On Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Cattle and their Production Systems in Bako Tibe and Gobu Sayo Districts of Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract:

The study was conducted in Bako Tibe and Gobu Sayo districts of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, from October 2014 to January 2015 with the objective to undertake on-farm phenotypic and production system characterization of indigenous cattle breed (Horro) in the study area. Field studies and collection of data were carried out through semi-structured questionnaire, focus group discussions, key informants, observations and linear body measurements of sample cattle and secondary data collection from different sources. A total of 120 households (60 from each district) were randomly selected for semi structured questionnaire interview and 240 cattle were sampled for morphological description and linear body measurements. SAS and SPSS software were used to analyze the data. The study result revealed that overall cattle herd size was 9.67±3.34 heads per household and was not significantly different (p