The study was conducted in Benishangul-gumuz regional state, western Ethiopia, to characterize village chicken production systems in these areas, identify the major constraints limiting chicken production and suggest the required development interventions for future improvement. One special district (Mao-komo) and two zones (Assosa and Kamash) representing the highland, mid-altitude and lowland areas of the region, respectively were selected for the study. A total of 144 households were

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... from the three sites and individually interviewed using pretested structured questionnaire in their respective farms. Stratified sampling technique was used to select the households. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and one-way ANOVA of SPSS software. The results revealed that an average chicken flock size per household in the study areas was 7.7. Maize, sorghum and house-wastes were the main supplementary feed resources used by chicken and farmers noted that they face feed shortage problem for feeding their chicken during the wet season, feed availability was relatively better during dry season. About 54.9% of the sample respondents had separated shelters made of locally available materials for housing chicken. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in productive and reproductive performances of chicken in the study areas. The average ages of chicken at first egg production were 29.6, 28 and 28.8 weeks, respectively at Assosa, Kamash and Mao-komo. The overall average number of clutch per year was 2.6, length of inter-clutch was 2.9 weeks and eggs per clutch were 9.9 (ranging from 11-16). Newcastle was the most prevalent economically important disease affecting chicken in the study areas. In conclusion, the chicken production system in the study areas is extensive where feeding is mainly scavenging with occasional supplementation with cereals with consequent low production and reproductive performances.