggs over time. Our limited dataset based on two generations and pedigree demonstrates that BW16 with egg production has moderate heritability and strong genetic correlations that can lead to genetic progress toward the development of a dual-purpose breed, and this offers a scientific basis for breeders to develop selection indices to develop a dual-purpose breed for smallholder production systems.

This study was conducted in Burie district, western Amhara region of Ethiopia, to evaluate the on-farm performance, promote and disseminate koekoek chicken, and to assess farmers’ perceptions of this chicken. Twenty-five unsexed, 45-day-old chickens were provided to each farmer. Participants gained different skills and experience, mainly in feed preparation from locally available ingredients, construction of chicken houses from locally available materials, and awareness of the management of chickens and the importance of record-keeping. The average body weights of chickens were 1.29 kg and 1.576 kg for females and males at 20 weeks, and 1. 684 kg and 2.217 kg for females and males at 45 weeks of age, respectively. The average age at first egg was 22 weeks, and egg production was 180/hen/year. The participants said that the adaptability, growth performance, and scavenging ability of koekoek were good; however, the disease resistance ability of the bird was low, and the breed has low market preference due to its black plumage color. Participants earned an average net income of 2760 Birr and average benefit–cost ratio of 2.37-birr gross return. Therefore, Koekoek chickens can be a viable option for smallholder farmers in similar semi scavenging environments. Further controlled and comparative studies are recommended to validate these findings and inform wider scaling up.

The estimated chicken population of Ethiopia is about 57 million, of which 78.8% are indigenous characterized by low egg production, late maturing and long brooding behavior but celebrated for their hardiness, exceptional scavenging abilities and robust natural immunity against common diseases. The objective of this paper was to review the genetic diversity and improvement interventions of indigenous chicken populations. The review process was started by collecting research articles that were done on genetic diversity and chicken genetic improvement strategies by searching tools such as Google Scholar, PubMed and Web of Science with search terms genetic diversity, genetic characterization and chicken genetic improvement. Lastly, we organized ideas and the write-up was done. Indigenous chicken shows high genetic diversity within the population. The indigenous chickens have high number of alleles (6.25), an effective number of alleles (4.85), observed (55%) and expected (57%) heterozygosity and 90% within-population variation which is considerable variation as unselected African native chickens. Higher heterozygosity levels and considerable genetic variation warranted a further use of ecotypes in improvement through selective breeding. Genetic marker studies showed positive selection signatures of improved from unimproved local chickens. Selective breeding done on Horro chicken breed in Ethiopia saw a remarkable 107.7% and 176.4% improvement in body weight egg number. Uncontrolled dissemination and indiscriminate crossbreeding resulted in the erosion of adaptive local genetic resources. Therefore, improving and conserving indigenous chicken with selective breeding combined with molecular techniques and further studies on the genetic control of productivity traits are very crucial.

Methodology: The study was carried out to generate baseline information on village chicken flock characteristics and production performances in South Achefre, Banija and Fagita Lekoma districts of Western Amhara, Ethiopia Multi-stage sampling procedures were employed to select the study villages and respondents and then nine villages were selected purposively. The 180 participants were chosen by random sampling techniques for qualitative and quantitative research. Data were collected by individual survey using open data kit. The collected data were analyzed using General Linear Model (GLM) of SAS software version 9.1 and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMART) was also used to locate treatment means that were significantly different. Result From the flock composition the Hen contributes the highest proportion (39.2%) followed by Chicks (31.2%). Mean sexual maturity of local Hen and Cock was 24.95 ± 0.269 and 23.56 ± 0.36 weeks, respectively. Mean egg production performance of local chickens in the study area was 14.89 ± 0.36 per clutch with a clutch length of 23.98 ± 0.61 and 2.47 ± 0.07 clutch cycle per year. Conclusion The production performance of indigenous chicken and their survival performance in the study area are low to medium. Therefore, in order to improve production and survival performance, appropriate interventions in terms of supplementary feeding, selection and disease control are important strategies.

Egg production traits, especially egg number and egg weight, are economically important in chicken breeding programs. However, the genetic basis of these traits in Ethiopian indigenous chicken populations remains unexploited. The study aimed to identify suggestive genomic loci and candidate genes associated with part-period egg number (PPEN; onset of lay to 45 weeks of age) and average egg weight (AEW) in Tilili indigenous chicken population under a selective breeding program. A total of 437 hens were phenotyped and genotyped using low-coverage (0.5x) whole-genome sequencing and imputation against a 30× reference panel. After quality control, 4,846,509 high-quality SNPs were retained for genome-wide association analysis using a linear mixed model. None of the SNPs reached the predefined genome-wide significance threshold ( P < 1 × 10⁻⁸); however, 40 suggestive SNPs for PPEN and 67 suggestive SNPs for AEW ( P < 1 × 10⁻⁵) were identified across 14 chromosomes, consistent with a polygenic genetic architecture for both traits. Candidate genes for PPEN include APOB , AGPATs , CACNA1B , GSTA2 , GSTA3 , GSTA4 , HDAC4 , and MBD3 , whereas HMGA2 , DIAPH3 , SSTR2 , F7 , F10 , and PROZ were associated with AEW. Functional enrichment analysis highlighted pathways related to glutathione metabolism, detoxification, transcriptional regulation, and developmental processes. Overall, the results identify hypothesis-generating genomic regions and candidate genes for egg production traits in Tilili indigenous chickens and provide a basis for further validation in large sample size Tilili chicken population and independent populations.