Breeding practice of indigenous village chickens, and traits and breed preferences of smallholder farmers

Abstract

Abstract In developing nations, indigenous village chickens, or IVCs, significantly contribute to rural livelihoods. IVCs are well-suited for small-scale farmers' multiple breeding objectives and low-input, low-output production systems. Although natural selection has a disproportionate impact on the genetic structure of IVCs, small-scale farmers have developed locally tailored breeding practices to get the most out of their flocks. Small-scale farmers' insights on traits and breed preferences and family flock breeding management are presented in this cross-sectional study. Small-scale farmers prefer IVCs that are optimally good in several traits. In contrast to policymakers, who frequently underestimate the significance of IVCs in rural life, small-scale farmers have a balanced view and acknowledge the coexistence of local and commercial chickens. Farmers are unable to achieve their breeding goals by keeping IVCs or production breeds because of the complexity of their breeding goals; instead, this aspiration needs the rearing of both types of chickens. Only 15.7 percent of farmers recruited homegrown cocks to breed their chickens, whereas 84.3 percent outsourced breeding cocks (47.9 percent from the local market and 36.4 percent from neighbors) (χ-squared = 15.976, df = 2, p = 0.0003395). This practice is important to reduce the negative impacts of inbreeding. About 49.2 percent of small-scale farmers believed that consanguineous mating-induced inbreeding had only minor effects. High flock turnover and uncontrolled breeding significantly reduce the rate of inbreeding. Despite the low production of eggs and meat, small-scale farmers prefer local (rank = 1.47) chickens to commercial (rank = 1.61). Farmers' preferences are influenced by the wide range of products and services offered by IVCs. For cocks, fertility, and growth traits were highly sought after, whereas for hens, maternal traits and laying performance were prioritized. Compared to the highlands, the lowlands had a longer egg storage period (t = 2.677, df = 117, p = 0.009, 95 percent CI: -3.7607, -0.5622). The low demand for eggs in the sparsely populated lowland region may be linked to this extended storage, which was practiced regardless of the higher temperature in the lowland region. This study acknowledges the wisdom of small-scale farmers and advocates the incorporation of their insights into a sustainable genetic improvement program.