Lack of best-performing breed was the main chicken production problem, & keeping improved breeds boosts chicken meat and egg production. An experiment targeted with adaptation & performance evaluation of the Koekoek breed was conducted in the Hammer district. A purposive sampling method was used to select kebele & households. After the provision of training the poultry house was constructed. Vaccination was provided for economically important diseases & 21 pullet chickens were distributed to each 25 households. The commercial feed was used initially, then home-prepared feed in addition to scavenging. The trial chickens were managed for 18 months. Mortality (19.8%) was the collective effect of predator, disease, stress, & injury with overall survival of 80.2%. The average body weight was 1.95 & 1.33 Kg for males & females at the age of 175 & 208 days respectively. The average yearly egg production & egg weight was 145 & 47.2 gram, respectively. The breed was preferred due to its egg production, body weight, scavenging, & less disease exposure. However, the veterinary vaccines, awareness gap of keepers, absence of breed, & feed shortage were the main factors. So, the breed showed good adaptation, performed well & highly preferred defending the hindering factors. Therefore, there should be strong awareness creation, the accessibility of the breed should be secured by extension, & feed trial experiments should be recommended to know the full genomic potential of the breed.
agro-pastoralist, breed, chicken, dual-purpose, koekoek
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