PARTICIPATORY APPROACH IN DEFINITION OF BREEDING OBJECTIVE TRAITS FOR BOHOLANO STRAIN OF NATIVE CHICKEN

Abstract

Philipp J Vet Anim Sci 2013, 39 (2): 165-172

The research aims to define the breeding objective traits of Boholano strain of native chicken using participatory approach to be incorporated for its purification. A total of 45 households were interviewed. The questionnaire was designed to collect data covering general information on village poultry production such as socio-management characteristics, production objectives, population structure, breed choice and trait preferences, market preferences of specific traits, and farmers’ selection practices. The participatory farmers’ discussions were designed to involve stakeholders in defining the breeding objective traits and deriving their relative importance in the production environment based on the different functions of chickens and traits identified in the interviews. The results showed that production of eggs for consumption is the principal function of chickens in most towns followed by the use as source of income and meat for home consumption. Weight is the primary factor that dictates market price but farmers rated growth and number of eggs as the production traits that they would like to be improved. Therefore, the breeding objective should be to develop dual-purpose Boholano strain of native chicken considering the traits of number of eggs and live weight and possessing the distinct plumage color and comb type.