Investigation of native chicken mortality/loss in the free-range system: Causes, control measures and impact to farmers at the household level, Moyamba District, Southern Sierra Leone

Abstract

The increase in mortality/loss of native chickens in the rural areas of Sierra Leone is posing a serious threat to the traditional chicken industry. Poultry farmers loss many chickens annually which hugely undercut their livelihood and social status. This research was therefore conducted to investigate the main causes of native chicken mortality/loss, control strategies and how it influences the livelihood of farmers in Moyamba district, Sierra Leone. The data was obtained through field survey, personal discussion and observation from randomly selected 300 participants in 6 villages. The findings revealed that 84.3% of the interviewed farmers were female while the overall illiteracy rate of the participants was 72.3%. The average number of the different livestock kept by the farmers were: 7.8 (chicken), 0.3 (duck), 0.6 (sheep), 0.2 (pig) and 3.4 (goat). 45.5% of the mortality/loss recorded from 2017-2018 was said to be caused by predators while 54.5% was caused by diseases/parasites and other factors (2017-2018). 33.0 and 32.0% of the mortality/loss occurred during the late dry and early rainy seasons while 20.0 and 15.0% occurred in the early dry and late rainy seasons respectively. Settlements along the grassland and forested areas reported a high incidence of predators while the river-line areas reported high cases of diseases/parasites. The main predators identified were hawk, red fox and eagle while Newcastle disease and lice were the most serious disease and parasites named respectively. The animal healthcare services are inadequate and therefore, traditional methods of controlling diseases/parasites and predators are widely adopted. The impact of mortality/loss to farmers at household level include low protein intake, loss of income, weak cultural/religious practices, loss of flock, food insecurity, increase in poverty and lack of job. Therefore, there is a need for effective and continuous implementation of disease/parasites control programs in the study areas by strengthening the veterinary and the extension services for better productivity and improved management practices.