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An exploratory survey was undertaken in Doyogena district of Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples region of Ethiopia to understand the sheep production system, the breeding practices, selection criteria and sheep production constraints in order to develop a sheep breeding strategy. Data were collected from 107 households using semi-structured questionnaire and group discussion. Descriptive statistics and index were used to present the data. The agricultural production system of the area was Ensete ventricosum -crop-livestock production system. Crop production was found to contribute to most of the households' food and income followed by sheep and cattle production. The main sheep production objective was the sale of young and fattened sheep. The mean sheep holding was 4.02±2.58 to which most (43.5%) were breeding females. Only 47.2% of the respondents own breeding ram and 42.5% of them use controlled mating. Body size (index = 0.232) and appearance (index = 0.305) were the first selection criteria used for ewe and ram selection, respectively. Castration of rams and culling of unwanted sheep through sale, slaughter, and exchange was a common practice. Old age and poor physical condition were the first culling criteria for female and male sheep, respectively. Castration age ranges from 12 to 72 months when the ram have been used for breeding. Castrated animals were the first priority followed by young males to be sold in the flock when the family needs money. Feed shortage (index = 0.34), lack of input like credit service (index = 0.18), and diseases and parasites (index = 0.124) were the top three major sheep production bottlenecks in the district accounting for about 64.4% of the total weight. Finally, to fully utilize the potential of the breed and the area, production constraints need to be addressed along with genetic improvement and appropriate institutional setup.

A study was conducted to characterize cattle fattening and marketing system and to assess constraints affecting cattle fattening by interviewing 165 farmers in Central Southern Region, Ethiopia. Fattening length and age for oxen were 4 months and 7 years, respectively. Light white and red were the best color of cattle selected for fattening whereas black color was not recommended. Majority of farmers fattened castrated male cattle and marketed only during the main holidays. The price was highest from September to April. Farmers, traders and brokers were the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd ranked marketing actors, respectively. Feeds used for supplementation were false banana, sweet potato, sugar cane, wheat bran, improved forages, mineral soils and residuals of coffee and beverages. Lack of capital was the main constraint to begin fattening. The results showed that age of fattening oxen was very old and most of the feed resources were locally available. The use of improved forages and concentrate feeds for cattle fattening is a growing practice, however, further work is needed to develop a cost effective feeding strategy by combining improved and locally available feed resources. Non-seasonal fattening and marketing, easy system of credit provision and controlled marketing system were needed.

<p><strong>Background. </strong>Poultry production is a tool for livelihood improvement and poverty alleviation in the developing countries. Indigenous chickens are numerous but lower in egg production performance than exotic chickens in Ethiopia. <strong>Objective</strong>. To compare egg yield, feed conversion ratio (FCR), mortality, and egg quality traits of Normal feathered local (LL), Sasso-RIR (SRSR) and their F1-cross (LSR) chickens under on-station conditions. <strong>Methodology</strong>. Data on egg production, feed intake and mortality were collected for 33 weeks whereas egg quality was assessed at 6, 9 and 12 months of age at poultry farm of Hawassa University. The experiment was laid out with Completely Randomized Design with four replications. <strong>Results.</strong> Next to SRSR chickens, LSR performed higher than LL chickens in terms of egg number per hen (96.8), egg weight (46.9 g/egg), daily feed intake (102 g/hen), body weight (1882 g/hen), albumen height (5.97 mm), albumen weight (27.2 g/egg) and albumen weight ratio (56.8). FCR was best, intermediate and worst for SRSR (4.19), LL (4.57), and LSR (5.20) chickens, respectively. Higher egg weight (52.9 g), yolk weight (18.3 g), albumen weight (28.9 g), and yolk weight ratio (35.1) were obtained from eggs of older hens whereas higher albumen weight ratio (59.4) and shell weight ratio (11.0) were obtained from eggs of younger hens. For LL chickens, the lowest values of egg weight, egg length, yolk color, albumen weight, albumen weight ratio were obtained at older ages whereas the lowest value of yolk weight ratio was obtained at younger ages. <strong>Implications. </strong>The results of the present study contribute in knowing the effects of cross-breeding of LL chicken with SRSR chicken on egg yield and quality. <strong>Conclusions. </strong>The exotic blood of Sasso-RIR chicken had played a significant role in upgrading most of the economically important egg production and quality traits. However, the influence of genotype on some egg quality traits depends on laying age of hen.</p><p>.</p>

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