Global Journal of Animal Scientific Research
Volume:5 Issue: 1, Winter 2017

This paper was aimed at investigating the relationship between body weight and body measurements in normal feathered and naked neck genotypes so as to ascertain the existence or otherwise of collinearity instability. If detected, fix the problem using PCA. Body weight (BW) and seven linear body dimensions; chest circumference (CC), body length (BL), wing span (WS), thigh length (TL), shank length (SL), neck length (NL) and beak length (BkL) were taken from one-hundred and fifty-six matured local chickens comprising 97 normal feathered (57 males and 40 females) and 59 naked necks (24 males and 35 females). GLM was used to study genotype and sex effects. Naked neck birds (NNBs) had higher values for BW, CC, BL and TL compared to their normal feathered (NF) counterparts. Sexual dimorphism was observed in all the traits with higher values recorded for males. Phenotypic correlations among BW and biometric traits were positive and highly significant (r = 0.51-0.95 and 0.52-0.98; <0.01 for NFBs and NNBs). Collinearity diagnosis revealed two severe cases each in NFBs (VIF = 12.60 (CC) and 13.75 (BL)) and NNBs (VIF = 26.39 (CC) and 23.12 (BL)). Collinearity problems were further confirmed from the computations of the eigenvalues of the correlation matrix, condition indexes and variance proportion. Using varimax rotation of the transformation matrix, three Principal Components (PCs) were extracted each for NFB and NNB. The three extracted PCs accounted for 90.913% and 87.086% of the total variance for NFB and NNB respectively. Linear regression of extracted PCs against BW revealed that tolerance (T) = 1 for all the extracted components. This implies that no percentage of the variance in the PC1 of NFBs and NNBs could be explained by the other extracted PCs (PC2 and PC3) included in the model; this clearly shows that the collinearity has been fixed. Further confirmation test with VIF shows that, VIF of PCFS equaled one which neatly shows that the variances of the estimated coefficient were no longer inflated.

The study was conducted in Bahir Dar Zuria, Mecha and Yelmana Densa districts from September 2013 to October 2014, with the objective of assessing breeding practices in dairy cattle in West Gojjam zone. Interviews using pre-tested structured questionnaires administered to 180 households and 9 focus group discussions were used to generate the data on dairy cattle breeding practices in the study area. Data analysis was done using SAS (9.1) and SPSS version 20. One way ANOVA was used for milk production, ranking method and descriptive statistics (means, standard errors and percentages). The most common mating system in all sites was natural control mating. The primary breeding objective of the community was to obtain better milk yield. Milk (Index= 0.169) was the first production preference of the respondent farmers in the study area. About 53.54 % of dairy farmers in the study area preferred AI with synchronization followed by controlled natural mating (30%).Community based breeding program by incorporating indigenous knowledge of farmers is the best option in improving breeding practice of dairy cattle in West Gojjam Zone.

Numerous factors can prolong postpartum anestrus, affecting productivity and economic returns of the bovine industry. To improve reproductive performance a variety of hormonal combinations are used, a vast majority of these protocols use progesterone in which correspond to the greater costs of the protocols. An alternative to reduce the cost of such protocols is through the re-use of progesterone implants. A total of 422 multiparous cows, calved between 40 to 60 days with body condition score between 2.0 and 3.0 (scale of 1-5) were used in the experiment. The animals were divided into four groups randomly (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th use implant) and synchronized for FTAI. Pregnancy rate was evaluated at 45 days by ultrasound. In general, pregnancy rate was 44.7% (188/422). No significant difference (P>0.05) was found between cows in the four groups.

Pennisetum pedicellatum commonly called desho grass is found as native plant in many tropical countries including Ethiopia. The grass has multifaceted potential as fodder for livestock, soil conservation, and income generation in the form of small business for smallholder farmers in the country. In highland areas of Ethiopia planting and management of desho grass is an example of a locally tested land conservation method recognized by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The activity of planting the grass is a response to cropland advance onto communal grazing areas and high pressure of livestock that has led to overgrazing, causing further land degradation and pasture shortages for livestock. Moreover, desho grass characterized by high biomass yield (30 to 110 tons/ha) per unit of land. Physiologically, desho grass has a peculiar characteristic of drought tolerance and moisture retention capacity. The grass’s potential for animal fodder for soil and water conservation, ruminant livestock has been documented in many tropical countries. Though available in Ethiopia, desho grass is not well known by the concerned bodies and much research and development works are needed to exploit the potential of the grass. In this regards this review paper organized with the objective to produce comprehensive information about the grass for further research and development in Ethiopia.

District Buner fall within the sub tropical mountain forest zone and is rich in flora and fauna and due to rich flora and fauna the avian fauna of distict Buner is rich. The current study was the first attempt to explore the migratory birds of district buner. During this study 10 species of migratory birds belonging to 2 orders, 2 families and 4 genus were identified. These species were, Anas strepera, Anas crecca, Anas platyrhynchos, Anas clypeata, Streptopelia decaocto, Columba livia, Columba palumbus, Columba hodgsonii, Streptopelia turtur and Streptopelia orientalis. This was the first work done on migratory birds of district buner. Further study is required to explore the migratory birds of district Buner Khyber Pahtunkhwa Pakistan.