Survey on Indigenous Chicken Production and Utilization Systems in Southern Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

The survey was carried out in southern zone of Tigray to generate information on village based indigenous chicken production and utilization system. The results of the study showed that the dominant chicken production system of the study area was a backyard extensive system using majority of indigenous chicken (92.67%) managed mainly on scavenging with conditional feed supplementation. The mean chicken flock size per household of the study area was 7.91±0.4 chickens. The survey indicated that almost all farmers provided night shelter for their chickens. Broody hens were the sole means of egg incubation and chick brooding in the study area. The result also showed that the average age of male at firs mating and female at first egg were 6.23±0.06 and 6.74±0.05 months, respectively. The number of clutch per hen per year, eggs per clutch and total eggs produced per hen per year were 4.25±0.07, 14.9±0.32 and 63.2±1.75 eggs, respectively. The hatchability and survival rate of chicks were 84.22% and 58.71%. Most chicken keepers in the study area had the tradition of selecting chicken for replacement stock. Body size, plumage color, body conformation, comb type, egg production performance and responsiveness to predators were the major means of selection. Chicken diseases and predators were considered to be the largest threat to village chicken production. The survey indicated low productivity of indigenous chickens; hence appropriate interventions particularly on the improvement of breed, health care, housing, and feeding are required. Therefore, efforts need to be made to improve the productivity of village chickens in sustainable way through a holistic approach in services like health, husbandry, research, extension, training and credit interventions. Keywords: Chicken disease, indigenous chicken, predators, productivity, scavengin

Physico Chemical Properties of Cow Milk Produced and Marketed in Dire Dawa Town, Eastern Ethiopia

The present study is primarily aimed at assessing the physico chemical properties of cow milk samples sold by dairy farms and milk vendors in Dire Dawa Town. A total of 30 cow milk samples were collected and examined. The mean values for pH, specific gravity, titratable acidity, protein, fat, total solids and solids-not-fat contents of milk samples collected from dairy farms were 6.627±0.135, 1.030±0.001, 0.165±0.022% lactic acid, 3.42±0.139%, 3.862±0.412%, 12.575±0.635% and 8.75±0.301% respectively. However, the corresponding values for milk vendors were 6.43±0.062, 1.025±0.001, 0.195±0.009% lactic acid, 3.274±0.083%, 3.85±0.284%, 12±0.572% and 8.15±0.308%. On the other hand, the respective values for pasteurized milk were 6.65±0.070, 1.031±0.0007, 0.15±0.014% lactic acid, 3.05±0.098%, 3.7±0.141%, 10.8±0.282% and 7.1±0.141% respectively. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found for the values of total solids, solids not-fat and protein between the sources of milk samples. The present study showed that dairy farm milk producers and milk vendors follow poor milk handling practices. Keywords: Fat, PH, Protein, Raw milk, Pasteurized milk

Production and Optimization of Pectinase from Pectinolytic Fungi Cultivated on Mango peels and Pectin Subjected to Submerged Fermentation

Pectinases are the group of enzymes that degrade pectin. This study was conducted with the aim of isolation of efficient pectinase producing pectinolytic fungi from the decomposing mango peels using extracted mango peels pectin as a growth substrate under submerged fermentation, determining optimum pectinase production conditions with regards to some physicochemical parameters. The organisms were screened for the production of pectinase using Pectin agar media, and the two active pectinolytic fungi (P1 and P2) were isolated. pectinase production media was later used for the Lab scale production of pectinase by inoculating p1 and p2 and incubating for 7 days. The enzyme was extracted after seven days of fermentation and every day tested for their pectinolytic activity. P2 showed relatively higher pectinolytic activity and was therefore used for further studies. P2 was inoculated into a broth containing mango pectin under submerged fermentation. Results indicate that a pectin yield of mango peel 17.75%. Different parameters optimization processes were investigated on submerged fermentation namely pH, incubation period, temperature and substrate concentration optima were found 6, 4 days, 35oC and 1.5% respectively. The result suggests that mango peels have high pectin content and can be used for the value-added synthesis of pectinase

Evaluation of heterosis, maternal and reciprocal effects on different traits of Fayoumi and White Leghorn crossbreeds

Several studies were conducted on evaluation of heterosis, maternal and reciprocal-effects for different chicken breeds. However, there is a limited information on the heterosis, maternal and reciprocal-effect for crossbreed of Fayoumi and White Leghorn. Therefore; this study was designed to evaluate the heterosis, maternal and reciprocal effects on different traits for crossbreed of Fayoumi and White Leghorn from day-old to age at first egg. A total of six hundred chicks were selected,150 from each genotype and evaluated  simultaneously under the same management. The specific and general heterosis, maternal, and reciprocal effects were estimated for all traits. The heterosis of body weight ranged from 3.06 to 21.31% for the main and 1.35 to 14.89% the reciprocal crossbred, which is within the recommended range (-6.5-26.2%). The heterosis of weight gain ranged from -0.07 to 33.03%. The F1 of Fayoumi cocks and White Leghorn hens exhibited a higher positive heterotic recorded for the body weight at first egg. The main and reciprocal crossbreds had negative heterotic for age at first egg and lies within the recommended range of (-25 and 11.5 %). The effect of maternity on body weight was found to be more favorable at brooder age for Fayoumi breed while it was at grower age for White leghorn. Negative estimates were observed for maternal and reciprocal effects on body weight at day-old, 20 weeks, and age at first egg; weight gain at 8-12 and 16- 20 weeks; feed intake at 0-4 and 12-20 weeks; feed conversion efficiency at 0-8 and 16-20 weeks; and egg weight at first egg. Generally, this study concluded that the crosses between WLH hen and Fayoumi cock produced progenies that are more feed efficient and produced heavier eggs than their main crossbred. Keywords: Crossbreed; Fayoumi; Heterosis; Maternal; Reciprocal; White Leghor

Countdown to 2015: Ethiopia's progress towards reduction in under-five mortality: 2014 country case study

On September 13, 2013 the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) of Ethiopia and UNICEF announced that Ethiopia has successfully reduced the under-five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2012, which is the target for achieving Millennium Development Goal-4. In 1990, the under-five mortality rate in Ethiopia was one of the highest in the world at 205/1,000 live births. However, by 2012, this rate had declined to 68/1,000 live births with an average annual rate of decline of 5.0%. This exceeded the 4.3% annual rate of decline needed to reach MDG4 and was significantly higher than the decline rates observed in many sub-Saharan African countries and even other low and middle-income countries. In an effort to understand the story behind Ethiopia’s remarkable achievement of MDG-4, EPHI has conducted this in-depth Case Study which is supported by Countdown to 2015. The findings are believed to generate valuable lessons and guidance for other low-income countries in their quest for accelerating health improvements and reducing child deaths

Antibiotic Susceptibility Test of Bacteria Isolated From Fruit Juices Sold in Cafes and Restaurants of Debre-Markos Town, North Western Ethiopia

The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among food pathogens has increased during recent decades. In this work, pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., and E. coli were isolated following standard methods. The bacterial isolates were then tested for their sensitivity to common antibiotics using the disc diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton Agar. All of the pathogenic bacteria were found to be resistant to erythromycin and almost all were sensitive to penicillin

Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health The study on tsetse fly (Glossina species) and their role in the trypanosome infection rate in Birbir valley, Baro Akobo River system, western Ethiopia

to determine the trypanosome infection rate of Glossina species and to relate with season tsetse population density and epidemiology of bovine trypanosomosis. A total of 384 flies of four species were dissected. The overall infection rate of Glossina species was 5.98% among which 4 (1.04%) was male and 19 (4.94%) were female flies. The prevalence was significantly higher ( 2 26.04; P = 0.00) in female flies than male flies. Higher infection rates (5.46%) were observed in the morsitans group (Glossina pallidipes and Glossina morsitans) than the palpalis group (0.52%), (Glossina fuscipes and Glossina tachinoides). In determination of tsetse flies population density, flies were trapped using baited stationary traps and apparent density; species of tsetse flies and other biting flies were estimated in relation to season, altitude levels, vegetation types and traps in selected sites of the study area. Higher proportion of tsetse flies was caught in the riverine vegetation type followed by savanna, forest, bush, and cultivated areas. Designing and implementation of tsetse control should be targeted on the major cyclical vectors of the savannah tsetse flies (G. morsitans and G. pallidipes) rather than controlling the whole species, hence the cost of tsetse control and the time of operation will be reduced