Village Poultry Production Research Articles

This study was conducted with the objective of assessing the opportunities and challenges of backyard poultry production at three villages in Ezha district, Gurage Zone of southern Ethiopia using a semi-structured questionnaire, field visit and interview with 150 randomly selected respondents. The dominant chicken production system in the study area was an extensive system (74%) with scavenging and seasonal supplementary feeding (53%). Grains are the main feed used. Almost 65% of poultry share the same room with the main house with perch, the rest 20%, and 15%, respectively, use the different shelters. Most of the farmers (80%) use traditional medicine to treat their chicken. The average age of first laying was 5months, mean number of eggs per clutch was 12. The mean clutch size was 3.3 and the hatchability percentage was 72%. The result revealed that the main constraints of village poultry production in the study area, especially in village2 were predator (48%), disease (33.7%), feed shortage (19.3%), market (10%), and the primary opportunity was extension (34%) followed by credit, (24.6%), market (23.4%) and feed access (18%) and, respectively. It is concluded that constraints and opportunities of village chicken production were identified. Controlling predators, improving the management practices, and educating the framers are viable options to improve the livelihood of the households. 
 

The Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is the deadliest chicken pathogen in low-input village poultry, and selecting for NDV resistance has been recommended as a sustainable strategy in backyard poultry production systems. However, selecting for disease resistance needs precision data from either a big population sample size or on many generations with good pedigree records for effective prediction of heritability (h2) and breeding values of the foundation stock. Such conditions are almost impossible to meet in low-input backyard production systems. This study aimed at proposing a realistic method for estimating the heritability of the immune response to vaccination and survival of NDV infection in village poultry production to inform a breeding strategy for ND resistance in Cameroon. A 1 and 3% selection intensity of cocks and hens for higher antibody (ab) response (ABR) to vaccination followed by progeny selection of chickens who survived an experimental NDV infection was conducted from an initial population of 1,702 chickens. The selection induced an increase of 1012.47units/ml (p<0.01) of the NDV antibody of the progeny as well as an effective survival rate (ESR) increase of 11.75%. Three methods were used to estimate the heritability () of NDV antibody response to vaccination. was low irrespective of the method with estimates of 0.2227, 0.2442, and 0.2839 for the breeder’s equation method, the graphical method, and the full-sib/half-sib nested design, respectively. The mortality rate of infected chickens was high (86%). The antibody response to selection was not influenced by sex and genetic type even though the opposite was observed (p<0.05) for the ESR to NDV infection with naked neck chickens recording an ESR of 14% against 2.25% for the normal feather type. A very low heritability (0.0891) was observed for the survival against NDV infection. We confirm the evidence of disease resistance and the effect of selection for antibody response to vaccination on the improvement of the survival against NDV disease. Although the full sib/half sib nested design is more appropriate in case of availability of pedigree information, the direct methods are still useful in case of unavailability of full pedigree information. It is recommended that gene expression analysis should be prioritized for disease-resistance assessment and selection of native breeds of poultry.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify the main obstacles and the health management system of the Wayu Tuka districts' poultry production system. The area's consenting study participants created and distributed a semi-structured questionnaire. Out of the 100 responders, 37%, 34%, and 29% were from the district's Migna Kura, Bonaya Molo, and Gute Badiya kebeles. Of the participants, 29 (29.0%) were female, while the remainder (71%) were male. The majority of participants kept at least one chicken in their houses, mostly to produce eggs and meat. In the research area, more than half of the respondents (57 percent) stated they favored the unusual varieties of chicken. Of the respondents in the study area, 44% used backyard management systems, and 56% used semi-intensive systems to manage their chickens. Regarding the frequency of cleaning the chicken buildings, half of the respondents reported doing it daily, while 36% reported cleaning them just twice a week. Most respondents claimed to have access to the marketing system and to use local shopkeepers to sell their products at doorsteps and village markets. Even though 56% and 43% of poultry owners, respectively, vaccinated and dewormed their animals, just 42% of them took care of the health and biosecurity of their chickens. In response to questions on the actions taken for the sick hens, most respondents consult veterinarians, 15% sell the sick birds, and 14% treat them with conventional medications. The research area's village poultry production faces several key obstacles, including disease and predator outbreaks, inadequate healthcare, subpar nutrition, and inadequate marketing information. Thus, in addition to hands-on instruction, ongoing training in better home design, appropriate feeding practices, and disease and predator management should be provided.

The African Chicken Genetic Gain (ACGG) project (https://africacgg.net/) aims at backyard poultry optimization by commercial dual-purpose breeds introduction into Africa. To measure benefits, genotype by environment interaction (GxE) analysis provides guidance while predicting environmental effects on production traits of breeds. A survey among Ethiopian poultry smallholders showed egg sale being the most important purpose of keeping village chickens in Oromia. Data was available about laying of 894 ACGG chickens in Oromia. Hence current research questions were: 1) Does GxE take place? 2) Which breed performs best regarding laying and in which environment within Oromia? Traits investigated were egg number and egg weight of five breeds (S-RIR, Sasso, Horro, Kuroiler and Koekoek) located in three zones (East Hararge, East and West Shoa) and 5 districts (Adami Tulu, Bako Tibe, Dano, Dugda and Haromaya) in Oromia. Observations were taken as group measure performing weighted analyses. GxE was only present for egg number with magnitude strongest for zone. S-RIR performed best for both traits in both environments, except Kuroiler performing better in East Shoa for egg number and Koekoek for egg weight. This indicates success of crossbreed S-RIR. Sasso and Horro performed worst supported by previous research for Horro but not Sasso. Low precipitation in East Shoa caused bigger distance in egg number predictions, being higher for S-RIR and lower for Horro and Sasso compared to West Shoa. Apart from these final conclusions, social context of breeding and data collection difficulties should not be forgotten. Just like relevance of other performance trait analyses.

This study aimed to characterize the village poultry production systems and to investigate the opportunities for its improvement in Burkina Faso. The study was carried out in 75 villages located in 8 regions involving 750 households. Data were collected by individual interviews and surveys supported with structured questionnaires.

BackgroundChildhood stunting and malnutrition condemn millions of people globally to a life of disadvantage and cognitive and physical impairment. Though increasing egg consumption is often seen as an important solution for low and middle income countries (including Ethiopia), emerging evidence suggests that greater exposure to poultry feces may also inhibit child growth due to the effects of enteric bacteria, especially Campylobacter, on gut health.MethodsIn this rapid ethnographic study, we explored village poultry production, child dietary practices, and environmental hygiene conditions as they relate to Campylobacter risk and intervention in 16 villages in Haramaya Woreda, Eastern Ethiopia.ResultsIn the study area, we found that women assumed primary responsibility to care for both chickens and children: in feeding, housing, and healthcare. Most chickens were free-range local indigenous breeds, and flock sizes were small and unstable due to epidemics, seasonal trends, reproductive patterns, and lack of food. Generally, eggs were seen as “too luxurious” to be eaten, and were predominantly sold at local markets for scarce cash, despite high malnutrition rates. Local narratives of extreme poverty, social dietary norms, parental fatalism, and lack of “dietary consciousness” (as it was called) were invoked to explain this. We found that homesteads were highly contaminated with human and animal feces. Although community members viewed chicken feces and poultry gastrointestinal contents as particularly noxious in comparison to other animals because of their feeding behaviour, they did not relate them to any particular disease. Shared human-animal housing and childcare practices place children at high risk of exposure to enteric bacteria from animal manure, despite daily routines designed to manage the domestic landscape.ConclusionsAddressing childhood stunting and malnutrition through egg production in rural landscapes like Haramaya must navigate three distinct health and care regimes: for children, chickens, and home environments. Interventions should be based on a holistic approach to social and economic empowerment, one that considers both women and men and integrates nutrition, health, and community change as its overarching goal.

Context It is widely recognised that village poultry play important roles nutritionally, economically and socio-culturally in developing countries such as Ethiopia where the sector makes up the largest portion of the national poultry meat and egg production. The importance of socioeconomic environment for improving the contribution of village poultry to household income and diets is receiving little attention in research and development. Aims The present study examined whether and to what extent household, flock, institutional and infrastructural factors enable or constrain village poultry marketing and consumption. Methods The results of the study are based on analysis of data drawn from a cross-sectional survey of 5004 households conducted in four regions of Ethiopia. On the basis of the type of dependent variable, probit and ordinary least squares regression models and marginal effects were used to determine whether and how much the aforementioned factors affect household involvement in marketing or consumption of village poultry. Key results Flock size per household highly significantly and positively affected poultry selling. Majority of the households (82%) sold their poultry primarily for covering planned household expenses. Male-headed households had a lower likelihood of selling poultry and an increased mean number of birds consumed, than did female-headed households. A lower probability of selling poultry was associated with an increasing household-asset ownership and an increasing distance to a market town. Participation in training increased poultry consumption per household. Conclusions Our empirical results showed that factors related to household characteristics, flock size, infrastructure and institutional services affected marketing and consumption of household poultry. Household attributes are important to identify and target the right groups for poultry research and development, and market infrastructure and institutional services have to be developed for improving opportunities of smallholders to better benefit from poultry marketing or consumption. Implications Finally, along with technical efforts to increase production, sustainability and nutritional and economic impacts could be improved if research and development interventions were to holistically take into account the socioeconomic and institutional context under which poultry-producing households operate.

Poultry is the largest group of livestock species in the world in which chickens largely dominate the fl ock composition. The poultry sector in Ethiopia can be characterized into three major production systems based on selected parameters like breed, fl ock size, housing, feeding, health, technology, biosecurity and others. These are large scale commercial, small scale commercial and village poultry production systems.

A study was carried out in Mahoba and Hamirpur districts of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh to generate information on socio-economic characteristics of poultry farmers, ground reality of poultry management practices of backyard poultry production and to formulate extension strategy to make the poultry farming more profitable. The results of the study showed that the respondents were predominantly young, had low level of education, belonged to Muslim religion and were from the schedule caste category, with medium sized nuclear family. The production level of poultry was very low due to unsystematic care with regard to the diseases and vaccination of the birds and was also not carried out in any of the villages surveyed. The major constraints identified were feed cost and high rate of chicks. Dominant chicken production system was a free range system with night shelter and mainly depends on scavenging without feed supplementation. The mean chicken flock size was 19.20 chickens household−1. The price of chicken products varied and determined by a number of factors. In village poultry production system women and children were more involved than men. It revealed that the total cost broiler was 6975.00, total gross return was 17500.00, and net return was 10525.00−1, the net income broiler 35.50−1 and the cost-benefit ratio was 1.50 for broiler. The result showed the back yard poultry were more profitable in the study areas.

ABSTRACTTo improve genetic gain of breeding programs for village poultry production, breeding schemes with observations obtained in village production systems using individual (VIO) and group recording (VGO) were examined under different levels of genotype-by-environment-interactions (GxE). GxE was modeled by varying the correlation between traits measured in the breeding station and village environments for bodyweight (rg_BW) and egg production (rg_EP). Relative and absolute genetic gains obtained from VIO and VGO were used for comparison between the schemes. Results showed that village observations significantly improved genetic gains compared to the scheme without birds tested in the village. The improvement was only slightly larger with individual observations than with group observations. Higher rg_BW and rg_EP led to lower relative genetic gain, but a higher absolute gain of VIO and VGO. It is recommended to apply a breeding scheme using group recording of village performance when strong GxE in breeding for village poultry is expected.

Background: Small scale Poultry production are used by farmers in order to generate cash income and as a source of food for domestic consumption however, the production sector is constrained by disease, predators, poor housing, poor management, lack of feed, low market prices and lack of markets. This study aimed to identify challenge and opportunities available for small scale poultry production in Jigjiga zone of Somali regional state. Methodology: For the study three districts, namely Jigjiga, Babile and Awbare were selected by purposive sampling technique. From the selected districts A total of 94 (Jigjiga = 35, babile = 32 and Awbare = 27) the respondents were selected purposively who engaged in poultry production and primary data were collected by using semi-structured questionnaires. Results: The major poultry production system practiced in the study area was village poultry production system (93.3%) and according to this study poultry is kept mainly for home consumption (42.2%), income generation (48.5%) and cultural prestige (26.6%). In the study area the dominant chicken breed was indigenous ecotype (67.6%). As indicated in the current study the demand for poultry and poultry product was very high and this is might be due to the problem in supply of poultry and its products. Sharing the same room under the same roof with the family (14.6%), different shelter in the same roof (36.6%) and separate house were the common poultry housing system practiced in the Jigjiga and surrounding area. Incubation and brooding were the other poultry management practiced in the area in which clay pot with bedding (64.4%) and clay pot without bedding (33.3%) were used for incubation and brooding. Before sale and set for incubation eggs were stored in cold environment (63.5%), in cold container (32.6%) and anywhere (41.1%). Disease (41.1%), shortage of feed (33.5%), and predators (20.7%) were the major constraints affecting poultry production and its productivities and higher demand for poultry and its product is the future opportunity for the development of poultry sector in the area. As the dominant production system was village poultry production scavenging feeding system in which supplementation twice (morning and evening) with maize or sorghum grain were practiced in the area. Conclusion: from this study, it can be concluded that expansion of veterinary service, and extension package for intervention to improve the productivity and economics contribution of poultry should also be designed in collaboration with NGO and Regional government.

Major Constraints and Health Management of Village Poultry Production in Ethiopia: Review School of Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

Status and drivers of village poultry production and its efficiency in Ethiopia

Assessing the impact of a novel strategy for delivering animal health interventions to smallholder farmers

A study was conducted on 262 indigenous poultry farmers in Rwanda to assess the current status of low cost village poultry production. Majority of the respondents were male (59%) mainly (70.2%) located in urban and Per-urban areas. The majority (56.9%) had primary education and kept the dwarf type (53.5%) followed by the long legged type (26.9%). Stocking birds were mainly sourced from Neighbors (50.8%) and markets (30%). Free scavenging (67.4%) predominated. Disease management lagged as 41.4% farmers never treated birds and 37.2% used indigenous knowledge. Ectoparasitosis (35.2%) and Diarrhea (34.3%) were the main disease conditions cited. Only 15.7% of farmers reported disease outbreak to veterinarians. Clutch size ranged from 5 to 18 with mean of 13 ± 2 and hen maturity age averaged 7± 2.1 month. Farmers reported periodic high morbidity and mortality among poultry flocks with resultant low productivity and profitability. Predators (42%), diseases (23%), lack of credit (20%) were the main challenges stated. Key words: Indigenous chicken, characterization, management, production, Rwanda.

This study identified perception of poultry farmers’ on impact of interventions in village poultry production and quantified the impacts of interventions on flock and economic performance using modelling. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on perceptions of poultry keeping and performances from 240 randomly selected households in two districts of Ethiopia. Crop was the major source of income, and poultry generated supplementary income. Farmers perceived that demand and price of poultry products increased. Majority of the farmers believed that additional inputs would not lead to higher income. A dynamic simulation showed that the base situation made a positive financial contribution. Vaccinations had the largest positive impact on flock performances and using improved indigenous chicken had the smallest. Application of interventions had the largest effect on flock performances in the base situation but did not lead to profitability. The sensitivity analysis showed that feed cost had the largest impact on the profitability followed by housing, vaccination and breed. Farmers’ perceptions affected their decisions regarding implementation of interventions. Simulated interventions increased productivity but only in a few cases the increased incomes outweighed the additional costs. Interventions need to be tailored towards the local situation to ensure improved productivity and improved income. Key words: Poultry, smallholders, flock performance, profitability.

This study was done with the objective of assessing the current poultry production system, feed resources and provides valuable information for researchers, producers, instructors and policy makers in Ethiopia. The review was done deeply with original research findings of different scholars working on poultry. This study revealed that there are three poultry production systems classified based on the input, flock size, health and bio-security measures (village poultry production, small scale and commercial production systems). The main poultry feed resources in the country are household wastes, cereal grains and their by-products, industrial by products, oil seed cakes and non-conventional feed resources. There is shortage of commercial feed resources and processing meals thought it is expensive. In conclusion, the most common production system practiced in the major farming community is the village production system with irregular supplementation of cereal grains Therefore, investors and government institutions should avail the concentrate feeds with affordable price to improve the production and productivity of poultry in Ethiopia.

FAMILY poultry-keeping – where owners raise poultry in small numbers ranging from single birds up to a few hundred (FAO 2014) – accounts for up to 80 per cent of...

Village poultry and their owners were frequently implicated in disease transmission in the early days of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 pandemic. With improved understanding of the epidemiology of the disease, it was recognized that village poultry raised under extensive conditions pose less of a threat than intensively raised poultry of homogeneous genetic stock with poor biosecurity. This paper provides an overview of village poultry production and the multiple ways that the HPAI H5N1 pandemic has impacted on village poultry, their owners, and the traders whose livelihoods are intimately linked to these birds. It reviews impact in terms of gender and cultural issues; food security; village poultry value chains; approaches to biosecurity; marketing; poultry disease prevention and control; compensation; genetic diversity; poultry as part of livelihood strategies; and effective communication. It concludes on a positive note that there is growing awareness amongst animal health providers of the importance of facilitating culturally sensitive dialogue to develop HPAI prevention and control options.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) due to H5N1 virus was first reported in Egypt in February 2006; since then, the government has allowed avian influenza vaccination in poultry. The present study evaluated the impact of AI vaccination in terms of cumulative annual flock immunity (CAFI): the percentage of bird × weeks protected by immunity. This evaluation took account of the combined effects of vaccination coverage, vaccine efficacy (VE), and different characteristics of household poultry production on the effectiveness of the adopted vaccination strategy (VS), and provided alternative options for improvement. The evaluation used a population and vaccination model that calculates the CAFI. Participatory approaches were employed in 21 villages to develop the vaccination and flock parameters required for the model. The adopted VS were compared in the model with three alternative VS scenarios in terms of the CAFI. Vaccination coverage varied among villages but was generally low (between 1 and 48 %; median 14 %). Under the adopted VS, the CAFI predicted for the villages ranged from 2 to 31 %. It was concluded that despite the enormous effort put into rural household poultry AI vaccination by the Egyptian government, village CAFI is unlikely to be maintained at the levels required to significantly reduce the virus load and restrict transmission. In HPAI-endemic countries that consider AI vaccination as one of the disease control options, the high cost of mass AI vaccination campaigns and their achievable benefits must be compared with other available control measures, which may include targeted vaccination. Achievable vaccination coverage, VE and the different characteristics of commercial and household (village) poultry production are key parameters determining the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of different AI vaccination strategies.