Mating practices, breeding objectives and trait preferences of village chicken farmers in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Sustainable production improvement strategies suited for the resource-limited farmers are sought to replace the misaligned crossbreeding strategies that threaten adaptable genetic resources. This study will contribute towards bridging the knowledge gap that exists on the potential of the village chicken production system and the breeding practices applied by rural farmers in managing their flocks. A survey study on the 55 indigenous chicken farmers was conducted in Sekhukhune (n = 33) and Capricorn (n = 22) Districts of Limpopo Province with the objective to characterise the production environments in order to better understand the traditional mating and selection practices and to identify farmer breeding objectives and trait preferences. Farmers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to acquire general household information, breeding and flock management, purpose of keeping chickens and traits of interest to the farmers. Fifty percent of the respondents were household heads, aged ≥ 61 (49.06%). Majority (96.36%) of the farmers owned at least one cock of local breed (88.89%), that are hatched and grown in the house (88.46%). All farmers practised uncontrolled breeding. Farmers keep chickens for meat consumption (40.35%), egg consumption (19.30%), passion (19.30%), and income (16.67%). Plumage colour (25.97%), mothering ability (28.57%), and body size (23.38%) were the traits considered in selecting hens for breeding purpose while body size (50.00%) and plumage colour (41.38%) were used in the selection of cocks. The study highlights the village chicken production potential and can aid in providing recommendations for improvement strategies that are suited for the management and breeding preferences of the farmers.