Hatching Egg Handling, Hatchery Management, and Chick Brooding Practices in Horo Buluk District, Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, Ethiopia

Poultry production significantly contributes to farmers’ livelihood in Ethiopia, particularly in rural areas such as the Horo Buluk District. However, challenges in hatching egg handling, hatchery management, and chick brooding practices often limit productivity. A cross-sectional survey using semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and field observations was employed with 130 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Women comprised 69.25% of respondents were primarily responsible for feeding and watering (64%), cleaning (64%), treating sick birds (48%), and making selling decisions (75%). Farmers store eggs using local materials including plastic, cartoon, clay pots, and straw. Seventy-five percent of eggs from local breeds were stored for more than nine days before incubation, exceeding the recommended maximum of seven days. Respondents incubated an average of 13 eggs (range 9–20) per broody hen. The most common selection methods were shaking the egg (59%) and sun candling (32%). The preferred hatching seasons were December to March (76%). Disease was the major health constraint (86.1%), where Newcastle (56%) was among the frequently occurring. A significant difference (p < 0.05) existed between midland and highland areas regarding egg storage practices. Key constraints include prolonged egg storage, poor fertility testing methods, low vaccination coverage, and high first-week chick mortality. Women are the primary poultry managers, indicating that interventions must target women and accommodate their time constraints. The study recommends training on proper egg storage (≤7 days), promotion of low-cost candling tools, seasonal Newcastle disease vaccination campaigns, and introduction of improved brooding technologies