Breeding Practices and Traits of Economic Importance for Indigenous Chicken in South Sudan

The current study aimed at generating essential information on breeding practices and traits of economic importance of indigenous chicken (IC) farmers in the three historical regions of South Sudan (Bharel Gazel, Upper Nile and Equatoria). Data onperceived importanttraits according tofarmers (n=385), marketers (n=100) and consumers (n=100)were collectedand analyzed through computation of indices which represented the average weight of all ranks of a specific trait. The results of the indices indicated that farmers selected body weight (3.16), disease tolerance (3.02), drought tolerance (2.70) and fast growth rate (2.44)for breeding cocks. For hens, high indiceswere observed ondisease tolerance (2.95), hatchability (2.78), egg size (2.63), egg number (2.48). Large Baladi (LB) and NakedNeck (Na) genotypes were the dominant genotypes raised by 64.8% and 27.7% of all farmers, respectively, fortheir superiority in mothering ability (40%), heat tolerance (20%) and disease tolerance (17%). Traits perceived by farmers as the primaryeconomic importance were body weight (0.207), survival rate (0.11), egg yield (0.084) and meat quality (0.084). While marketers perceived body weight (0.234), egg yolk colour (0.150), disease tolerance (0.145), and plumage colour (0.133)as the most important traits, consumers emphasizeegg yolk colour (0.202), plumage colour (0.204), and survival rate (0.156)as crucial. Body weight had apositive and favourable significant correlation with growth rate (0.561), egg fertility (0.412), disease tolerance (0.062),and a negative and unfavourable correlation with meat quality (-0.191).Meat quality was negativelycorrelated with fertility (-0.312) and growth rate (-0.381). Prolificacy had positive and favourable correlations with drought tolerance (0.603), disease tolerance (0.091) and heat tolerance (0.091). Regarding preferences rank correlationof marketers and consumers, positive and significant correlations were reported for body weight with growth rate (0.092) and meat quality (0.056). IC ecotypes that can perform well and are adaptableto the local environments in South Sudan should be identified. Selectionsshouldbe based on traits preferred by farmers, marketers,and consumers.