On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia

The with-in selection also known as mass-selection has been considered as the less complex approach being applied for many years in livestock species and yielded significant genetic gains. In Africa, the extent to which mass- selection applied in the genetic improvement of chicken for better perform...

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Main Authors: Esatu, Wondmeneh, Dessie, Tadelle
Format: Conference Paper
Language:Inglés
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106372
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author Esatu, Wondmeneh
Dessie, Tadelle
author_browse Dessie, Tadelle
Esatu, Wondmeneh
author_facet Esatu, Wondmeneh
Dessie, Tadelle
author_sort Esatu, Wondmeneh
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The with-in selection also known as mass-selection has been considered as the less complex approach being applied for many years in livestock species and yielded significant genetic gains. In Africa, the extent to which mass- selection applied in the genetic improvement of chicken for better performance is very limited. Horro breed improvement program in Ethiopia can be a successful attempt to improve an indigenous chicken for farmers’ preferred traits. Age at first egg, Egg production, Body weight, and Survival were identified by local farmers. Since 2008, a with-in a selective breeding program was conducted at the Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center under station with a breeding goal containing two most important traits; body weight at 16 weeks of age and egg number at 45 weeks of age. An evaluation of the program after 6 generations of selection has shown a 95% increase in body weight and a 123% increase in egg production in the improved strain as compared to unimproved ones. Further, the improved strain had shown a high advantage over the local chicken under farmers management that covers a wider agro-ecologies in Ethiopia under the African Chicken Genetic Gains Program (ACGG). Also, the whole genome sequence of generation 7 chicken has shown a positive signature of selection related to the egg production and immune response and adaptation traits. The development of the Horro breed is a success and the work on the Horro breed will be used as a benchmark for improving other indigenous chicken genetic resources.
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spelling CGSpace1063722024-03-04T07:43:08Z On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia Esatu, Wondmeneh Dessie, Tadelle animal breeding breeds chickens poultry livestock indigenous breeds genetics The with-in selection also known as mass-selection has been considered as the less complex approach being applied for many years in livestock species and yielded significant genetic gains. In Africa, the extent to which mass- selection applied in the genetic improvement of chicken for better performance is very limited. Horro breed improvement program in Ethiopia can be a successful attempt to improve an indigenous chicken for farmers’ preferred traits. Age at first egg, Egg production, Body weight, and Survival were identified by local farmers. Since 2008, a with-in a selective breeding program was conducted at the Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center under station with a breeding goal containing two most important traits; body weight at 16 weeks of age and egg number at 45 weeks of age. An evaluation of the program after 6 generations of selection has shown a 95% increase in body weight and a 123% increase in egg production in the improved strain as compared to unimproved ones. Further, the improved strain had shown a high advantage over the local chicken under farmers management that covers a wider agro-ecologies in Ethiopia under the African Chicken Genetic Gains Program (ACGG). Also, the whole genome sequence of generation 7 chicken has shown a positive signature of selection related to the egg production and immune response and adaptation traits. The development of the Horro breed is a success and the work on the Horro breed will be used as a benchmark for improving other indigenous chicken genetic resources. 2019-08-02 2020-01-03T11:10:13Z 2020-01-03T11:10:13Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106372 en Limited Access Esatu, W. and Dessie, T. 2019. On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: The case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia. Paper presented at the Seventh All Africa conference on Animal Agriculture, Accra, Ghana, 29 July-2 August 2019.
spellingShingle animal breeding
breeds
chickens
poultry
livestock
indigenous breeds
genetics
Esatu, Wondmeneh
Dessie, Tadelle
On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia
title On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia
title_full On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia
title_fullStr On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia
title_short On-station within-breed selection works in Africa: the case of the Horro chicken breeding program in Ethiopia
title_sort on station within breed selection works in africa the case of the horro chicken breeding program in ethiopia
topic animal breeding
breeds
chickens
poultry
livestock
indigenous breeds
genetics
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106372
work_keys_str_mv AT esatuwondmeneh onstationwithinbreedselectionworksinafricathecaseofthehorrochickenbreedingprograminethiopia
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